So since this forum is one of the best out there I have some serious questions to pose to the community here. I am finishing up my degree in photography and that is in CT. I want to move somewhere that has opportunity and a REAL community of riders, professionals and not just ski bums and all talk druggies.

I lived out in CO for just shy of 4 years. Boulder-->Beaver Creek---->Vail---->Leadville.

Some things I learned out there.

1)Most people will tell you they moved out here to ride but when it comes down to the dawn patrol or going up to bring snow down from the mountain to your backyard their not down.

2)A lot of these riders are too fucked up on drugs to ride 8 hours a day and work a full time job(mine was night audit so I could ride everyday)(this was in vail)

3)Ski towns with a few exceptions are lame, the non lame ones are Crested Butte, Silverton , A-basin and a few others.

4)I got so tired and bored with resort riding,me and a roommate moved up(its south but i say up because Leadville is alt. 10,200ft) to Leadville and bought snowmobiles. One of the best moves Ive ever made. We still had our resort passes but spent most of our time going backcountry. Leadville was 35 miles south of Vail. Very real and committed community. But isolated. No opportunity.


5)Most of the real opportunity was out in Denver. The mail room job i turned down for Neversummer is my case in point.(I told the guy I came here to ride everyday, not ever weekend DOH!!) Hindsight is 20/20

One of my professors said he can get me a job in Jackson Hole! So this got me thinking about serious places to lay down roots.

So Ive been thinking:

CA-Tons of opportunity, large state many different places to consider. Lake Tahoe, the Sierra's in the north or something like Bear or Heavenly where I can shoot not only snowboarding but surfing and skating and others.

Jackson Hole- TONS of epic terrain right in your backdoor, friends say a pretty committed rider base. Isolated? Its still a ski town.

UTAH- The snow, my god the snow! The mt's are more rolling, not like the ALPS like as Jackson Hole and for that matter CO. But just as CO the republicans stay in the flats mostly but the state as a whole is insane.(i mean that in a bad way)

WA- Not a very serious contender but you have the cascades, Seattle,then Vancouver not far away. More opportunity in Seattle and Vancouver being almost sister city's, able to spend weekends in Vancouver networking.

Then my buddy says stay in the East Coast.
Beaches, mountains, New York, Boston, RI a more centralized economic center. His words "you have everything right here but just not to the extremes like you experienced in CO"


So to summarize because I ramble quite a bit,

I feel this "thing" inside me when I see snowboarding videos like that itch to ride epic snow, be alone with your buddies on top of a huge mountain looking at the beauty of it all, feeling that unleash of emotion riding 4 feet of champagne pow. It makes me happy inside. I was at my happiest when I was living in Leadville, riding my snowmobile on the streets.

BUT, reality is a bitch. I want my cake and eat it too. I want opportunity to advance my photography into a real job, but I dont want to give up one of the things that makes me happy inside; snowboarding.

AND THE REAL REASON: Im still young enough(29) to do all of this. I dont have that much longer before I wont be able to drop 50ft cliffs and ride 150 days a year. And the snowboarding community are "my" people.

Im not asking for answers, but maybe just some real life experiences from the members here. I still have a year before Ill have the cash flow to make a move again, so im starting this early. If you made it this far thanks!