Self-made skiers

weastcoat

weastcoat

Active member
Mainly at younger guys like me but older riders who’ve had to experience the same thing.

I have way more respect for the self-made skiers than anyone in this community. Self-made, as in

worked a shitty nightshift job in highschool during winter to pay for their gas money til 3am, then go to school the next morning from 6-2, then go ski til 8 and go work their job again. Repeat. A brutal job with 50 hour weeks during the summer so they could make car and insurance payments, year round. The kids who have to pay for their own pivots, their own Vishnus, their own pass, their own clothes, their own food when they’re on the road to and from the hill. The kids who drive 45 minutes to the hill 5 days a week and lap in the shittiest conditions to grind out tricks and learn new ones. The kids who are often riding alone on weeknights or when no one else is at the hill, getting better and better. The kids who don’t have the luxury of having mom and dad spend hundreds of thousands on a condo at the hill. The kids who set up a tripod with their iPhone that they have to pay for and charge it with a portable battery they bought so the phone doesn’t die when they finally get the clip.

Those guys in their mid 20s that aren’t trust fund babies having parents still pay for their rent and car out in SLC, and work a brutal night shift til 4am every night to stay alive, all the while going out next morning at 9am to stack street clips all day

nothing against the kids who came up by parents paying for their car, their trips to windells in the summer, their tuition at a ski academy, their gas, their gear, their tuition at a ski academy or CSU or UofU, their everything (unless you flaunt these things, of course… then fuck you). Those kinda kids might be your next or current favorite skiers but…

Even if they’re not tossing the biggest tricks and sickest axis’ on jumps, doing the most mindfucked shit on massive rails, I’ll be DAMNED if I don’t have tenfold the respect for those self-made skiers out there, where their level of skiing is 110% earned from start to finish.

**This thread was edited on Jan 18th 2022 at 3:52:52pm
 
topic:weastcoat said:
their tuition at a ski academy, their gas, their gear, their tuition at a ski academy or CSU or UofU

**This thread was edited on Jan 18th 2022 at 3:52:52pm
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Nice typo you said the same thing twice you fucking idiot
 
Thank you I am glad it didn’t go unnoticed… I am glad where I got to in skiing just sad it has to end so soon wish I had more time.
 
I think this is a good post. No pocket watching, no calling people out for their privilege, just an appreciation for those who don't have the same privileges that many of us have had, including myself to an extent
 
I hate your attitude, you sound jealous. Sucks when people have parents who can and want to support their child’s interests.
 
14381830:FruitBootPro said:
Actually tho, you're insane (in a good way), but when tf did you do your homework?
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Only thing I didn’t do in HS was work night shifts, latest I would work was 12-1am. And often I would just stay up super late after work and get it done or do it in other classes before it was due.

I don’t do all of these things. I’m insanely blessed to have what I have. But as a now college student someone who has to pay for damn near everything and as someone who has several friends who follow my stated posts to an absolute T, and work their asses off to survive off the hill, and to get to the hill in the first place and ON TOP OF THAT work ridiculously hard on the hill, and have been through more shit, seen more shit, experienced more hell than I could ever survive, and somehow live a figurative and literal sleepless and fatigued life in the sake of the love for skiing,

I have an unexplainable amount of respect to those people. That’s who this post is about. Not all about me. it’s about those troopers out there.
 
extremely sus thread to make wont lie, but yeah its forsure more respect if ur self supporting yourself on this shit. keep in mind like vast majority of the skiers u look up to prob went to a ski academy or bare minimum a freestyle program(aka mad expensive parental money vibe). in skiing i dont see it much but i see a lot of snowboarders are super open to admitting their priviledges instead of some self made virtue signalling like i frequently see in skiing (zootspace for example, all those dudes were ski academy kids).

im not proofreading that so i hope that makes sense. also, op: spend ur time making sus/shitty ns threads towards getting some bitches fr
 
14381842:bbw.enthusiast said:
extremely sus thread to make wont lie, but yeah its forsure more respect if ur self supporting yourself on this shit. keep in mind like vast majority of the skiers u look up to prob went to a ski academy or bare minimum a freestyle program(aka mad expensive parental money vibe). in skiing i dont see it much but i see a lot of snowboarders are super open to admitting their priviledges instead of some self made virtue signalling like i frequently see in skiing (zootspace for example, all those dudes were ski academy kids).

im not proofreading that so i hope that makes sense. also, op: spend ur time making sus/shitty ns threads towards getting some bitches fr
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Probably didn’t make that clear enough but you’re right, most of mine (and your) favorite skiers are exactly what you described.
 
14381838:teabag said:
I hate your attitude, you sound jealous. Sucks when people have parents who can and want to support their child’s interests.
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Why is it that whenever someone makes a thread asking about skiers who made it despite not being privileged, they have to say some passive aggressive shit about trust fund babies or rich parents or whatever? Bro I guarantee you the vast majority of people who post on this site were born into a middle class family at LEAST. Throwing shade at people who have the resources to ski really distracts from the core, more positive point of the post, which is to appreciate + honor people who achieved proficiency in skiing despite their economic struggle.
 
i get what the post is trying to get at, but if anything, all the things that were mentioned just make the person a more respectable person in general. i don’t think it really makes them a more respectable skier. like if some kids’s parents shelled out the money to put them on a team and their skill set developed really well, it was still all from the effort that they put in to their skiing. no amount of money or pampering from their parents would’ve made them a better or worse skier. if you love skiing so much that you’ll work your ass off to be able to sustain that passion all on your own, then more power to you, but if i’m gonna judge anyone as a skier it’s gonna be based off how well they ski, not what they did or do to be able to ski.
 
Yup, sounds like my life after highschool. Parents cut me off at 15, so I did fund raisers to help me pay for contests. Couldnt find a job because the legal working age was 16.

I worked long hours at the hill as a ski intructor and acrobatic skiing coach in highschool to pay for skiing and had to arrange lifts to be there on time. At the same time, I was doing extra classes because my grades sucked. The only free time I had was saturday night to work on my skills.

Things only got more hectic in college. I was a full time student, taking night classes to pick up highschool credits while balancing my skiing jobs and my climbing gym job I picked up as a 3rd job. Still, paying rent to the parents kept me broke. And yes my parents charged me rent, 300$ a month with a 30$ increase each year. They didnt need the money, they just wanted me gone.

Maritime school was another crazy time. I was thankful that the 5x7 pass was 150$. My parents payed my tuition and housing with a budget of 500$ a month (rent was 425$) and the rest I had to survive on and pay for extra school courses that I needed to graduate. The rest was up to me. I applied to a bunch of cash prize academic contest and made good money for rent (my parents found out so stopped paying rent for me).

After grad was a bitch. Broke, homeless and exhausted, I had to find a home. I worked 3 months on at work, 3 weeks off to pay off school, car and parents. Took me 2 years to pay off everyone. It was nice when I finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel of hell; I got to take 3 months off work in the winter to ski and 1 month for summer.

Now I work 5months straight and free from November to May. I am 100% independant and ski all winter long for the last 10 years.

Looking back, I really gave it my all. But then, it felt like I was doing the minimum. I look at kids that refuse to go to college because they are too comfortable at mommy and daddys house. My parents didnt like the fact I became a passionate skier. They never showed up to competitions or anything like that. I had no support. I only had myself, and its what I expect still today.
 
are you in favor of a progressive tax rate?

topic:weastcoat said:
Mainly at younger guys like me but older riders who’ve had to experience the same thing.

I have way more respect for the self-made skiers than anyone in this community. Self-made, as in

worked a shitty nightshift job in highschool during winter to pay for their gas money til 3am, then go to school the next morning from 6-2, then go ski til 8 and go work their job again. Repeat. A brutal job with 50 hour weeks during the summer so they could make car and insurance payments, year round. The kids who have to pay for their own pivots, their own Vishnus, their own pass, their own clothes, their own food when they’re on the road to and from the hill. The kids who drive 45 minutes to the hill 5 days a week and lap in the shittiest conditions to grind out tricks and learn new ones. The kids who are often riding alone on weeknights or when no one else is at the hill, getting better and better. The kids who don’t have the luxury of having mom and dad spend hundreds of thousands on a condo at the hill. The kids who set up a tripod with their iPhone that they have to pay for and charge it with a portable battery they bought so the phone doesn’t die when they finally get the clip.

Those guys in their mid 20s that aren’t trust fund babies having parents still pay for their rent and car out in SLC, and work a brutal night shift til 4am every night to stay alive, all the while going out next morning at 9am to stack street clips all day

nothing against the kids who came up by parents paying for their car, their trips to windells in the summer, their tuition at a ski academy, their gas, their gear, their tuition at a ski academy or CSU or UofU, their everything (unless you flaunt these things, of course… then fuck you). Those kinda kids might be your next or current favorite skiers but…

Even if they’re not tossing the biggest tricks and sickest axis’ on jumps, doing the most mindfucked shit on massive rails, I’ll be DAMNED if I don’t have tenfold the respect for those self-made skiers out there, where their level of skiing is 110% earned from start to finish.

**This thread was edited on Jan 18th 2022 at 3:52:52pm
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So much respect to anyone who hustles in any sense. Don't get between a man and his meal, as they say. I do think you're missing a quite large amount of people who ski though. Its not like you either worked from 12am-6 then to go to school at 7 to 2 and then go to the hill to ski until 12am again or that you live in your dads real estate investment in pc, where you went to a ski academy. Theres a huge middle ground where parents are just helping their children out where they can, but their kids are paying for their gas, clothes, passes, skis, bindings, boots and all. In my opinion no one should feel like they are less than someone for having a head start in life. We should just all admit and see our privilege where it is. Maybe make a friend that is struggling to get to the hill or can't afford a pass and help them out. If you're having fun on the hill thats all thats needed.
 
14381970:BingPow said:
So much respect to anyone who hustles in any sense. Don't get between a man and his meal, as they say. I do think you're missing a quite large amount of people who ski though. Its not like you either worked from 12am-6 then to go to school at 7 to 2 and then go to the hill to ski until 12am again or that you live in your dads real estate investment in pc, where you went to a ski academy. Theres a huge middle ground where parents are just helping their children out where they can, but their kids are paying for their gas, clothes, passes, skis, bindings, boots and all. In my opinion no one should feel like they are less than someone for having a head start in life. We should just all admit and see our privilege where it is. Maybe make a friend that is struggling to get to the hill or can't afford a pass and help them out. If you're having fun on the hill thats all thats needed.
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most parents say they want to work hard in order to give their kids a better life than they had, and we all commend them for it... then when they actually go and do it and people shit on the kids for being spoiled? struggling isn't virtuous, it is just life. both rich and poor people can be pieces of shit. both rich and poor people can be generous.
 
Imagine busting this much ass just to be passed up by some 14yr old whose parents are paying 5-6 figures a year for them to go to ski academies and summer camps.

I

**This post was edited on Jan 19th 2022 at 10:36:51am
 
14381876:HomerPimpin said:
i get what the post is trying to get at, but if anything, all the things that were mentioned just make the person a more respectable person in general. i don’t think it really makes them a more respectable skier. like if some kids’s parents shelled out the money to put them on a team and their skill set developed really well, it was still all from the effort that they put in to their skiing. no amount of money or pampering from their parents would’ve made them a better or worse skier. if you love skiing so much that you’ll work your ass off to be able to sustain that passion all on your own, then more power to you, but if i’m gonna judge anyone as a skier it’s gonna be based off how well they ski, not what they did or do to be able to ski.
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I actually kinda disagree, instruction can make a world of difference and people who can’t afford instruction or good resources are at a pretty solid disadvantage
 
topic:weastcoat said:
worked a shitty nightshift job in highschool during winter to pay for their gas money til 3am, then go to school the next morning from 6-2, then go ski til 8 and go work their job again.
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i duno what makes you think anybody does this in highschool
 
14382035:bigcat. said:
i duno what makes you think anybody does this in highschool
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I know plenty of kids. Not necessarily till that late. But 6-8 hour shifts directly after school. I worked 3 nights a week in highschool. its common

He exaggerated for the story and everyone pissed cause they were poor in hs lol
 
14381956:bennwithtwons said:
are you in favor of a progressive tax rate?
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No. if the government takes more and more of my money as I make more and more, I, as a logical human being, see it as wack, dumb, irrational, if you feel so inclined.
 
14382170:weastcoat said:
No. if the government takes more and more of my money as I make more and more, I, as a logical human being, see it as wack, dumb, irrational, if you feel so inclined.
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i would say that is a very rational conclusion. are you in favor of the government taking money from its citizens (taxing them) and redistributing it to people with less money (let's say broadly, people who aren't paying net taxes)?
 
14382173:bennwithtwons said:
i would say that is a very rational conclusion. are you in favor of the government taking money from its citizens (taxing them) and redistributing it to people with less money (let's say broadly, people who aren't paying net taxes)?
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not really, I say not really because it's a system that needs to be better constructed. If my tax dollars are going towards those who actually need it, paying teachers a little better salary, people who have found themselves suddenly in severe poverty, the mentally/physically handicapped, etc, I have no issue. I do have an issue though when capable individuals people abuse the system, stay on welfare, stay lazy, stay unemployed, instead of actually getting off their fat lazy ass in their mobile home and going out and picking up a job, or a better paying one.

If I'm in a class and bust my ass and score and earn an A for the semester, and most of the others score a D- because they did not work hard enough, and my professor gives me a B, and gives the ones who didn't work as hard a D+ or a C-, to "make it fair", I'm gonna be pissed.

I'm no economics expert though, but hey what do I know lol.
 
14382189:weastcoat said:
not really, I say not really because it's a system that needs to be better constructed. If my tax dollars are going towards those who actually need it, paying teachers a little better salary, people who have found themselves suddenly in severe poverty, the mentally/physically handicapped, etc, I have no issue. I do have an issue though when capable individuals people abuse the system, stay on welfare, stay lazy, stay unemployed, instead of actually getting off their fat lazy ass in their mobile home and going out and picking up a job, or a better paying one.

If I'm in a class and bust my ass and score and earn an A for the semester, and most of the others score a D- because they did not work hard enough, and my professor gives me a B, and gives the ones who didn't work as hard a D+ or a C-, to "make it fair", I'm gonna be pissed.

I'm no economics expert though, but hey what do I know lol.
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i hear you. i wanted to make a point but i didn't want to misunderstand, or make assumptions about, your position.

unless i am reading it wrong, it seems that you are OK with people spending money on ski gear/training/etc so long as they are purchasing it for themselves and not for someone else. so what exactly is wrong with a person who cares about another person buying them something (gear, lessons, etc.)? i don't think many people would turn down that sort of offer from a loved one. i personally worked all summer to save up for my new ski gear for each season but if my parents had been in a position to buy it for me, i definitely would not have said no (and i would have found something else to spend my money on).

additionally, i was a coach for several years after college and the only reason there were kids on the team at all was because of the willingness of their parents to pay the fee. none of the kids on the team were there because they, themselves, had saved up and paid for it. generally speaking, the sort of people who are eligible to be on ski teams (elementary, middle, and high school aged kids) are not providing for themselves, so it is only natural that their parents or family members are the ones paying for that stuff. if they hadn't, i wouldn't have had that job.

so it sort of seems like the best scenario for ALL parties.. parents take care of their kids, kids have a good life, other people have jobs as a result. am i missing something?
 
When a sport gets big enough it "goes pro"; you need rich enough parents to learn and get coached starting from a young age. This happened to skiing a while back, happened to DH MTB somewhat more recently. The days of carpenters working in Vermont running into Warren Miller and becoming ski icons (like John/Dan Egan) are mostly over.

Even older legends like Tanner Hall got winters off to ski bc of their parents. It sucks but its the logical endgame. Can't be too mad at people given a head start, but def shout-out the people who made it starting with less
 
14381606:MaimHelp said:
In other words, for those given opportunity, be thankful
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In other words, for those given opportunity, don't use racist slang on social media (or at all) and totally blow it.
 
lol what. it looks like you are tryna be more cool by explaining why you are cool. that is small dick energy
 
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