Snowbasin, UT Destination for Sarah?
Skiing Stoke in North Carolina?
This case study could fill two categories. One being a business case study of The River Street Alehouse in Boone, North Carolina. The other being an inspirational story of Sarah who I met on a Barstool- ok, so maybe three different categories.
The River Street Alehouse is a sports bar in Boone, North Carolina home of Appalachian State University http://www.riverstreetalehouse.com . My reason for going was to watch some of the Sweet Sixteen in the Basketball National Championship Tournament. My friends were busy trying to get their act together so I was killing time. Several key elements of my experience jump out at me about being in the Alehouse.
First of which is the bar is an excellent sports bar / college bar. The bartenders and servers make the restaurant. Getting a strong bar staff and waitstaff in a college town is not easy. But this staff was on the ball. I went to the Riverstreet two times during my stay in Boone and wasn’t disappointed either time. Service was spot on. Bartenders have to be on point in a college town as students are pushing the boundaries of having a good time. These bartenders handled the situations with some humor and some needed sternness.
Being a college bar, drink specials to meet the spending needs of the cash strapped college student who wants to get lit has to be a focus of the experience. While I was there there were $2.00 20 oz drafts and a $3.00 shot of Vodka. You know the Vodka with the Russian name no one will remember and no one will forget the next day trying to recover on the couch from a massive what the hell hit me in the head moment. There was a wing special to help with the wallet on the food side also. The staff was ready to go with the beer special as they had beers lined up and ready to roll with a system to keep the beers fresh and the wait short. Excellent work.
I had both wings and an excellent burger while I was there and even though, I didn’t challenge the menu too much, the food I received was delivered in a timely manner and was excellent. Again to comment on the system the managers had in place was superb as each team member knew their role and the people moved like clockwork in a crowded space to maximize customer service which in the end would benefit tips and the register for the owner. Great work all the way around. I did visit a couple other bars, and they were not run with the same quality or efficiency.
Then there is Sarah! So Sarah quietly sat next to me on my right watching a little hoops, appearing to be way into the games. The guy on her right about her own age finally engaged her and being a little nosy, I did a little eavesdropping. Turns out Sarah was a solid basketball player in High School and was pretty passionate about the game.
Sarah had turned to snowboarding at Appalachian State https://www.appstate.edu. She was passionate about riding. Her face lit up and the excitement permeated from her inner soul. She showed pictures and video of riding to her new friend. He was egging her on trying to get more videos out of her and her riding. She was more than happy to oblige, though a little embarrassed by the attention.
I, at that stage, sort of cut off her new friend, I apologized about eavesdropping and continued the conversation and took it to the next level. She had graduated from ASU and was a physicians assistant. She was dying to get out West to stoke the stoke. Sarah was passionate. Her enthusiasm was dripping from her voice. She was being teased by not being in the heart of the American skiing world, the Rocky Mountains.
Sarah explained in a very excited manner that Salt Lake City was high on the list. This makes total sense. You can live in Salt Lake and have access to some of the best resorts in the world and the resorts are close to the city. Salt Lake City isn’t an expensive place to live.
Once upon a time, while it was not certainly a secret, riding just wasn’t done by the local Salt Lake City population. Riding was the equivalent to heathenism. The city folks just didn’t go up to ski and snowboard which kept the crowds at the resorts manageable But put enough pictures in Powder Magazine and create enough ski movies of ridiculous amounts of titty high powder and guess what is going to happen? Crowds! The skiing surrounding Salt Lake City is now like skiing in Summit County in Colorado. Popular, very, but the riding is really good nonetheless.
One of the biggest hurdles in any decision to become a skier or rider is that mountain living is super expensive. If you can’t afford housing, riding just isn’t going to happen. Only a few cities are close enough to ski resorts to create less expensive access to housing and employment. Denver is a version of commuting hell, I would wish upon my worst enemy. But the Denver riding crew toughs the commute out and gets into the mountains. The commitment is incredible. At some time, the elephant in the room is going to have to be discussed about commuting from Denver to any Colorado resort. I couldn’t recommend to Sarah the 2-4 hour drive depending on traffic from Denver to the mountain resorts. But Salt Lake does have a very strong public transport system traveling up the canyons to get riders to the white gold.
Our conversation was very animated. I have been skiing and traveling the West skiing for the past 30 years. I love skiing. Skiing gives me youth. My feeling for skiing run deep, I have stoke. I want her to take her stoke to the next level. I gave her a couple of places to think about beyond Salt Lake City.
We talked about Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman is a cool college town and sits on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman is just a bigger version of Boone, NC. Bridger Ski Mountain is 30 minutes from the center of town. Bridger is a locals mountain with big mountain skiing. Another resort is Big Sky, which is 45 minutes to the South and is growing like a weed. Is Big Sky the Next Aspen? Not sure yet. But Yellowstone Resort with its private club and big money sits mixed in next to Big Sky. The wealth is there to drive Big Sky to the next level. Big Sky could stay some what affordable while the wealth goes to Yellowstone.
Another great little ski town is Crested Butte and living in Gunnison. Gunnison is small affordable college town that was about 35 minutes from great riding in a good snow season. Gunnison could be the answer to her riding ambitions.
I have also been to Sand Point Idaho this past winter and Schweitzer was like a blown up Sugar Mountain where she was skiing. Sand Point is pretty remote and might be a little harder to deal with, but work could be done in Coer d’Alene or Spokane and then commute to Schweitzer Mountain or even into Canada on longer trips. Definitely a challenge, but unless you have financial resources there are always sacrifices. Schweitzer Mtn Id
I looked at her video, I realized her skill level is on the learning side, but Sarah is athletic and would take to the challenge of better snowboard park features. She just needs to move out West…. so easy to say and difficult to do.
But what struck me over and over was her passion— stoke for riding. She inspired me and I truly hope she is able to match her ability to work as a physicians assistant with her desire to learn to ride at the next level. Balancing your stoke for life with whatever you passion is with your ability to pay the bills is really the goal for most of us. When we are in balance, life is just happier.
