Glorious life, awesome powder skiing, living like a rock star. Great friendships, easy living, money and exposure. Travelling around the globe, dangerous moments, unexpected situations. Is that the life of a skibum? Well, some things might be true, some not. Let’s find out. This article talks about the life of skibums, those free radicals of skiing surrounded by glory and fame. Hah! What an introduction to an article..

I am sitting at my tiny student appartment in Hel(l)sinki, reading Skimbaaja (Finnish skiing magazine) and listening to Sting. I am surrounded by skis, boots, snowboards, mountain equipment, ropes and various camping equipment. I am reading an article of Jarkko Henttonen, a Finnish extreme snowboarder. He had discovered Chamonix in 1995 and was speding his season in there again. The year is 1997 and I am preparing my first trip to Chamonix, straight to headquarter of European backcountry skiing. I am becoming a full-day skibum. It has been my dream for years and now it is happening. I am very excited.

That was already ten years ago and the article I was reading on that day was about Jarkko Henttonen and his mates spending seasons in Chamonix. Many of those guys are now my friends but on that day I did not know any of them. I remember reading the article with great interest and appreciation. I admired those guys. They were living their lives exactly as I had wanted. A life of a skibum and skiing big mountains had been somehow a glorious dream for me. I come from Finland where many of the ski resorts are 5500 cm. high. Yes, you read it correct, 55 meters! (ok, there are some exceptions) So you can probably understand that skiing backcountries of French Alps was a kind of heaven for me.

So I got myself to Chamonix in January 1997. I was a newbie and I was excited and a bit afraid. I quickly found myself skiing fabulous powder and damn steep and icy couloirs with very skillful and experienced skiers. I had found what was looking for. I was at home. Heh.. Sounds a bit sugar? Let’s not talk about my history anymore; it’s not too interesting in fact. Instead I will now focus into the life of a skibum. Let’s define our questions first in order to have some scope. Three questions should be enough this time.

1. Being a skibum, is it a hobby or a way of life?
2. Is it that glorious?
3. How can one become a skibum?

Pretty wide questions, but let’s continue. This is not a research, so there is no need to be that exact.

Being a skibum is definitely a way of life. It is about great passion, attitude and dedication. As a skibum you are highly motivated in skiing and you are willing to dedicate months to skiing year after year. You spend all your money to it and you are not afraid of travelling far from home. You are ready to face new and unexpected situations, even dificult ones. You dedicate your life to skiing for many weeks or months and you do it 100% every single day. It is a way of life that can give you huge amounts of joy and experiences you remember the rest of your life. Not to forget the long lasting friendships it can give you.

Some folks might think that being a skibum is somehow glorious. Well, it is not. Mountaineering and backcountry skiing is of course fabulous and up there in the moutains you might feel priviliged, but being a skibum has nothing to do with being famous (unless you happen to be famous). It is just living your life as you want and dedicating your time to skiing. It is about great friendships and fantastic moments up in the mountains and in valleys. It is about living together with your friends in an unbelievable tiny appartment in pretty aschetic way. Every single dollar you make is spent for rents, food, ski passes, insurance, and equipment and of course, beer and red wine. It is not glorious and you won’t become famous, but you can experience something that most of the people will never experience. So, what is a typical day schedule of a skibum? There are various answers, of course, but this one comes from my practical experience.

06:00 early birds go running
07:00 powder alarm! Wake-up, shower (if you got time), breakfast, finding your socks, boots, gloves, goggles.. It can be a nightmare when you share a 24 square meters appartment with 10-12 other skiers. Yes, that is true.
07:30 driving to the skilifts
08:00 first few turns, skiing down to a glacier, approaching a mountain face
09:00 climbing a mountain face, skiing it down
13:00 lunch on a glacier and then back to skiing, may be some forest powder or a nice steep couloir
18:00 driving back to valley
18:30 to the bar.. You just killed the mountain, now take it relaxed and enjoy some beer
20:00 dinner at home with all other grazy dudes
21:00 playing games, drinking beer, calculating math, sleeping..

Calculating math?! Yes, exactly. Some skiers spend their evenings by preparing for the university entrance exams. There are as many schedules as there are skibums. My schedule was pretty much like that back in 1999. We went running in the morning because I wanted stay in good condition. 1999 was a dream season. We usually did not wake up if there was not fresh snow. It was a powder season number one. We went skiing the whole day, either in slopes or in backcountries. We climbed a lot and spent time in glaciers.

Are you considering becoming a skibum? If yes, I have only two words for you. Do it! For me those years (1997-2001) were so fantastic that I even see dreams about it after many years. It was my dream come true and I am very glad I went to Chamonix on 1997. As beginners without a guide we took many high risks and we were in troubles few times, but luckily nothing serious happened. I must point out that risks in the mountains can be high if you are unexperienced and you have no guide. If you have no money to hire a guide (as we never had) you should find experienced skiers who are willing to take you with them. That might not be easy, but it is your insurance. Don’t ever, never go to mountains alone! Oh, and you need information. Read books and talk with experienced people.

This was a story of being a skibum. I hope this article gave you some insights of that kind of way of life. Being a skibum is a way of life that can give you experiences you never forget. Did you like this article? Was it helpful? Have you got similar or different experiences? Your comments are warmly welcome! You might also consider subscribing to our RSS feed. By that you can easily read our articles from your favourite RSS reader.