wanting to move to a CO ski town... (Denver, Steamboat Springs: ski resorts, real estate)

[natalieann07]

i'm a twenty-five year old female college graduate, and am ready to make the big move to the west. i've lived in fayetteville, AR, for the past six years and graduated with a hospitality (hotel, restaurant mgmt, event planning) degree. colorado is my ideal place, and i have saved up money for some time now. i do expect to get a job before or at the time of my arrival. any suggestions? i love breckenridge, steamboat, vail, telluride...you get my drift. the only con's i have about telluride and steamboat are the distances from a major hub (denver,) although they both have unbelievably beautiful scenery. i'm social and would love to be in a place with others close to my age, and also be a part of an economy which can provide a job related to my degree. any suggestions would be appreicated!! thanks!

[lone sailor]

I'm not a native, but have family in Colorado and visit often. We enjoy Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs quite well for the snow festivities. Good luck in your new journey.

[wanneroo]

I lived in Vail for almost seven years and have extensive time in others and I would recommend the Vail Valley as that would be the best mix of everything. I did live in Steamboat briefly but didn't like it although there are some nice things about it, but it didn't do anything for me. I also didn't like the isolation. From Vail, Denver was a lot more convenient if I did want to get out of the valley.

Ski resorts have some interesting demographics. For one thing people come and go with the season, so May and October will be quiet months compared to July or February. The younger people come and go with the seasons and there is a constant turn over of people, which is good in some ways, bad in others. Also there are a lot of foreign nationals that staff the resorts in all different types of jobs so it is a good way to meet lots of different people. I think you'll find in the 18-30 age demographic that those people will come and go quite a lot. The other demographic is the 50-75 year olds that can actually afford to vacation at these resorts and have a vacation home there. There are also some people aged 30-50 that were able to get good jobs in the valley and stayed.

One thing you will have to keep in mind is that in any resort real estate costs will be very high. For what I paid for one bedroom in a shared house/apartment/condo I can rent a whole house where i live now. If you want to keep your rent down to a reasonable level you'll have to have roommates, no question. To live by yourself will drain away a lot of income for what you are likely to make as a 25 year old graduate. Depending on what you make, it is possible to live on your own, but you likely will not have any disposable income.

Some people will tell you living costs are the same as Denver, but most things you buy or restaurants you go to, the costs will be higher. Everything from gasoline to alcohol to car insurance is going to cost more. Be prepared for that.

As a female in most of these resorts of your age group the male/female ratio is about 4 to 1, so you will have plenty of male attention.

If you want to live in a ski resort the best times to move are in the off season between April and June and late Sept to early Nov. That will make it easier to get your housing sorted out and get settled into your job. Trying to get housing right now with ski season in motion will be hard to do and good choices will be limited.

[sunsprit]

The resort areas all use your hospitality biz skills.

The key is to find somebody hiring now in the middle of "high season". Most high paying resort jobs of this type were filled long before the season started, as were most of the "affordable" housing units in the area.

So, I'd be contacting all of the likely possible employers ... hotels, resorts, etc. ... and asking about a job opportunity with the possibility of company housing as a benefit.

You may come across a decent offer, and then again ... maybe not until later in the season, if at all. Service jobs are a bit easier to find, but then you'll not be using your degree or getting paid for it.

From a local perspective, unless you have housing lined up and are in the area already, your inquiry at this time is merely a "possibility" of filling a job opening. So try any/all of the resorts for a job through this season and then ... if you do come out ... network for the best job offer you can obtain after this season.

[wanneroo]

One issue right now is business is way down this year. I know for Vail the official talk is business is down 20-25% but the opinion of some actually in the trenches is that it is worse. I know with my former employer it appears they are in a position of being overstaffed and there is a shortage of work. I suspect it will be "harder" than in years past to get a good job, but not impossible.

I lived in employee housing most of the time and found that worked better for me. That is the preferable option, but it will be tough to get in at this time of the year. If you do get in, there were a few winters where I left my arrival rather late and I got stuck with the people no one wanted to live with.