Moving West. Advice needed

[RanOutofTalent]

I am looking at moving west as a travel nurse. I have a list of cities and would like advice on which might best suit me. I have been riding in the mountains for a handful of years. Have my own sled and safety gear. I will be moving out for at least 6 months. I want to be within a few hours, or less, of good riding and hopefully enjoy the city I live in. I currently live in Michigan.
Here is a list of the available hospitals I can work at:

St James Healthcare – Butte MT
St Vincent Healthcare – Billings MT
St Peters Hospital – Helena MT
West Park Hospital – Cody WY
Franciscan St Clare Hospital – Lakewood WA
Highline Medical Center – Burien WA
St Mary’s Medical Center – Walla Walla WA
Valley Hospital and Medical Center – Spokane WA
Valley Medical Center – Renton WA
Central Washington Hospital – Wenatchee WA
Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital – Aurora CO
PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center – Bellingham WA
Providence Regional Medical Center – Everett WA


Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I am greatly looking forward to moving west and riding once a week instead of only a few times a season.

 

[NWaxys]

West

Our company is based out of a town close to Wenatchee.. No I'm not trying to get you to become a customer just helping you out. We guide and give ride clinics for back country. There's 15-20 spots w in 1 hour or less of me. If you don't know the area it will be difficult but there's nice people around and lots of groups to ride with that have all experience levels.. Washington has lots to offer in the sled world. Pm or call any time 509-88-5136, ride cascade..

 

[kiliki]

if your doing it just for the sledding i would base it off of snow quality and access then pair that with the location.

 

[goridedoo]

Snow quality will be much better in Montana. I dont know alot about either city, but both Helena and Butte are less than 2 hours from great riding, and within 6 hours its pretty endless. Northern Montana is BEAUTIFUL, I do know that.

 

[hilpulr]

Depends on what size city you want to live in. Butte and Helena are smaller cities(which i would choose to live in) Billings is larger - but closer to Cooke City. Spokane Wa is larger yet! Those are the cities that i know and have been in. What do you like to do in the off season? Did you look into St Patricks or Community Medical in Missoula?

 

[toyotamobbin]

I live in Wenatchee and it is a good place to base your self out of, it's right in the middle of the state so you are an equal distance from Spokane to Seattle. There's 15-20 spots around here with the farthest one being about 2 1/2 hours away if the roads are clear. We get a lot of snow in Washington, Stevens pass averages about 400 inches a year. It is a wetter heavy snow compared Colorado blower pow though. My first ride this year was November 20th and we have enough snow to ride into late April most years. If you like to travel it's only a 6 1/2 hour drive to Revelstoke and Whistler BC, McCall Id, Halfway OR.

 

[summ8rmk]

Central washington.
There is only ~4ft left but i am still riding. May not be enough for a June ride this year because of the above normal temps the last 2 months.
Definitely heavier snow than the Rockies.

GS6

 

[RanOutofTalent]

I like to fish, mountain bike, and workout in my spare time im not riding. I prefer the smalle cities as well due to the hospitals being a little smaller and more personal. I do know know much about the snow quality besides where I have ridden at Togwotee. I am going to look more into the cities you guys have suggested. How is Cody, Wy and Auroa, CO as far as riding and access go?

 

[RanOutofTalent]

I have not received any offers for St Patricks or Community Medical in Missoula. I will speak to my recruiter tomorrow and see what is available.

 

[toyotamobbin]

I like to fish, mountain bike, and workout in my spare time im not riding. I prefer the smalle cities as well due to the hospitals being a little smaller and more personal. I do know know much about the snow quality besides where I have ridden at Togwotee. I am going to look more into the cities you guys have suggested. How is Cody, Wy and Auroa, CO as far as riding and access go?

Lots of fishing, hunting, Mountian biking, hiking, lakes, rivers all around the pnw. Wenatchee is a smallish town but it has high housing costs due to so many people wanting to move here. We get around 300 days of sunshine a year on the east side of the cascades unlike Seattle, perfect for all the outdoor activities we have here.

 

[Solarguy]

Montana is an incredible place, the fishing, mountain biking and sledding are world class! Can't go wrong with Helena or Butte.

 

[inspector01]

Bellingham, Everett, or Wenatchee are all good choices. Tons of riding within 1-2 hrs, easy access to BC, and usually a 6-7 month riding season.

 

[eddy]

Move?

Optimum quality of life, snowmobile & mountain bike opportunities and cost of living: makes this list give one real good answer. And its a little like Michigan to boot:
PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center – Bellingham WA

 

[NWaxys]

Washington

There's a lot of good riding in Washington. Mt baker holds world record snowfall for a season. North to north central Washington cascades see lots of snow. I'm 30 min north Wenatchee and I have 15 or more spots with in less than a hour drive.... Baker is 3 hours, and a couple more spots with in a few hours for those days we wanna go away from home or storm chase. We just took our last ride few days ago... And this was a lower snow year than normal plus got hot this spring. If you know where to sled here you can find that soft baby powder..... Good luck hope to see you round. Montana won't disappoint either trust me!

 

[MrIQR]

I couldn't imagine living west of the cascades in Washington, quality of life if much better east.

 

[diamonddave]

I am looking at moving west as a travel nurse. I have a list of cities and would like advice on which might best suit me. I have been riding in the mountains for a handful of years. Have my own sled and safety gear. I will be moving out for at least 6 months. I want to be within a few hours, or less, of good riding and hopefully enjoy the city I live in. I currently live in Michigan.
Here is a list of the available hospitals I can work at:

St James Healthcare – Butte MT
St Vincent Healthcare – Billings MT
St Peters Hospital – Helena MT
West Park Hospital – Cody WY
Franciscan St Clare Hospital – Lakewood WA
Highline Medical Center – Burien WA
St Mary’s Medical Center – Walla Walla WA
Valley Hospital and Medical Center – Spokane WA
Valley Medical Center – Renton WA
Central Washington Hospital – Wenatchee WA
Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital – Aurora CO
PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center – Bellingham WA
Providence Regional Medical Center – Everett WA


Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I am greatly looking forward to moving west and riding once a week instead of only a few times a season.

So I live very close to a few of these places in Washington IE Renton, Burien (stay away from Burien), Lakewood, Everett. These are all on the west side of the state.

Everett would be cool (I work there) it would put you close to Mt. Baker and the I-90 Corridor. This would put you 60-90 minutes away from great riding and close enough to BC to make it even more appetizing.

One thing to consider is the cost of living, housing is much more expensive than Eastern WA or Montana, etc.. IE Wenatchee, Spokane, Walla Walla.

So unless the money is better then I'd stick to Eastern WA or Montana.

Helena would be out for me. Just a little too far from good riding. Cody Wyoming would be very nice.

I am probably very biased but I would pick the Everett site. The west side is much more cooler than Eastern WA. Too hot for me. We hardly ever need AC in Western WA.

 

[RanOutofTalent]

Thank you for all the really great advice everyone. I am waiting on my recruiter to get me the pay amounts the second week of June as that is the time all the hospitals that were listed put out there fall contract demands. I will be making my decision once I get that list and can see what will be the best option in terms of pay and location combination. I am definitely willing to sacrifice a little pay for a better location but only to an extent. I am really excited to be able to go from riding a few a year to whenever I am not working and can find someone to ride with.

 

[AZ800]

I'll limit my responses to WA and CO as I've never ridden in MT, save for a little around West Yellowstone (the town, drunk on New Years Eve once, lol!) and my WY riding is limited to the Snowies (which is as close to Denver as many CO areas) and Togwotee, which kicks @ss!

WA, been here 4 of the last 5 winters. There are tones of areas to ride within a 1-3 hour drive of Everett, Bellingham or Seattle. Cost of living in Seattle is nuts right now too, watch out... My riding time is limited by family work, travel for work, etc. So consistent snow and options for that when I can ride is pretty important.
Couple of those years, the snow sucked bad, when there was some. Throw those out and, in general, unless you know the cool kids with the high altitude secret honey holes, or ride Baker all the time, you generally only get freshies the day of and day after it snows. May be 10' of snow, but you could take a short track a lot of places 3 days after a storm because most of the snow is so wet, it settles in hard and quickly. Been rained on skiing and snomobiling more in the 20? times I've ridden in WA than the last 20 years combined in the Rockies.
This year was the exception. Got 4 or 5 rides in and EVERY one was a powder day even though some of the powder would hurt if you got hit with a shovel full...heavy. Had a good snow year and the timing was right.
That said, I would take WA if the job opportunity is right, because you will get some good riding in. Also, it's almost all steep n trees, so plan on Burandting everywhere except Baker or get a snowbike! lol

Colorado, I'd say has as good of riding as anywhere west of the Mississippi. But working in Aurora, puts you living on the E side of Denver somewhere presumably and the distance to riding combined with the I 70 clusterfvck EVERY weekend morning and night when the ski resorts are open makes it a challenge, but worth it if you're the kind of person who don't mind hitting the road at 5am on a Sat to ride and hitting a brewery after wards til 8 or 9 when the traffic calms down. Drive time from Aurora, no traffic 2-4 hours. Further you get from Denver, less crowds.
Best snow, huge areas, many of them you get 30 min from the truck and have the place to yourself with fresh snow and few to no tracks a week after a storm. (To be fair, there's a lot of areas that get pounded out the first day and it looks like a snocross race in the parking lot too.)
Doesn't sound like you're moving somewhere for good, so any of the 4 states have a lot to offer compared to ditchbanging snirt in the Midwest.
He!!, I'd look at the long range forecast for each area too. It can have as much impact on your riding as all the other factors if you only got 1 season there.