http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/blog/_/post/5989402/investigating-whitefish?as
Having lived in Whitefish for nearly a decade now, it's hard for me to believe how well known Montana's Flathead Valley has become. Whitefish Mountain Resort was just featured by ESPN for the incredible skiing, low-key admosphere and relatively crowd-free lift lines. Wait a minute! Relatively crowd free? I waited for 10 minutes over the holiday weekend! That's not crowd free!
When my family and I originally moved here, one of the things that was a great draw was the lack of crowds (I know, ironic that I went into real estate, right?). It seems now, however, that everyone wants to be here, or at least that how it feels to me, who is used to skiing into the lift line and basically right onto the chair. Like Yogi Berra says "Nobody goes to there anymore, it's too crowded." But, having been an agent who has almost made it through one of the toughest markets of all time, I am grateful and WELCOME the crowds with open arms. After all, it's the buyers that allow us to enjoy the careers we do. Without them, myself and several of my colleagues would be out of work permanently. And the lift lines, for all the complaining the "locals" (transplants, myself included) do, the lift lines ARE relatively un-crowded. In fact, though 10 minutes may be a long time for those of us who don't vacation here, it's really nothing compared to most other Rocky Mountain ski areas around the holidays.
And when you really think about it, what's occuring right now all over the entire intermountain west, in a way, is a great migration. People are flocking by the tens-of-thousands every year from the cities where they retire in search of a different way of life. A lifestyle, if you will, away from real crowds and the constant buzz of the city. All they want is the same thing all of us do who live here. And why shouldn't they?! I moved here from a big city to "get away" and that's exactly what they're after.
So now (and I'm talking to ALL you resort property agents) when you're sitting in "traffic," or waiting at the chairlift for 10 minutes or standing in line at the grocery store...take a deep breath and remind yourself that you LIVE where most people VACATION! And that, plus the fact that many of these people will become buyers, should help you make it through another season of "out-of-towners" with nothing but a HUGE grin. You live in a spectacular place and as an agent, you ought to be ENTHUSIASTIC about where you live! After all, if you're not enthusiastic about it, then how can you expect your clients to be?
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