One of the hardest things about being a ski bum is the day you decide you’re no longer going to be a ski bum. That’s what Ben Leoni was faced with several years ago when he decided to leave his job at the Alta Lodge in Utah to go to law school.
“When I was ski bumming, I was moving four times a year, so I was ready for more stability in my life,” Leoni says. “At the same time, I was obsessed with skiing. Skiing a hundred days a year is where I wanted to be, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen anymore.”
Ben Leoni, working… Screen grab from WFTW
Leoni has since graduated from Vermont Law School and is now entering his fourth year as an attorney for the Portland, Maine, law firm Curtis Thaxter. But his obsession with skiing hasn’t waned. These days Leoni spends his weekdays in the law office and his weekends backcountry skiing throughout the Northeast. For the past two winters, he has documented his lifestyle for a web series by Ski the East called “Working for the Weekend.”
In the first episode of the second season, Leoni, who skied for Vermont-based Meathead Films (producers of the series) all through law school, laments that his work schedule has been cutting into his ski time. He still managed 30 days last winter—not bad for a lawyer, but down from 40 the season before. He said that number could drop even further this year.
With disregard for TLC, Leoni spends most weekends chasing waterfalls. Screen grab from WFTW
“I’m embarrassed to say I only have two days so far in February,” Leoni says. As the Northeast region dug out from successive storms, Leoni was preparing for his first solo trial. Now that he’s survived that, he expects to be able to start enjoying his weekends again. He leaves Saturday, Feb. 21, for a vacation in the Chic Choc Mountains in Quebec, where he will continue filming for Season 3 of “Working for the Weekend.”
Leoni also sees the light at the end of the tunnel long term. As he becomes more established at Curtis Thaxter—and as he becomes better at his job—he believes he’ll be able to manage more time off. “I’m a new lawyer, so things just take me longer,” he says. “As I learn to be more efficient, I’ll be able to work less and ski more.”
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