The 7 Best Dirtbag Ski Resorts

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dirtbags
Miles Clark, Sr. (right), Uncle Bug, and Penny in the 1970s in CA. photo: snowbrains.com

 

Urban Dictionary’s definition of “Dirtbag”

A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle. Dirtbags can be distinguished from hippies by the fact that dirtbags have a specific reason for their living communally and generally non-hygenically; dirtbags are seeking to spend all of their moments pursuing their lifestyle.
One important feature of a dirtbag is total commitment to their sport plus the necessity to spend low amounts of money.  These are the best ski resorts for people who fall into this category:
ski japan powder
If this is the reward, the lack of hygiene doesn’t worry a true dirtbag. photo: zach paley/snowbrains

THE 7 BEST DIRTBAG SKI RESORTS

by TheClymb.com

GRAND TARGHEE, WY

For­get for a moment all those adver­tise­ments about Utah. The best snow in my opin­ion is in Wyoming. This is not the place for peo­ple who like to ski groomers though, as groomed runs are prac­ti­cally non-existent here. The locals don’t even show up unless there’s at least 10″ of fresh snow because it hap­pens so often. For pow­der hounds, this place is heaven. Because of its remote­ness, very few peo­ple come here. Most peo­ple go to Jack­son hole, which is on the other side of the moun­tain range, and doesn’t get all the good snow dumps like Grand Targhee. They get more than 500 inches of snow annu­ally and with over 2,200 ver­ti­cal feet, it’s hard to not nab your own first tracks. – TheClymb.com

JAY PEAK, VT

BEAR MOUN­TAIN, CA

MOUNT SHASTA, CA

RED LODGE, MT

BRIDGER BOWL, MT

POW­DER­HORN, CO

Where is your preferred dirtbag ski resort location?


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19 thoughts on “The 7 Best Dirtbag Ski Resorts

  1. Bear Mountain?! ! Smoking crack. No expert terrain- groomed intermediate runs- and a bunch of wanna bees.

    Mt. Baldy, Calif.

    1. I third this. This was the first mountain I worked at and learned to ride at. Definitely the king of dirt bag resorts.

  2. Ski Bowl; MT Hood, OR.
    When Ski Bowl has snow, the $122 night season pass makes this a dirtbaggers dream come true. I have had nights on the upper bowl where there were 8 of us doing laps in 12″ of fresh.

    1. BowlSki is THE BEST!! Not a lot of terrain but what they have is sooooo fun! Really fun mom and pop atmosphere, too. In a good snow year that place is the best on the mountain.

  3. No reasons stated for the other 6 resorts?

    I agree Targhee should be high on the list. Red Mt. too. Jay and Bridger are reasonable choices, the others rather flawed as ski areas to spend a whole season. In particular:
    Mt, Shasta is a backcountry Mecca in spring but the the lift served ski area is low, flat and small.
    Bear Mt. is “urban skiing” at it’s most congested, sort of the Hunter Mt. of CA. It’s possible the writer meant Bear Valley in the central Sierra rather than Bear Mt. at Big Bear Lake.

    Some other suggestions with good snow and/or challenging terrain and remote location to keep living costs down:
    Wolf Creek, CO
    Castle Mt., AB
    Discovery, MT
    Powder Mt., UT
    Brundage, ID

  4. Mad River Glen. Single chair, wool pants, telemarkers that rip, lodge called a “base box”. Oh, and it’s a co-op, so actually owned by dirt bags.

  5. True dirtbags/skibums know that mammoth and arapahoe basin are the best as they offer the longest seasons. Squaws alright too.

    1. Dirtbag, the need to not spend money!! Dirtbags in vail are really trust funders!

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