Viewpoints on skiing from non skiers

*DOG

*DOG

Member
What do people that don't ski or never have think when they see a ski video or picture? I'm lucky enough to have grown up my entire life skiing so i have never really been able to think of it from a different perspective as its always been part of my life. So to anyone that just started skiing or didn't before or still doesn't, what does skiing look like from the perspective of a non skier? For example skateboarding always looks cool, and difficult or whatever you want to say when i see videos and such, even when i am a skateboarder. Does skiing really look "cool" or "interesting" to someone that has never skied?
 
Given the attention spans of most people, you can show them a ski video and they will think it's cool for a minute or two. Then they will check how their fantasy football team is doing. They might think it's badass but skiing is irrelevant to the lives of most outsiders so they won't really care.

I like to show people urban skiing and point out the shots of local spots that an outsider might know about, they usually get a little more interested in that. Overall, most people see it as just another action sport. Much in the same way we might see snowmobiling, motocross, or BMX.
 
Outsiders generally get pretty interested when it comes to the xgames and Olympics, but other than that they don't really care
 
I think most reasonable non-skiers probably see it as an expensive hobby that doesn't interest them much the same as classic car restoration or horse ownership. They can likely see some interesting aspects and thus why other people enjoy it but have decided it's not for them.
 
yeah they don't understand. I just recently had to buy a new car, and got a volvo wagon for $400 on craigslist and spent the extra cash on new skis.
 
others in my class just think of me as the smelly kid that goes skiing all the time. they really don't give a shit about skiing. just soccer...
 
13853372:Mort.Mcfly said:
others in my class just think of me as the smelly kid that goes skiing all the time. they really don't give a shit about skiing. just soccer...
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#stopskiing #startsoccing
 
Yeah they don’t care. In high school & college it just meant that I was “leaving everyone like always” in the winter on the weekend and I’d have to break back into my friend circle of parties and activities once the snow melted.

Ive tried sharing videos, but no one cares about the skiing part unless it’s a crash clip or something funny happens.

It’s not a main stream sport, most people like a team and one athlete to root for with long ass games like football.
 
Coming from years of snowboarding to skiing I always thought that skiiers were just Jerries that liked to complain about plastic boots. Then when I started skiing I found that it was a tight knit community especially in the freestyle scene with way more indie ski companies. Snowboarding is just too corporate now.
 
13853473:BrawnTrends said:
Let's put it this way: I get more likes on instagram on photos of my cat than on anything ski related...
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Opposite problem for me lol. I like photography a little and post some stuff on my page and it gets overlooked compared to my ski content. But hey, that's probably because everyone who follows me is a skier or knows me because of skiing.
 
I find when I post an image or clip on insta of skiing, versus just other pictures and videos outside of skiing i get a lot more likes and activity of those not about skiing. Most people find it interesting just dont understand/respect it as much as avid skiiers, everyone has their own hobbies and interests.
 
13853384:TheSmokinL said:
Yeah they don’t care. In high school & college it just meant that I was “leaving everyone like always” in the winter on the weekend and I’d have to break back into my friend circle of parties and activities once the snow melted.

Ive tried sharing videos, but no one cares about the skiing part unless it’s a crash clip or something funny happens.

It’s not a main stream sport, most people like a team and one athlete to root for with long ass games like football.
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Yeah haha fair enough, I think if I'm not talking to anyone on weekends for the majority of the day people just assume I'm skiing and don't bother to ask
 
13853270:john18061806 said:
Given the attention spans of most people, you can show them a ski video and they will think it's cool for a minute or two. Then they will check how their fantasy football team is doing. They might think it's badass but skiing is irrelevant to the lives of most outsiders so they won't really care.

I like to show people urban skiing and point out the shots of local spots that an outsider might know about, they usually get a little more interested in that. Overall, most people see it as just another action sport. Much in the same way we might see snowmobiling, motocross, or BMX.
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Yeah makes sense, it's a wide range of interest from those who don't ski and do ski, it's kinda its own thing I guess
 
My new roomate is big into snowboarding. I'm on a ski team and whenever we watch a ski movie, or have the team over he seems half interested, and always brings up art of flight, or some reason boarding is better. It seems kinda weird how he has to one up skiing to me... I mean there is definitley a difference but I'm just always down to shred, wether its 1 stick or 2... I wouldnt by any means ever discredit skilled snowboarders ever. The two sports are similar in many ways and I can totally see and appreciate talent whether its skiing or snowboarding.
 
13854563:RousedWits said:
My new roomate is big into snowboarding. I'm on a ski team and whenever we watch a ski movie, or have the team over he seems half interested, and always brings up art of flight, or some reason boarding is better. It seems kinda weird how he has to one up skiing to me...
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high key so true. I went from a crew of like 10 skiers back home on the east, to a crew of 5+ snowboarder friends out west here and talking about ski stuff gets knocked from the conversation in seconds. It’s lIke they’re joking but in reality they’re vocally saying it’s “gay” and “no one cares” -_-
 
I've been making my friends watch slvsh videos and some of them are really into it but they don't really wanna go try to learn themselves. They appreciate the hard work that goes into it but they know it's not for them
 
Park skiing is also not a niche anymore. Every season. I see less and less snowboarders in the park in general and the ones I do just session rails all day. Anything with big jumps has a big crew of skiiers on it.
 
Most non skiers can't tell the difference between park / big mountain, skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling, or like completely average Warren Miller clips from stuff that's really pushing the industry. I saw a bunch of non skiers on my Facebook wall sharing one if those days, but there's tons of stuff I'm not into and don't watch edits of, so it's probably about the same for non skiers.
 
I think most of my friends know how to ski/Snowboard to a certain degree, and understand the obsession we all on NS face, but will usually give me a weird look when geeking out over new edits (cough cough TRIUMPH). I've been trying to get some of them out to the slopes using season pass perks for discounts on tickets/rentals, but haven't had any luck getting anyone hooked enough to want to go back more than once or twice a season.
 
13853512:john18061806 said:
Opposite problem for me lol. I like photography a little and post some stuff on my page and it gets overlooked compared to my ski content. But hey, that's probably because everyone who follows me is a skier or knows me because of skiing.
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I followed you for skate 3 triples and pictures of your dog
 
13853384:TheSmokinL said:
Yeah they don’t care. In high school & college it just meant that I was “leaving everyone like always” in the winter on the weekend and I’d have to break back into my friend circle of parties and activities once the snow melted.

Ive tried sharing videos, but no one cares about the skiing part unless it’s a crash clip or something funny happens.

It’s not a main stream sport, most people like a team and one athlete to root for with long ass games like football.
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This.
 
13853372:Mort.Mcfly said:
others in my class just think of me as the smelly kid that goes skiing all the time. they really don't give a shit about skiing. just soccer...
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stop skiing, play soccer, put your hair up and look like a douche
 
All my insta post comment are 10% skier friends saying something skiing related and 90% "We get it you ski". Everyone knows me as the guy how skies all weekend and sleeps in class
 
13855014:Getshifty said:
All my insta post comment are 10% skier friends saying something skiing related and 90% "We get it you ski". Everyone knows me as the guy how skies all weekend and sleeps in class
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The whole "we get it you ski" is all to relateable, and honestly annoying as shit. I've always kinda been the weird kid for skiing too much, or "not caring about anything else" (obviously not true). But I've learned to look past the judgmental crowd who sits home jerks off and plays video games on the weekend instead of being on the mountain living it up. I think people who don't get it, are low-key jealous that we are able to have such a passion for something. Or that's all just a bunch on BS I tell myself to help justify not having a life outside of skiing '
 
13855063:jlens05 said:
The whole "we get it you ski" is all to relateable, and honestly annoying as shit. I've always kinda been the weird kid for skiing too much, or "not caring about anything else" (obviously not true). But I've learned to look past the judgmental crowd who sits home jerks off and plays video games on the weekend instead of being on the mountain living it up. I think people who don't get it, are low-key jealous that we are able to have such a passion for something. Or that's all just a bunch on BS I tell myself to help justify not having a life outside of skiing '
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100% this, the amount of "we get it you ski" comments i get from non skiers is annoying. I also no longer get people asking me why im not answering them on my phone on weekends and now they just assume im gonna be a ghost when it comes to social media and texting on the weekends. Sometimes ill even get back from the hill and without telling anyone ill get a "how was skiing"
 
Yeah even if I'm not skiing, and people don't hear from me for a while they just assume I'm skiing.
 
Im at the point of my life where every weekend people just assume im skiing. It kind of blows because 1) you dont get invited to anything and 2) people dont think skiing is the coolest thing you can be doing.

Plenty of my friends appreciate the feats that are accomplished by the best out there, but when you arent the best out there they dont quite understand your struggle.
 
13855834:Owenseaman10 said:
everyone thinks that backflips and frontflips are a lot "cooler" and "harder" than something like a cork sev or a sw 5
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This reminds me of something Travis Pastrana said, he was talking about the progression that Nitro Circus brought to a lot of action sports but despite all the insane shit they were doing backflips on big wheels were always the most popular thing they could do. It all has to do with the relatability gap in action sports, the stuff that impresses core fans goes over the heads of the general population. You could say the same thing about other sports too but it's much less of a factor; to enjoy football you don't need to be able to read a defense you just need to know what a touchdown is. In skiing it's different because there's no objective points system to tell you who's best. To the casual observer a massive laid out backie seems like the coolest thing ever and a triple cork 16 looks like a confusing mess. What is cork?
 
My friends are brilliant and completely understand that I love skiing more than anything because they are similar with music or travelling etc. When I was in school to Those who had only skied a couple times or hadn’t skied at all, I explained that the better you become, the more access to the whole mountain you have and you can always progress and learn new things and most people understood that.
 
Most people hate snow. They don't see the beauty in scenery or cant "feel" a shot, nor appreciate how much time is spent preparing for the shot. For them, its like showing a family photo. Its only when I explain what went into the shot, can they appreciate the picture. They have the same attention span as a prude chick on tinder, so you have to keep it short and only include insane "looks photoshopped" shots or carnage.

Throughout high school and college, all my class mates thought skiing was giving a double reach around. I just kept it to myself.

The one that really blows my mind is people who live in ski towns, who hate winter. Its hard to have a conversation with them at the bar because it always goes down like this:

-(me)Hey, you from Nelson?

-(person)yup

-(me)Do you ride at the hill? The conditions are amazing!

-(person)No I hate winter, snow and the cold.

-(me)So what do you do for fun then?

-(person)Netflix
 
Being from connecticut where most people don't ski you just get the constant "I hate the cold." Just let me have my one season. Also some how to a lot of my friends they just see the ski culture as the same thing as the surf culture. People constantly make the shaka symbol towards me and thats just something my ski/snowboard friends never do.
 
13856109:oiucheekykunt said:
i play indoor soccer too during the winter and it works out because it keeps you fit and i go for night skiing because my resort's crowd suck on saturdays.
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The only thing soccer is good for is the people who are too pussy to play a real sport.
 
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