Should I move to Juneau AK?

**danmelon** · 09-25-2014, 12:33 PM

You guys!

I'm pretty new here, so Hi! I live in Montreal Canada. Skied as a child. Fell in love with snowboarding at an early age and live for it. Skateboard every day in the summer to deal with my standing sideways addiction. Have never shredded big ass mountains (i.e: rockies or alps) yet. Have mainly been relegated to Quebec and Vermont ski hills..

I am looking for opportunities to relocated to the pacific north west to live and work (not the purpose of this post) and I may have an opportunity to live and work in Juneau AK.

While there are some places that I would move to tomorrow if the opportunity presented itself, the opportunity to move to AK has me second guessing myself because of the distance and cost of living.

Wondering if anyone on this forum has an opinion on this? Is it a nice place to visit (probably!)? Would you pick up and move there for the shred (hmmm?)?

Thanks TGR Forum.

Dan.

**irul&ublo** · 09-25-2014, 01:09 PM

I heard the peeler bars are a lot better in Montreal.

**grrrr** · 09-25-2014, 02:32 PM

Small, isolated, shitty weather, expensive, good fishing, bears, glaciers, forest.

/thread.

**Harry** · 09-25-2014, 02:35 PM

AK Rover lives there.

/thread

**danmelon** · 09-25-2014, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by irul&ublo

I heard the peeler bars are a lot better in Montreal.

Never been to Juneay... but you're 100% right

**El Chupacabra** · 09-25-2014, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by grrrr

Small, isolated, shitty weather, expensive, good fishing, bears, glaciers, forest.

/thread.

You forgot the chemtrails.

And the ebola.

**danmelon** · 09-25-2014, 02:43 PM

Thanks y'all. Gonna go with my gut on this and probably consider it a nice place to visit.

**danmelon** · 09-25-2014, 02:48 PM

BTW this should have been posted in "padded room" newbie mistake.

**Meadow Skipper** · 09-25-2014, 04:45 PM

Call me names, but I'd much rather live in Juneau than Montreal.

But I like mountains and wilderness and fishing and wildlife and I don't like cities. Peeler bars - I'll give the edge to Montreal on that one.

**HansJob** · 09-25-2014, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by danmelon

Wondering if anyone on this forum has an opinion on this? Is it a nice place to visit (probably!)? Would you pick up and move there for the shred (hmmm?)?

I did and do not regret it. Not Juneau tho. If moisture isn't your thing, you won't be happy.

**irul&ublo** · 09-25-2014, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

You forgot the chemtrails.

And the ebola.

And the FULL BLOWN AIDS!!

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

**the_big_lepowski** · 09-25-2014, 07:52 PM

Juneau is effing rad. End of story

**Mike_Records** · 09-25-2014, 08:46 PM

Go for it. Alaska is a great adventure. Juneau will be fun for at least a year, though I'm sure its not for everybody forever. AKPM, is always raving about Eaglecrest too.

Plus, once you're in Alaska its a lot easier to find jobs as companies are scared of hiring people from the outside. I live in Anchorage and would highly recommend that too: acceptable ski area, great BC, great job opportunities, 1.0:1.0 male to female, reasonable cost of living.

**Bluebird** · 09-25-2014, 09:15 PM

Eaglecrest is rad. It rains sometimes. Living here is an awesome adventure.

**Black Ops Valdez** · 09-26-2014, 12:13 AM

Hey Dan,

I live in Valdez, AK, and have spent many years in Juneau. First thing is first, Alaska is breath taking and very unique. Juneau is one of those places you might want to visit before you pick up and move there. Eagle Crest does have some pretty incredible skiing, WHEN it is good. The sidecountry is great, spine skiing right out of bounds off the lifts. On the downside when it is bad, it is bad. It rains a lot there, around 250 days a year I would say. They tend to get warmer weather because of the close proximity to the ocean, as well as they are pretty far south. It is also very isolated, ie you can't drive into Juneau. The only way to get there is by plane or boat. I won't say weather you should move there or not, but just wanted to say those few things. I have faith whatever your decision ends up being, it will be the right one. Best of Luck,

-BOV

**~mikey b** · 09-26-2014, 12:26 AM

Juneau is good.

**dschane** · 09-26-2014, 12:32 AM

Great town, great community, ~ 90" rain per year can be tough, esp. in the fall when it rains the most, but easy access to great skiing, great hiking, decent climbing, decent ice, decent mtn biking, and world-class sea kayaking. Very good fishing and hunting -- great if you have access to a boat. The politics of this state are buttface backwards (though Juneau is evenly divided), and the housing market (rentals and sales) is overpriced.

The snowpack is generally what you'd expect of a maritime climate -- it can be heavy and wet, and it can also be creamy and smooth. And if it dumps 16", you might get a day in before temps climb to 40 degrees and rain falls (after which it can be outright miserable and dangerous) or you might get 5-10 days of clear, cold whether and plenty of places to keep finding untracked goodness.

We just went through record rainfall for June, July, and August. What that means for the winter is anybody's guess.

What's the gig, if you don't mind sharing?

**Chugachjed** · 09-26-2014, 08:25 AM

Like drinking? Juneau is a great town for it.

**swissiphic** · 09-26-2014, 08:56 AM

Just in case you wanna stay in Canada and still be a pacific northwestian...don't overlook Terrace, B.C. 20 000 ish population, local ski hill Shames Mtn. is co-op run and is a nice little pow mountain with awesome backcountry. Located just on the drier/colder location of the coast mtns make rain events less common than on the coast...they still happen and the snow can be coastal but not as bad as true coast. Splitboard necessary to access the sidecountry/backcountry stuff if you're standing sideways. Heliski operation (Northern Escape) based in town and three other heliski operations within a 4 hour drive. Cat skiing 3 hour drive. Really great local community; not a bro/brah scene, just real and down to earth (or snow). The ocean is a 40 minute drive away (kitimat) or 1.5 hours (prince rupert) Good mtn. biking, hiking, 4 seasons, somewhat dry and sometimes hot summers lately. Town's in a kindofa boom economy right now so rent and finding a decent accoms can be a challenge...the same boom economy makes jobs prospects good, especially if you're in any construction/technical field or looking for driving/labor type jobs and/or willing to work in remote camps. Only issue I personally have with the town is that it's pretty industrial in feel (lots of jacked up trucks and aggro construction mentality), and there's no aesthetic for the town planning...the downtown is strip malls and ugly. But that's not why we live here. Surrounded by mountains 360 degrees and just look up all summer long and oggle all the ski lines you backcountry skied last winter. Juneau is beautiful and more pleasing to the eye, townsite wise...bring your own culture if you move to Terrace. Since garyfromterrace moved away, the culture of Terrace left with him.

SB · 09-26-2014, 09:14 AM

Gonna go out on a limb and say ebola won't make it to AK

**scarlet begonias** · 09-26-2014, 10:58 AM

Juneau is great. People are nice, it's mind blowingly gorgeous, skiing is great, fishing/crabbing is great. Housing is limited and super spendy but not the end of the world. The hardest part to overcome for me has been the wet summers and lack of good restaurants. But if you just realize you have to get outside and do stuff regardless of rain that helps. Give it a shot for a year, what do you have to lose? It's bound to be an adventure and great experience.

**skiing-in-jackson** · 09-26-2014, 02:00 PM

[QUOTE=irul&ublo;4315855]I heard the peeler bars[/QUOTE

New term for me. Funny.

**Gravity's Gone** · 09-26-2014, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by danmelon

Thanks y'all. Gonna go with my gut on this and probably consider it a nice place to visit.

It is a nice place to visit. Like lots of places . . . that you'll never visit. What everyone said pro/con seems spot on, but think of the bigger picture. If you can move somewhere beautiful and unusual and different now, then do it. I'm biased b/c I lived in SE Alaska for a year. The rain was oppressive. I drank too much. But it was great. It's one of those choices that I think about often. It's opened doors in strange ways way down the line -- it was an interesting experience that helped me connect with other interesting people. Your next move can be to somewhere with lots of sunshine and dry snow.

**Micol** · 09-26-2014, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by danmelon

BTW this should have been posted in "padded room" newbie mistake.

that's jong jong

**MMP** · 09-26-2014, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by scarlet begonias

Juneau is great. People are nice, it's mind blowingly gorgeous, skiing is great, fishing/crabbing is great. Housing is limited and super spendy but not the end of the world. The hardest part to overcome for me has been the wet summers and lack of good restaurants. But if you just realize you have to get outside and do stuff regardless of rain that helps. Give it a shot for a year, what do you have to lose? It's bound to be an adventure and great experience.

If you post any more salmon and crab pictures I may drive there and silence you......