"Pro's" who don't get paid still?

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sleepyhollow

Member
I was just reading that thread asking who will pay khai krepela? this made me think, who else of the top guys still only get product from companies? It seems like this industry isn't as bright as we all imagine. please list the top riders who still only are on "flow" sponsorships.
 
Yes and no. Being a professional skier would technically mean that you are getting paid as it is a profession. But there are tons of people who are just on flow who compete at the professional level or just ski at a professional level.
 
haha the majority of kids that are considered "pro" on here barely make enough to live on, if even that much. the list is way bigger than you think.
 
i was referring to the fact that the definition of pro means you get paid for your performance otherwise you are not pro. Obviously that payment may not be enough to live off of or what you may deserve to be paid, but for anyone to be considered pro in the first place they must have gotten paid.

sure there are tons of skiers who are not pro who should be pro and it would be tough to list them all. Im assuming most of the skiers who get free skis or outerwear that we see in edits never actually get a paycheck unless its prize money

 
The word "pro" gets tossed around a lot in skiing & snowboarding, I wish the industry were big enough for it to be like skate where your not 'pro' till you have a pro model....
 
agreed. Look at Riley Hawk, dude just turned pro for Baker, but he's had a handful of sick parts over the past few years.
 
there's money in the ski industry and it's goin to the wrong places! we know what it is, we dont need to have this conversation again. #sfthem

 
Im gonna be the wanker to make the comment here, im gonna start calling myself pro now, becausei i actually do get paid to ski full time. boo yea. bitches come at me

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Skis

Who even has pro model outerwear besides wally?

Going by pro model Skis, today's pros are:

Wallisch

Rory Bushfield

Steve Stepp (lol)

Candide

Harlaut (sort of Casabon?)

T-Hall

Auclair/Regnier

Travis Steeger

Bornowski

Pep Fujas

Chris Benchetler

Eric Pollard

Pettit

Seth Morrison

TC (sorta counts)

Josh Bibby

Sammy Carlson

Kai Mahler

B Devine (and all the other "pros" on 9th)

Hoji

John Spriggs

Jon Olsson

Dumont had a pro model

CRJ (rip)

Cody Barnhill

David Wise

Jossi Wells (and other infamous dudes)

That's all I can think of right now.
 
You mean all but ~10 of them?

Oh wait, nevermind. The guys risking their ass in the latest TGR film make a whopping $2 grand/yr from each of their five sponsorships.
 
I don't agree with the definition if you get paid to ski you are a professional skiier because I'm a ski instructor but I don't go around telling people I'm a pro skiier
 
You're a fucking moron. Hes refering to skiing as an extreme sport, ski instructing is not a sport so of course you're not a professional athlete aka pro skier.

If you make enough money from sponsors to sustain yourself without any other job, I'd say you're "pro" but a lot of kids consider some skiers "pro" but all summer they work another job and have part time jobs during the ski season too.
 
Yeah what I said was probably overly obvious and didn't need to be said but I guess the point I was trying to make is that I don't view whether you are pro are not as an amount of dollars you make but rather as a combination of factors such as how known you are throughout the skiing community and your success in competitive and filming skiing. This makes pro status a very subjective achievement but thats just like my opinion man
 
And you have the opinion that a lot of people have which I don't agree with. You're right, its subjective but I dunno how you can consider someone a pro skier if they work a landscaping job all summer or work part time all winter to pay rent, etc.
 
Your opinion is wrong. A pro anything is someone who does said occupation for a living.

That makes the list of pro skiers pretty damn small.
 
this. I feel like being pro should not be subjective....In skating everyone is an AM unless a board company decides to turn the person pro and release a pro model which in turn the pro generates income from. It is clear that someone has earned the title for what they put in (eg sick video parts).

but the ski industry is not the skateboarding industry, in a million different ways.

Snowboarding has definitely gone that direction many times in the past by distinguishing turning someone pro... eg:

 
Is Evin Hath Vagual pro? I heard Lay's has been showing an interest in you..? Or is it the other way around.
 
what do you consider those skiers then? amateurs? most of them are in extremely popular ski movies, or are involved in the industry in more ways than just competing. I wouldn't consider that amateur. I'd say skiing has a wider definition of pro due to the fact there isn't as much money in freeskiing, as, say, soccer, obviously.

Otherwise, the definition is extremely limiting. For example, Will Wesson: Pro. Times in the X games, dew tour or grand prix: 0
 
a lot of the problem is that ski movie companies such as ski the east, stept, etc.. don't make anywhere near the amount of money they deserve (from what i have heard the barely break even sometimes) for the dedication and time they put into making movies and recruiting skiers. They don't make a lot, i think because no one wants to buy the movies they just want to watch them for free which doesn't allow the companies to pay the skiers a lot or anything at all. its the ski community that needs to put money into the production companies to keep them going.
 
They don't do it for the money. Unless you're Tom Wallisch, Bobby Brown, Goepper, or Dale Talkington you're going to be working a job during the summer. That's a fact that rings true for 95% of skiers that don't get money from their families/friends but whether it's working at Windells, or Pizza Hut (Andy Parry) depends on how good/dedicated they are.
 
Skiing isn't suppose to follow the norms of mainstream( skateboarding, soccer ect). The real pros are those that make it happen with no money and just the love of the sport and finding people along the way that share the same passion. Being a pro is essentially being a Ski Bum like Ron Funk. If heres Ron Funk worth the watch, a real pro in my book. http://youtu.be/PsiqTVa-thw
 
BDog's got a pro model jacket, so does JP.

And actually sadly enough I think K2 phased out the Kung Fujas this year... Replaced it with another Pettit ski with a similar waist.
 
Surely u guys can fathom the idea that a "professional" is generally certified in a field that they are paid to operate in?

A "Pro" sportsman, although an abbreviation on "professional" usually just means someone is recognised by others by their ability at a particular sport? and yes the best are paid but guess what, that's kinda how being the best at something as little as freestyle skiing works...

Hence why ski instructors are "Proffesional Ski Instructors" (not pro skiers) and dudes who slay park and big mountain are "Pro skiers" but also get away with the term "Professional Skier"

Or did does this have to be a strict, by-the-book-definition from the dictionary with no other exceptions?
 
This would mean Atomic would only have 2 pro skiers within Freeski and Racing... which doesn't make sense.

A professional skier is a skier who is paid (on some level) by his/her sponsor. This technically extends to accepting prize money at competitions, which is why the famous old school golfer Bobby Jones never accepted prize money because he wanted to keep his amateur status.

This is also why various terms such as "semi-pro" and "full factory pro" exist- there are different levels and usually that level is dictated by how much you get paid.
 
Pro call out: 500 points

I'd consider a professional skier to be anyone who gets paid to perform on video or compete in events. It doesn't matter if it's enough to live on. The point is that it's what they dedicate their time and energy to doing year round, instead of just playing around at a resort like the rest of us. VERY few professional extreme sports athletes get paid more than they could working normal jobs, but since their lives revolve around skiing, and their sponsors usually cover their expenses (gear, airfare, lodging), they can live off very little anyway as long as they keep performing. Any "pros" reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong. This is what I've heard mostly from professional kiteboarders, wakeboarders, and surfers, but only from one pro skier. I think most professional skiers also work summer or part time jobs if they don't want to ski bum it and live out of a van. I'd be interested to see how much extra cash Wallisch makes in a year apart from gear, ski trips, or event fees, or even if he's the highest paid freestyle skier??
 
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