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Old 08-20-2010, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Reston, VA
31 posts, read 65,663 times
Reputation: 20

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziasforever View Post
Yep, Colorado ain't what it used to be! (as the oldtimers say).

I never thought about Aspen or Vail but the poster will need to do all the above that wanneroo suggests including a commute from some place like Carbondale to Aspen or Glenwood Springs to Vail to find decent rent.
Thanks, I will look into Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. This is going to be a busy 6 days!
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Old 08-20-2010, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Reston, VA
31 posts, read 65,663 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by luvv4life View Post
Blah Blah Blah....all those places everyone is listing are the same places EVERYONE else and thier grandmother are moving to!!! We do not do year round schools in Colorado. Colorado is a farming state and we still practice the "old farming schedule". In fact, some districts have extended hours during the day and attend only 4 day weeks. A couple schools around Colorado that I have attended have been that way for decades.

If you are looking for beauty, small town atmosphere with a strong catholic church family, look into Buena Vista. It may not fit all of your criteria, but it slower paced and won't break your bank account to survive. Plus, Monarch Mountain is 30-40 minutes drive with NO traffic!
There is no shortage on year round activities and it is a tourist trap during the summer. So finding a part time summer seasonal gig won't be an issue Monarch is by far the BEST mountain I have ever had the pleasure of skiing and NEVER crowded.

Enjoy your trip

4 day weeks! Nice! Buena Vista sounds good. I just looked it up and it says the median age is 42 though. Might not be good for my social life?
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Old 08-20-2010, 03:10 PM
 
2,253 posts, read 6,974,679 times
Reputation: 2653
Wink Off-season

Quote:
Are Vail/Aspen really slow during the off-season?

Yes. I say that without knowing them intimately, but they will follow the pattern of all other ski resort towns. There are two distinct seasons: winter and summer, with anything else on the cusp and distinctly slower. Winter is the busiest time, and their raison d'etre. Traditionally many ski areas had only that, about five months of intense activity, then nothing the rest of the year. More lately many have attempted to feather this with summer activities, such as mountain biking. So summer will see its share of tourists as well, but the overall mood is slower, more laid-back and quiet.

There is also the consideration that areas such as Vail and Aspen are towns as well, so there will always be the normal activity commensurate with the population they have. Additionally, neither is exactly small. In contrast one might look to more dedicated ski areas without much settlement near them, such as Monarch and Purgatory. They will be distinctly quieter in the summer. I'm not sure if either of these has summer programs, but it would still be mellow. Much of the small community of Taos Ski Valley, of the ski area just northeast of Taos, NM, closes in the summer. A restaurant and shop or two remain open, and that is about it. Quite tranquil. The difference with any of these areas come winter is marked, the population swells, not only with tourists but all the seasonal help catering to them. Any business that is in business will be open.

The seasons in-between, fall and spring, can be some of the loveliest. They are certainly the quietest. If living in such a place year-round, one will know these seasons when tourists are few, the weather temperamental, there isn't as much to do as at other times, and all reverts back briefly to the locals and the mountains they inhabit. There can be various intrusions, such as the many who travel into the high country to enjoy the spectacle of the fall colors. Some other contrivances the resorts will dream up to bring people in off-season. But like clockwork the tempo decidedly slows after Labor Day, if not before when school begins. Also in spring when the lifts close, and all changes.

It is a time to catch your breath. Prepare for the coming season. Perhaps also the chance to look about and realize again what a special place the mountains can be. To walk idly along a now quiet path, hand drifting past golden aspen leafs yet to fall, to watch them spiraling down the currents of the rivers, to bask in a radiant sun which may have escaped behind clouds, before your return home in the spattering rain, maybe snow.
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Old 08-20-2010, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Reston, VA
31 posts, read 65,663 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by Idunn View Post
Yes. I say that without knowing them intimately, but they will follow the pattern of all other ski resort towns. There are two distinct seasons: winter and summer, with anything else on the cusp and distinctly slower. Winter is the busiest time, and their raison d'etre. Traditionally many ski areas had only that, about five months of intense activity, then nothing the rest of the year. More lately many have attempted to feather this with summer activities, such as mountain biking. So summer will see its share of tourists as well, but the overall mood is slower, more laid-back and quiet.

There is also the consideration that areas such as Vail and Aspen are towns as well, so there will always be the normal activity commensurate with the population they have. Additionally, neither is exactly small. In contrast one might look to more dedicated ski areas without much settlement near them, such as Monarch and Purgatory. They will be distinctly quieter in the summer. I'm not sure if either of these has summer programs, but it would still be mellow. Much of the small community of Taos Ski Valley, of the ski area just northeast of Taos, NM, closes in the summer. A restaurant and shop or two remain open, and that is about it. Quite tranquil. The difference with any of these areas come winter is marked, the population swells, not only with tourists but all the seasonal help catering to them. Any business that is in business will be open.

The seasons in-between, fall and spring, can be some of the loveliest. They are certainly the quietest. If living in such a place year-round, one will know these seasons when tourists are few, the weather temperamental, there isn't as much to do as at other times, and all reverts back briefly to the locals and the mountains they inhabit. There can be various intrusions, such as the many who travel into the high country to enjoy the spectacle of the fall colors. Some other contrivances the resorts will dream up to bring people in off-season. But like clockwork the tempo decidedly slows after Labor Day, if not before when school begins. Also in spring when the lifts close, and all changes.

It is a time to catch your breath. Prepare for the coming season. Perhaps also the chance to look about and realize again what a special place the mountains can be. To walk idly along a now quiet path, hand drifting past golden aspen leafs yet to fall, to watch them spiraling down the currents of the rivers, to bask in a radiant sun which may have escaped behind clouds, before your return home in the spattering rain, maybe snow.

You are a gifted writer. I had to read your last paragraph several times because I enjoyed it so much

I look at it like this. There are schools all over the country that I could work at. Why not pick one in an area like Colorado? The only thing holding me back would be family and friends in VA. However, if I show them what you just wrote, I'm sure they'll be dying to visit!! haha. Have a great weekend!
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Old 08-20-2010, 04:40 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,632,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by berad23 View Post
Interesting....I kind of ruled those towns out due to cost. Figured they would be areas that I would visit often. If there is a teaching job available there and a place to stay in or close to town that fits my budget, that would be great. Are Vail/Aspen really slow during the offseason?
Yes April 15-June 15 and Sept 15-Nov 15 is basically dead with many shops, restaurants and other tourist related things often closed completely in May and October. It's a different lifestyle than the 9-5, Monday thru Friday city living. Personally I like the seasonal mind set because there is a beginning and end to everything, but some people can't get their head around it. Winter is jamming from late Nov to early April, then everyone needs or takes a break, then summer is jamming for about 2.5 months, then break time again, then back to winter.

Both towns are better in the summer despite the fact they are ski towns. Tons of concerts, festivals, golfing, great bike riding and hiking, rafting and kayaking in early summer, sports tournaments and a lot of restaurants have outside decks to enjoy dining outside.

I think if you really want the mountain lifestyle with all the activities then you have to pull the trigger and make the sacrifice to do that. Living in Denver reminds me of when I lived 2 hours from the ocean. How often did I really go to the beach? Rarely and I certainly couldn't say I was living on the ocean either. It's like that in Denver. Close, yes you don't have to fly across the country to go hiking on the weekend, but it's not something you'll be doing after work and on the weekends you have to make the drive to get someplace. Yes west metro Denver and Boulder you do have the foothills closer, but there is only so much that can be squeezed out of that.
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Old 08-20-2010, 04:48 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,632,304 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by berad23 View Post
Thanks, I will look into Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. This is going to be a busy 6 days!
Glenwood Springs is a bedroom community and regional hub for Aspen, no one in their right mind that works in the Vail Valley would live there. It's too far and Glenwood Canyon has to be negotiated and it has it's share of road closures and has quite the pucker factor in the winter with ice.

With Vail you have what I call the upper Vail Valley that the town of Vail sits in, then once you go through Dowd Junction, to the left you have Minturn, then the main support towns for Vail and Beaver Creek in the lower Vail Valley, Eagle-Vail, Avon and Edwards. Another 20 miles down I-70 there are some that live in Eagle(where the airport is) and Gypsum, but to me that is too much of a drive as the minor savings in rent don't pay all the gas and car maintenance for all the extra miles you drive.

With Aspen you have the Highway 82 corridor that stretches from Aspen to Snowmass, Basalt, El Jebel, Carbondale to Glenwood Springs.

Another option is Summit County.
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Old 08-20-2010, 04:54 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,632,304 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by Idunn View Post
There is also the consideration that areas such as Vail and Aspen are towns as well, so there will always be the normal activity commensurate with the population they have. Additionally, neither is exactly small. In contrast one might look to more dedicated ski areas without much settlement near them, such as Monarch and Purgatory.
I doubt there is much in the way of teaching jobs in Monarch and Purgatory. You'd have to live in BuenaSalida or Durango.

I'd never recommend those places to anyone unless you have a loner personality and are just total hardcore into skiing or communing with nature.

If you want some semblance of a social life or to have activities, shopping and restaurants available, then it's the larger resort towns.
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Old 08-21-2010, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,184,179 times
Reputation: 6920
Quote:
Originally Posted by berad23 View Post
The only thing holding me back would be family and friends in VA. However, if I show them what you just wrote, I'm sure they'll be dying to visit!! haha. Have a great weekend!
Don't get too sucked in by the good writing. The fall colors of the hardwood forests along the VA Blue Ridge put the "golden aspens" to shame.
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Old 08-21-2010, 09:05 AM
 
Location: Reston, VA
31 posts, read 65,663 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
Don't get too sucked in by the good writing. The fall colors of the hardwood forests along the VA Blue Ridge put the "golden aspens" to shame.
The blue ridge mountains are amazing. Lived there for four years.
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Old 08-21-2010, 10:46 AM
 
39 posts, read 115,655 times
Reputation: 31
You sound adorable berad23! I'm from around the DC area myself. What made you decide Coloardo, if you don't mind my asking? I think you're doing a great thing though, you decided where you want to move to, and you're going to go check it out! That's something I need to do myself. I hope you find a place you like there!
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