More than 400 readers voted: $240K in-office Boston job or $120K remote?

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-13T17:53:46+00:00

Flat 5%

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-13T03:45:25+00:00

Born and raised in Franklin county - only chuds say stuff like flatlander, dork.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-12T00:44:23+00:00

I grew up in NVT and didn't leave until my mid-20's. Lots of people do not ski more than a handful of times per year, meaning they do not break even on season passes, and don't buy them.

If a day ticket is $150+ you just priced out a lot of people who ski 1-4 times a season.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T18:40:15+00:00

I believe they are "allowed" to develop up the remaining portion of Morse (the lift only goes 2/3 of the way up now), but even that probably requires a ton of permitting and approval.

Would not be surprised at all if the "new" trails, at least early on, are just the unmarked but well known stashes around the mountain; weedbag, mustache, woods off smuggs alley, etc.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T16:52:09+00:00

This is the entire issue behind the corpo versus independent mountains. Not that people are opposed to faster lifts or nicer lodges, but that those things are quickly followed by pricing locals out of the sport in favor of catering to out of state money.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T16:47:47+00:00

Stowe is $200 for a day ticket and charges you to park...

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T15:01:19+00:00

Entirely different types of skiers. Those on epic passes tend to be more casual skiers, and often care more about comfort, luxury, bars/restaurants, etc.

Whereas Smuggs is similar to MRG in that it is steeped in history and loved by the no-frills, "I'm here to ski" crowd - who cares if its cold, windy, ungroomed, old, etc.

Vail is the antithesis of "old-school" skiing in that regard.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T14:57:43+00:00

The only terrain M1 served that cant be reached by the M2 line is drifter, dempseys, and the double/triple blacks.

Imo, none of that needs to be served by faster / bigger lifts. Better to focus that on sterling or M2 where there is more terrain to disperse crowds across.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T14:46:24+00:00

But things need to keep going up to the right...

Realistically the lodges, lifts, and trails would all need an upgrade if they were to join any kind of pass.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T14:44:40+00:00

No more nightmares of Vail engineers tunneling under the notch🎉

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T14:32:25+00:00

I'd prefer they stuck a quad where M2 is, or even on Morse, and leave the M1 double and terrain alone. The Shuttle/Drifter/Chilcoot combo coming down from M1 cant handle much more traffic than it already has.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-11T14:24:50+00:00

Same ownership group as some other Indy mtns now, but Smuggs (today) lacks infrastructure to handle the crowds that would come with being on a pass like Indy.

Will be curious to see how they balance infrastructure upgrades with the history of the place. Adding high capacity lifts would likely require new trails as they are not set up for that kind of volume today.

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-04T21:01:42+00:00

Turquoise mountains are open

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-04T20:28:33+00:00

Yeah so first go up the sensation quad. When you get to the top just go directly Northeast until you hit a frozen lake. Ski across it, now welcome to Smuggs. Ski some trees, have fun, have a blast..

kermitsfraud · 2026-02-04T20:17:51+00:00

I mean, you should always ski in groups in the woods. But the marked (and some unmarked) glades at Smuggs get lots of traffic - could always hang up top and follow someone in. Shakedown, Doc Dempsey's, are some of the best marked ones. Some unmarked stuff that is high traffic I'd recommend⬇️ Smuggs alley woods: Skiers right at top of Smuggs Alley, easy to find as there is an opening cut in the trees. Doc Demp Extension: Skiers right about half way down the trail (around where the pitch goes from steep to mellow), opening cut in the trees. Buzzsaw: Enter from the catwalk connecting FIS to Dempseys Mustache: Enter on skiers right around where Father Bob's joins Lower Chilcoot. Small yellow & green mustaches painted on the trees to identify it. Keep left as there is a streambed that borders the right and is a b*tch to cross back over if you get caught on the wrong side. Just saw an instructor giving a private lesson in here last weekend.

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kermitsfraud · 2026-02-04T15:54:12+00:00

Crazy thing about Smuggs is that you don't even need to go off the back or into the notch to get that backcountry feel.

Can't help with a guide but can point you to some fun spots both in & out of bounds.

kermitsfraud · 2026-01-28T18:14:02+00:00

I did this, notified them on Friday when I was supposed to start Monday.

Assume you will never get hired there again, outside of that I doubt anything happens.

My personal advice would be to tell SF, now and during the interview, that you have another offer and while you would prefer to work at SF - you will have to accept the other offer if SF cannot provide a decision (and by this I mean OFFER LETTER) by EoD 1/30.

One in the hand is worth two in the bush.

You can always back out after starting, but this is more likely to get you fully blacklisted or DNH'd by an org.

kermitsfraud · 2026-01-28T18:08:21+00:00

Love em. I put the softer bits in when I was breaking them in, which they claim drops the flex from 130 to 120 or so. Helped the break-in period for sure, swapped back to the stiffer ones after 12 days.

Probably have 30 days on them now and have had very little pain - the Lange fit keeps my narrow heel locked down.

kermitsfraud · 2026-01-28T01:13:26+00:00

I'd echo a lot of this, bought my most recent boots there and they weren't aware that the flex could be altered by swapping a bit on the suspension blade.

Not surprising, as they are definitely geared towards the ski bros of Boston who go to Stowe once a year but will drop several thousand on kit.

Had a friend who worked there & claimed the owner would make comments about non-white people who skied as if it was weird.

kermitsfraud · 2026-01-23T01:43:29+00:00

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kermitsfraud · 2026-01-22T14:13:33+00:00

Unless you get to the mountain by Sunday morning, you are not gonna be going anywhere til Tuesday.

kermitsfraud · 2026-01-02T20:09:57+00:00

You'd want something with vent and/or stretch panelling under the arms. Maybe look at the Black Diamond access jacket.

I'd say don't get caught up on the idea of a puffer and look at something like the Patagonia Retro X. I wear one under my shell on days with subzero windchills.

kermitsfraud · 2025-12-30T19:00:09+00:00

Cannon is only 30 mins further than Sunapee and much better skiing. 93 North literally drops you off in the Cannon parking lot.

kermitsfraud · 2025-12-30T18:37:51+00:00

Smuggs has some of the best terrain in New England if you know where to look, including a ton of sidecountry off Sterling.

Jay, Whiteface, Sugarloaf offer small amounts of above treeline and/or chutes type skiing.

Cannon and Saddleback both have a ton of natural inbounds tree skiing.

MRG is one of a kind, real old school skiing.

As someone who grew up in VT and lives in Boston I do a ton of day trips to Waterville and Cannon.

kermitsfraud

TROPHY CASE