Is skiing getting too serious?

H

HandmanPro

New member
For the past few months and through the season we will be following around a select group of skiers as they prepare for the season and go into competitions. What I want to know is if you think skiing is being taken too seriously, or if it truly is a way of life, so you have to work hard towards it. Here is the trailer for our documentary and our first episode

[video]https://vimeo.com/101025673[/video]

[video]https://vimeo.com/103870324[/video]

**This thread was edited on Aug 26th 2014 at 4:46:51pm
 
It all depends on the skier. If you take it seriously then ya its serious. But there are also a lot if people out there doin it for fun. Theres no definitive answer to your question
 
I'm glad this isn't just a thread with no video or anything, because it seems like there's been like 3 of those in the past 2 weeks.

It's kind of like basketball or any other sport. Some people just do it for fun, while the people who compete in it take it seriously. I don't see anything wrong with someone taking skiing serious, as long as they are still fun to be around and aren't huge d-bags about it.
 
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I think its just the people competing in the high end stage or people working for that stage that are being serious. And there really isnt much of a problem with that, thats just not what I am into. Yea filming with Level 1 or whatever is serious but most of those people with them are not in the gym or working with a coach when there not skiing.
 
I TAKE SKIING SUPER SERIOUSLY. EVERY DAY IS A WORK DAY. EVERY DAY I MUST PROGRESS. THERE IS NO FUN. ONLY WORK.
 
Skiing isn't a serious sport. However if you do wish to make money out of it, you need to approach it like a business.
 
13107478:ChubbyBoy said:
Skiing isn't a serious sport. However if you do wish to make money out of it, you need to approach it like a business.
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I disagree. I bet there's a lot of people out there who just do it to have fun and are sponsored.
 
A balance of seriousness is required. You probably shouldn't go out to an urban spot and spray paint large penises on buildings, no, you should focus on getting your trick and getting out. Unless it's a 0 bust spot and you just decide to lap the urban feature without caring about getting a trick (did it one day this year and it was awesome).
 
It's what you make of it. Of course top of the line athletes take it serious (or should at least), but for myself, I am skiing to have fun and thats all I expect from it.
 
This kind of stuff is a crock of shit to me. I have a career and ski five days a week during the regular season. You don't have to suffer to get what you want. You just have to work for it. Not all of us are waiting tables, or poor, or not "achieving our potential" some of us just want to do our job and drink beer and ski. Fuck these people and their shit.
 
These videos peeved me for some reason, idk I feel like if you're good enough to go pro and make it work you just do it and don't make a huge deal over it, not go to some hardcore training camp after you graduate college
 
fuck those videos, skiing is about having fun, not being a jock ass kook that gets a personal trainer and a documentary about how goddamn hard it is to be a b-level comp skier... not freeskiing and not punk rock
 
competition skiing =/= all skiing. Most skiing is pretty fucking laid back and mellow. Everyone's just having a good time.
 
13107478:ChubbyBoy said:
Skiing isn't a serious sport.
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I don't think any sport is inherently serious or relaxed. The sport is made such by our intentions and goals within said sport.

If your goal is to have fun and simply enjoy what the sport has to offer, then it will be a relaxed sport for you. Any sport can be done "for the love of the game" and enjoyed in its own right.

If your goal is to compete and beat the competitor next to you, then it will for sure be more serious than relaxed. That's not to say, however, that competition isn't fun. For some people, it is their exact definition of fun.

Sports are what we make of them and to discount anyone's interpretation of how to play that sport is probably one of the most arrogant things we can do as participants in said sport.
 
13107538:CalebTheKillian said:
I disagree. I bet there's a lot of people out there who just do it to have fun and are sponsored.
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Oh yeah I completetly agree with you. I just meant if you wish to make serious money...(tom,bobby,nick etc) then you need to take care of your body and do runs which the judges will love. Obviously out of the comp and just skiing and filming, you're not going to take it serious.

Pleasenote: by serious money i mean you don't need a summer job
 
No way. Many of those make a living doin the comp circuit. No different than any other action sport out there or general sport for that matter.
 
In my point or aspect , these athletes are dedicated . They will do the best they can for what they love to do
 
13108156:ChubbyBoy said:
Oh yeah I completetly agree with you. I just meant if you wish to make serious money...(tom,bobby,nick etc) then you need to take care of your body and do runs which the judges will love. Obviously out of the comp and just skiing and filming, you're not going to take it serious.

Pleasenote: by serious money i mean you don't need a summer job
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Yeah, when it comes to big comps like the x games, I bet it gets tense af and they all get serious.
 
13108041:NoSkillsCrew said:
This kind of stuff is a crock of shit to me. I have a career and ski five days a week during the regular season. You don't have to suffer to get what you want. You just have to work for it. Not all of us are waiting tables, or poor, or not "achieving our potential" some of us just want to do our job and drink beer and ski. Fuck these people and their shit.
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you can make it work, there are a few cities close to skiing and a few careers that arn't 9-5.
 
I don't see why there's hate against guys that train like mad to succeed... when you're young and talented, you should do everything you possibly can in order to realize your potential...now that there are Olympic medals on the line, bigger sponsorship dollars up for grabs and freestyle skiing as a sport is now being taken seriously by the world.

Ski racing has been like this for decades with days split between hammering the slopes and lifting in the gym. Look where they are now... Racers are being handed 5 and 6 figure signing bonuses with ski companies and their media exposure within North America is extremely limited.

Sure, the comp scene used to be super laid back and training was just a couple of buddies lapping the park from first to last chair on a Saturday but these days, programs have popped up dedicated to getting skiers to their respective national teams, to spots on the Dew Tour, North Face PPOS, and even X-Games. In Canada, programs like Winsport Institute are the ones that will be feeding the national team in the coming years. Training is now methodically thought out by coaches and divided up between on snow, trampoline, air bags and even the gym. I was chatting with someone from the Canadian Freestyle Skiing Association and we both agreed that there are a ton of skiers out there with the potential to be the next big thing but they lack the proper coaching and it's kind of sad that they might not go anywhere with skiing and regret it later in life.

That's one half...

The side of skiing that's all about finding new and creative ways to hit rails, search for deep pow, slay urban and sleep in your car to guarantee first tracks is still there and I don't think it's going anywhere. Personally, I ski for the love of it. At 31 I know I'm not going anywhere with the sport so I'm enjoying it and not really caring if I progress. My favourite days are spent dicking around looking for fun stuff to hit and going fast.

In the end, if you're sliding around on snow with the waxed side down you're going to be having a good time and isn't that what it's really about?
 
Since skiing was invented it has always been taken very seriously by some and totally chill by others.

Using skis as transportation, hunting, etc in the winter from the very beginning to the competitive skiers training for the Olympics, seriousness has ALWAYS been there. There has always her the opposite to balance things out. The first guy to try going downhill in skis for shits and giggles to recreational skiers having a time on the weekend with no fucks to give.

I mean shit, just two days ago nimbus just released an edit that is far from serious.

Such is life.
 
13109988:Pipe_Munky said:
I was chatting with someone from the Canadian Freestyle Skiing Association and we both agreed that there are a ton of skiers out there with the potential to be the next big thing but they lack the proper coaching and it's kind of sad that they might not go anywhere with skiing and regret it later in life.
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I think that people with the mindset of skiing to "going somewhere" with it are kind of in it for the wrong reasons. Skiing for the purpose of making it "big" in skiing is not freeskiing. If you are trying to be the next geopper then it becomes like any other sport where you go through the routine to get the skills to please judges/sponsors. Not FREEskiing, its like CONTROLLEDskiing or TRAININGskiing. Its coached and regimented just like racing. Someone telling you - "DO 10 DUB 12's today" is completely different then skiing because you feel like it. Not saying thats wrong just saying its not the spirit of the sport that the OG's created.

And "going somewhere" with freeskiing is relative. so few people can make a living off freeskiing, for 99% of people its not going to be worth it for daddy to spend 10's of thousands for coaching and shit. And for the 1% who are good enough to make it big, i personally respect the self made ones who came up organically 10x more than the ones who bought their way to the top.
 
13110848:ChillTeenDad420 said:
I think that people with the mindset of skiing to "going somewhere" with it are kind of in it for the wrong reasons. Skiing for the purpose of making it "big" in skiing is not freeskiing. If you are trying to be the next geopper then it becomes like any other sport where you go through the routine to get the skills to please judges/sponsors. Not FREEskiing, its like CONTROLLEDskiing or TRAININGskiing. Its coached and regimented just like racing. Someone telling you - "DO 10 DUB 12's today" is completely different then skiing because you feel like it. Not saying thats wrong just saying its not the spirit of the sport that the OG's created.

And "going somewhere" with freeskiing is relative. so few people can make a living off freeskiing, for 99% of people its not going to be worth it for daddy to spend 10's of thousands for coaching and shit. And for the 1% who are good enough to make it big, i personally respect the self made ones who came up organically 10x more than the ones who bought their way to the top.
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Don't kid yourself, the second skiers became judged in comps is when we lost FREEskiing... big air events that came down to the best switch 10 is certainly not FREEskiing.

This is what comp skiing is now and even more so what it will be in the future. National Sport Associations holding mandatory training camps for their team members in the spring and summer is exactly the same thing as the RedBull camp that goes on in Colorado every year. The Olympics definitely changed things. Were they changed for the better? There's of course always going to be the supporters and detractors of that but I think it's safe to say that this is the way things are now and barring some kind of major shakeup, the way the'll be from now on.
 
Someone has to be serious about it. If no one was we wouldn't progress as much. I don't think skiing is all about progression but if you're competing at high levels, then you need to be more serious about it than someone like me. That being said, I don't think taking a sport seriously should take away from the fun. Once you start enjoying it less, you're taking it too seriously. In my opinion.
 
13110999:Pipe_Munky said:
Don't kid yourself, the second skiers became judged in comps is when we lost FREEskiing... big air events that came down to the best switch 10 is certainly not FREEskiing.
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Pretty much. Hell, you could even argue that FREEskiing has never even existed at a professional level, ever. Where do you draw the line between training and trying to one up your friend in the park? Both are competitive in nature, and shit - one could even argue that working on making your cork 5 true tail more stylie is taking things too seriously.

I guess in the end the only ones on the hill who truly get FREEskiing are gapers. All of us 'core' skiers are way too serious. We might as well wear spandex and smash some gates on directional skis.
 
i think your mountain athlete videos are pretty damn serious, but the gym in which all these people train seems pretty serious, but some how you made skiing look like a job and not something fun to be doing. these people need to relax.... all they are thinking about is missing semesters at school and letting their parents down. super American if you ask me (im Canadian). Also the funniest part about these people is that if they just made a sick ass edit they could get more exposure and sponsors then their little podiums that nobody gives a shit about except within their own little circles.
 
13111212:XOXOGG said:
i think your mountain athlete videos are pretty damn serious, but the gym in which all these people train seems pretty serious, but some how you made skiing look like a job and not something fun to be doing. these people need to relax.... all they are thinking about is missing semesters at school and letting their parents down. super American if you ask me (im Canadian). Also the funniest part about these people is that if they just made a sick ass edit they could get more exposure and sponsors then their little podiums that nobody gives a shit about except within their own little circles.
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The problem is not all of these "athletes" are capable of making a sick ass edit (obviously Griffen Post is).

I have heard that since these edits went out, several of the athletes (primary female) have been approached by sponsor opportunities. I personally think the whole thing is ridiculous. Sure, train to prevent injury and what-not but don't think your special because you've committed your life to skiing. The fact that some of these people take it soooo seriously and still aren't that good is kinda a sign it wasn't meant to be. At the end of the day, strong quads aren't going to make your a great skier. Go out and have fun and let the rest come naturally. If your truly good enough to get a PAID sponsorship, then someone will notice.

IMO watching ski videos is probably more beneficial than lifting weight. Skiing is primarily mental (obviously you need to be in-shape).
 
Few sides to this.

1. These people are over dramatic, privileged people with ivy league degrees and yes they are way to serious.

2. It these peoples lives and its serious stuff to them. You dont want to waste your life do you?

3. They are doing a 100% different type of skiing then alot of people do on this site. They are competitive skiing, and we are hot doggin. They might as well be from Venus and were from Mars. Just because we all ski doesn't mean we are doing the same thing. Think of it as a 100% different sport to avoid actively hating on them.

As a note to all of this those videos are way to cheesy and over the top for me and I'm sure many of people on this site. I can almost relate to some of these people (granted only got about 2 min in...) but then its like, "nope".
 
Trying to make money skiing is a waste of time 99% of the time. Everyone is giving themselves a "professional skier" title but all have at least one more job.

Go have fun
 
I take my training for skiing serious and set goals for myself at the beginning of the season, but when I get out on the slopes it's all fun.
 
most of these comments have more hate than I'd like to see.

these videos definitely over-emphasize the seriousness... to the point that they don't show all of these people having fun in their element very much. if you don't recognize this, you're prolly taking this issue too serious.

some of my friends and other people I see around town train at Mountain Athlete and are in these videos. they can all be very chill on and off the hill. Sam Schwartz and Forest Jillson (and his sister Casey) are super fun to ski with and certainly don't have ivy league educations...

who can argue that taking care of your body is important? especially if you want to throw down in a big mountain setting. some people can use extra work on their fitness and need motivation of going to a gym in a program to get it done.

skiing in avalanche terrain is not serious enough in many cases. accessing and aggressively skiing pillow lines and fresh pow lines with natural trickable airs takes a lot of training, practice & risk management in the areas of wilderness first aid and avalanche safety before you even think about skiing or filming. sure people get away with being lax sometimes, but if you're out there a lot the white dragon will catch up to you and you best be prepared.

when you have all of this in your bag of tricks, get creative and slay it. the journey is fun too.

(and that's what this lil video series should reveal more in their next episodes)
 
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