Mid-Pandemic, Ski Towns Are Seeing a New Influx of Year-Round Residents

When the pandemic shuttered parts of the U.S. last March, many companies discovered workers didn’t need to be in one place. And many workers discovered if you can work anywhere, then you can live anywhere. Some left urban areas for the suburbs—some relocated to the open spaces of Western ski resorts. According to MLS reports, sales and rentals are booming in mountain towns particularly. As Ben Fisher, a Park City broker, told the Wall Street Journal, “This was the busiest summer selling season ever.”

For young professionals leaving a major city, the main reason for relocation is the high cost of living, according to a Quicken survey. It shows 34% of millennials are now working remotely, a number which is expected to increase. Some experts predict tech workers will never return to an office: Microsoft announced that it would offer the option to work from home permanently, just as Facebook and Twitter did.

There’s an old saying about newcomers to ski resorts: “I came for the skiing, I stayed for the summer.” In these pandemic times, it’s morphed into “I came to escape a pandemic, and I stayed for the lifestyle.”

After graduating from Middlebury, Nicole Roos, 26, moved to San Francisco to work as a recruiter for an executive search firm. A Sun Valley native, she always planned to return home—someday. The pandemic accelerated that decision. “We spend so much time doing our jobs, so it’s amazing to be able to do work I love, and also take a ski run for lunch,” she says. “And I love the cultural scene.” Sun Valley offers a prime example of how Western ski towns, from Aspen to Truckee, have become more accessible, year-round mini-cities, with quality arts and culinary offerings. “Ultimately I now have a balance in my life,” Roos says.

A dream job at Facebook drew Bronwen Raff, 29, to the Bay Area. As a program manager, she works with international partners to advance gender equality. When Facebook said stay home, she and her partner, who works remotely for a sports media company, immediately questioned their location. “Before the pandemic, we planned to quit our jobs and travel the world,” she says. “Now we can do that with jobs.” They’re staying in Airbnbs as they explore the American West, while looking for what she sweetly calls a “forever place” to live. Now they’re in Bozeman, with great snow sports and Bridger Bowl ski area nearby. “The pandemic allowed us to create the life we wanted on an earlier trajectory than we anticipated.” Every mountain town they spend time in, they donate to a local charity and frequent the nearby shops. Up next? Colorado (she’s looking at Breckenridge and Carbondale).

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