Featured Image: Noah Wetzel
Since the resurgence of freestyle skiing in the late 90s, the Wasatch mountain range has attracted skiers from far and wide, both professional and amateur, for the lifestyle and access it provides. With an international airport, a state university and seven ski areas all within one hour of the Salt Lake and Park City, the Wasatch truly offers the best of all worlds.
Professional skiers Dash Longe and Daimon Bushi were quick to catch on and both moved to the area in 2004 from Tahoe, California, and Boise, Idaho, respectively. Shortly after relocating, the two met skiing—go figure—and quickly forged a friendship that would later parlay into a successful business venture together.
In 2005, Bushi began taking real estate courses while also training to make it on the U.S. Olympic moguls team. Longe continued solely focusing on skiing and started filming with Teton Gravity Research, which he continued to do for over a decade. In 2009, Bushi shelved his Olympic goals and dove head-first into the real estate world—at one of the worst possible times for the market.
“If I could make it through that, I could make it in this profession,” laughs Bushi. “When the market came back, doors opened and I started a boutique brokerage [in Park City].”
SKIER: Dash Longe
PHOTO: Rocko Menzyk
For Longe, the transition to real estate didn’t happen so inherently. After years of putting off the inevitable, his wife became pregnant with their second child and the pressure to figure out another career with a more secure income hit an all-time high.
“It was a really tough and painful decision to stop filming with TGR and tell my sponsors I was doing something else,” admits Longe, “but I am grateful I went to school [at the University of Utah] and got a degree in strategic communications with an emphasis in marketing.”
Still, Longe wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his degree. Transitioning into a full-time job with one of his sponsors was too painful to be considered an option. And then, 10 days before the birth of his daughter, Longe ran into Bushi in the grocery store. “I told him I had to get my resume together and try to find a job and he instantly offered for me to come work with him in real estate,” says Longe. It didn’t take long for him to commit—Longe signed up for real estate classes the very next day.
PHOTO: Noah Wetzel
In the five years since their fateful run-in, Bushi and Longe have developed one of the most unique mountain town real estate offerings. Headquartered in Park City, Daimon Bushi Real Estate is a subsidiary of Windemere and focuses heavily on serving skiers, snowboarders and mountain enthusiasts. With over 40 years of competitive skiing between the two of them, Bushi and Longe have curated a one-of-a-kind ski-in ski-out service. Where most realtors can only walk or drive you around the neighborhoods, Bushi and Longe can literally take you to tour property on skis.
“Our office is ski-in ski-out. We’re 25 feet from the base of the chairlift, so we can meet here and then ski clients to houses, condos and townhouses around the bases of the ski resorts here or even bigger estates up on the hill. It provides people this sense of their surroundings and a part of the town and city that they otherwise wouldn’t see,” says Longe. “It’s a logistic nightmare if you don’t know what you’re doing,” adds Bushi with a chuckle.
If you’re interested in ski-in ski-out properties outside of Park City, no problem. Bushi and Longe are happy to meet you wherever you’re looking—whether that’s Deer Valley, the Cottonwood Canyons or even Aspen, Colorado—and no matter your budget.
“At the heart of it, we’re just ski bums and we know the mountains well, so we can really help people of all skill levels and from all walks of life,” says Bushi. “Whether it’s a first-time home buyer, intermediate skier or someone looking for a third vacation home who skis 100-plus days a year, we can hone in and help match location with their exact needs.”
While showing and selling homes on skis is their preferred method, Longe and Bushi’s roots run deep in the ski community and they enjoy helping all outdoor enthusiasts find and live out their mountain dreams. No matter if you’re looking at apartments in downtown Salt Lake or luxury slopeside real estate on the mountain, rest assured these guys will sweat the small stuff in order to get you exactly what you’re looking for. Plus, it’s also pretty cool to be able to say professional skier Dash Longe is your realtor.
