Why I've become a Hater

I wanted to take some time to field some of your responses individually.

I don’t really know what I was trying to accomplish with this. I know that I am just a little fucking hair on the ass of the ski industry. This is an online forum, a place where people discuss opinions on topics their passionate about, and I’m passionate about the fact that I feel the ski film industry is overlooked, overworked, and underpaid.

Steve – You’re completely missing the point. Hearing that sort of shit from someone that works for the company that started the anti-comp was weird. Of course I know that 90% of the money in this industry comes from gapers buying carving skis you clown, and that’s precisely the demographic that used to fill the Warren Miller premiers. Yeah, even we used to have giant WM premiers out here in Buttfuck, AK. God damn, are you still butthurt that I bashed Margetts’s campaign? Imagine if a company that had the backing that the old Warren Miller films had put a segment like Karl’s Detroit part in a movie and showed it to hundreds of thousands of people. Sure, old powder hounds would probably boo it and talk shit about how dumb they are, but their kids watching it are going to think it’s cool as shit, and most likely all of the people there that ski twice a year will go ape shit for it. Sure, people might get pumped watching them flip and spin around at the Olympics, but I really don’t see it drawing many people in to it as the former situation.

Now here is where I admit I’m naïve and idealistic and this will probably never happen, but my solution none the less:

There needs to be a shift of money from the competition side to the filming side, coming down from a corporate level.

Kruse, I know that there’s not MLB-type money in skiing, but there is money there, and you know it. I know I keep going back to Sherpas, and really because I think that they are so close to toppling over the whole fucking Jenga stack, but what if instead of North Face putting up their Tom ad (sorry Tom), they put up an Into the Mind US Tour commercial on ESPN. Let’s say Harry Ballsagna sitting on his ass watching Sportscenter sees snippets of Tom and JP’s urban seg, the guys shredding powder with fucking Eagles, and Callum’s asshole-puckering Bella Coola shit. He’s never seen some crazy asshole jumping around skis, and holy shit, they’re having a US tour showing the movie? Well fuck me, he just might hop on his iPad and see if it’s coming to his town. Say it is, and he’d be his two sons’ hero if he bought four tickets (one for the Mrs.) and made a night out of it. Even if they don’t put those free lift passes to use (renting gear in the process), they just pumped $120 into the industry for checking out the premier. Personally, I see that as a way more likely chain of events than Rod Hardy’s kids seeing the Olympics or Torin eating a Pop Tart in Tucson, Arizona and asking him to let them ski, then agreeing, and driving 6 hours to Flagstaff to try it out.

All it’s going to take is one forward thinking company to hit that first domino and shit will start shifting. Hell, personally I would be happy if it just shifted to an even keel. I’m also not insinuating that the guys at Stept should be making $100,000 a year, but at least give them enough to keep them above the fucking poverty level, and maybe let them put a little money away. Speaking of $100,000, I’m glad someone brought that shit up. I can’t wait to see what 4bi9 and Dale do next season with that money. Fuck, that’s practically a small level science experiment to see what can happen to the production value and promotion of a film with an influx of cash.

Then we can all day dream what it would be like if the people Pete listed made half what they did, and the other half got shifted to the film companies. I mean holy shit; look what Tom accomplished in 1 season in between competing and fulfilling his “corporate sponsorship requirements”. Why weren’t they pumping The Wallisch Project in his ESPN and NBC commercials instead of a giant fucking North Face logo?

 
This is the most legit thread I think I have ever seen on NS.

As someone who used to hate much harder than I do now, I would like to pitch in my perspective. Personally, I have just started to care less and less what other people do. I'm not about to save the industry as one dumb teenager on the internet, and I've decided instead to put what would be negative energy into just doing my thing instead.

I appreciate the hate though. Keep it coming.
 
BECAUSE North Face sells, and to a huge population not just skiers.

The Wallisch Project? Not so much.

I think you are just looking into it too much, it's all about corpo money man and it will always be like that.
 
Why six hours to six flag, why not mt lemmon?

Also, complaining about skiiers living below the poverty line? Perhaps if they picked up a less expensive hobby. Or maybe they should take a lesson from snowboarding and get jobs and still kill it - a la the yawgoons.
 
Dangit, I worded that last paragraph poorly. I'm definitely not trying to open up the whole "evil corporation" can of worms, we wouldn't exist without them. I just think their focus on competition skiing is misguided, and that a larger audience of people that would likely join the industry could be reached if they focused more funding and promotion on the film side.
 
StartFragment

Uh welp,

if you're skiing with the intent of making a lot of money, you're already

fucked. And that's not to say that pursuing skiing with the hope of it one day

becoming a career is wrong. I'm sure that's why half the members on this site

are here. You watched a ski movie, thought, "Damn, I want skiing to be my

job," and started learning tricks and filming edits and emailing sponsors

for gear or money or whatever. Right?



And yeah,

in the long run, it’s not really about the money- it's about maintaining a

lifestyle that you love. But sometimes that comes with a few sacrifices and

sacrifices for the sake of skiing come in a million different forms. Maybe for

you, the sacrifice is that you work your ass off all week to ski on the

weekends. Or maybe you get a second job to pay for those pow skis and a $1200

pass. Or maybe...just maybe, you happen to be one of the most talented and

hard-working skiers/athletes on the planet and are afforded the chance to go to

the Olympics so you sacrifice whatever “core” or “underground” or “I don’t give

a shit” image everyone thinks you should have because holy shit you get to go

to the Olympics.



Do I like

the way skiing’s been portrayed recently? No. I hate it. Do I still want my

friends to go to Sochi and try to win an Olympic gold medal? FUCK YEAH I DO.



No, it’s

not fair that some skiers make more money than others even though they don’t

work as hard or aren’t as talented, or that the best start-up film companies

fail because they don’t have adequate funding. And it’s not fair that most/all

of the money that will supposedly flood into the industry because of the

Olympics won’t trickle down to the actual athletes. But it’s also not fair for

all of us to sit here and judge anyone who has made the sacrifices, personal or

otherwise, to get to the Olympics.



NEWS FLASH:

life is not fair. It’s the furthest thing from fair. The word “fair” should not

even exist. There’s no such thing. So to think that we should all be able to

have our cake and eat it too is nuts. I get where Logan is coming from. We all

do, one way or another. It sucks to see the sport you love bastardized for the

sake of corporations or media or the general public. But it’s a sacrifice.



Selling out

is one thing. Having the once (or twice) in a lifetime chance to compete in the

Olympics is another. (But that’s not to say they are mutually exclusive. I

won’t name names…)



Honestly, I

don’t even know 100% what I think, but I do know that sitting here and ripping

apart the people who are going to represent our sport (and who on most days you

guys all really like and look up to and enjoy watching ski) on the world stage

is the last thing that’s going to fix any of this.



So I’m just

gonna go watch Mutiny every day before I go skiing and then sit down on the

couch in February and support the shit out of everyone in Sochi, because skiing

is my favorite thing ever and I really don’t know what else to do.

EndFragment
 
Okay I agree with you then. There is definitely more opportunities on the film side then they take advantage of. It just needs more exposure somehow.
 
Look, Logan,

In theory this would be a dope place to live, where guys like LSM, or Keiran Mcveigh or Scrappy Joe or Sig tveit get payed more then faggots like Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy. Like god, I pray for that day. But you didn't really give any suggestions to get the film movement off the ground. Like it's all well and good in theory, but when I show friends LSM going onto his tips then popping off them onto a concrete ledge, or Casabon buttering onto a ledge then buttering off it onto the rail, they are much less impressed then the occasional Gus Kenworthy Triple or Alex Schlopy's spin to wins. People are just less impressed by that sort of stuff, I mean hell they barely jump out of their seats when they see a Crackhead hit a 30 foot gap to wall redirect, what is gonna get them hyped. In saying this, if you look at all extreme sports, from surfing to skating, the money is always in the people who skate comps. Using skating as an example; the guys from baker who throw the narliest shit out there make next to nothing and are basically bums versus Nyjah houstan who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars from comps. So what's the answer Logan? I just think that's the way it works, I don't think we can change it, I wish we could. But I just don't know how to make it happen.

You tell me.

 
Its a niche industry to the extreme. Unlike basketball or hockey people who like skiing might only be interested in participating, not watching. Therefore the demand for skiiers to be entertainers like in other sports is just way, way, way lower. Its not a spectator sport.

You, (and most on this website) seem to believe that extremely good skiiers should be able to, and deserve to, ski professionally. Well....sure the best of the best are always going to be able to financially profit one way or another. But how many people do you really think deserve to be pro skiiers, how big is the demand, and how much money is there?

The sad reality is theres too many amazing pro level skiiers and too little money. Fundamentally I think you are severely overestimating how many people want to watch another person ski and are willing to pay to do so.

(Not trying to be a dick I feel like I am pissing in cheerios posting that.)

 
Really...."faggots like Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy." Really? Are they faggots because they are good skiers but you don't like their style? Are they faggots because they make more money than you or than your favorite skiers? Are they faggots, SIMPLE., really? Or maybe you're not a homophobe and an asshole and to you, "faggot" is a compliment, in which case, disregard the rest of this.

LSM and Keiran and Sig and Casabon are all fuuuuuucking incredible skiers with insane talent. They should make money. They should make so much money. But I don't think Bobby or Gus or any other skier wrote the rules on who makes money or why. And they're not the ones writing the checks, they're just the ones getting them because they're damn good skiers. And actually, really very nice human beings.

 
While I agree this kind of thing needs to happen, you're right that it's a little idealistic. The problem in my mind is that, over the past ten years or so, the sheer amount of FREE content has become overwhelming. And obviously it's all due to ease of accessibility: GoPro's, free YouTube/Vimeo accounts, the NS video section, hell even cell phone video capability.

Why would anyone pay money to see a ski movie when they could watch essentially the same content on their home computer for free? I'm in no way bashing the ski movie industry, but I think they way films are put together and put out needs to be rethought a little. The reason thousands of people paid to see ski movies in theaters in the Warren Miller era was because there simply was no other way to watch that kind of footage.

I don't have a solution, but maybe this means the big players in the industry need to put out less edits, and save more banger footage for the movies. People want what they can't have. Right now they can have all the content they desire, for free. If Stept (just using them as an example) put out nothing but a trailer for their upcoming movie each year I'd be a lot willing to buy it than if I had seen 20 edits throughout the winter showing everything their crew has to offer. I'm a lot more willing to buy a movie when I'm wondering "Holy shit, I wonder what kinds of crazy ass tricks are going to be thrown in this movie." Instead, I've already heard about the guy who threw a triple from Ski Gabber, I've already seen the urban pretzel 6 in the video section. I didn't buy a single movie this year, and that's the first time I've done that in a long time. I guess that means you could say I'm a part of the problem, but really, I can find all the skiing video I could ever want to watch right on the NS home page. Kids aren't filming grainy footage with their parents camcorder they found in their basement anymore, they're paying thousands and thousands of dollars for DSLRs and L glass equivalent to those used to shoot weddings. High quality, well edited, HD footage is available everywhere. I can't argue that it's a great thing to have such an abundance of content available at any time, but I find myself less and less willing pay for content because of it.

It all comes down to the end consumer, and if their needs for skiing content are met, they aren't going to shell out money to see more, and that's all there is to it.

 
Damn this this sweet.

Logan id say you are more or less spot on.

Freeskiing = No judges, rules, or regulations

 
that's not how action media works though. End-user money is important in hollywood, where they rely on ticket and dvd sales to pay their bills, but action media is like TV, where the money comes from sponsors, who expect impressions.

The problem with skiing is, impressions are growing and growing and growing. production companies are delivering bigger viewing numbers each year, yet the sponsor money is stagnant, and in many cases shrinking. The CPM in skiing is a fraction of any other action sport.

You want to sponsor content that'll get you in front of a guaranteed 40,000 eyes? skiing, it'll cost you a few grand, whereas the same viewership in snowboarding would set you back 50, 60k, and surf or skate you're into the six figures.*

*figures not exactly accurate but not out of the ordinary.

 
Skiing isnt marketable becasue its not sexy.NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING SEXY. and sex sells.,here are some examples of "extreme" sports that sellproducts for big companies.

Surfing - Sexy shirtless men and really hot chicks all wet and doing gnarly shit

Billabong, quiksilver, ripcurl, hurley, all market surfing becasue its sexy

Rock climbing - sexy and jacked dudes and even hotter chicks doing brave shit with ripped muscles

think about the last time you went to an outdoor goods store, you defeintely saw climbing ads in there for companies like The North Face,Patagonia, arcteryx, marmot etc.

snowboarding/skiing - not jacked dudes and beat chicks (for the most part) all bundled up and doing illegal rail grinds in the city - not sexy, not marketable, why would a company market this?
 
That is a terrible analogy. Mountain biking WC and Rampage are both well-regarded, and riders from each discipline respect the hell out of the other.
 
While I agree with pretty much everything Logan has said, I think this thread in general is turning into a fuck competitions thread, which seems a bit extreme.

Maybe comps get too much money, but you have to have some respect for the talent that competition skiing takes.

Maybe a bit off topic, but it needed to be said.
 
Logan has to make some sort of feature length mind blowing movie without sponsors. Don't let anyone touch the damn thing except you and other like minded skiers/people. Have it completely crowd funded. Do exactly what Margarets did with his campaign except take it into the filming realm where you think the money needs to be. If other people agree with you then we support you and you make the best damn movie you can. Take it to the movie theaters, put up posters in town, let's crowd fund a tv spot for the movie for shit sake. Lets get average joes and their kids into the theater to watch some cool skiing and get pumped. Lets get this next level. If you somehow come out with a bunch of money after all this put that to use going to local hills and spend time with the groms, the future of the sport. Teach them, coach them, give them the gift of skiing without the whole corporate money side of it. Get rid of the whole summer camp elitism rich parents bullshit.

Or you know, realistically you could just turn your internet off for the rest of your life. Work on the rigs, save a good chunk of change and ski Alaskan pow and handrails to the day you die and not give a shit about anyone/anything else.

' Guess the deep real question every skier has to decide is whether their own personal skiing is the most important, or if sharing the gift of skiing with others is the most important. How ever you perceive the two sides of that coin is up to the individual as well.

ps. Ski season can't come soon enough...

 
What you need to ask yourself is why do film riders make almost no money? The answer is because ski films do not generate that much revenue. Trust me the market decides how much money someone gets paid, the reason why sponsors don't pay film riders that much money because honestly they won't receive a return on their investment.

What the olympics do is expose our sport to a much larger crowd, skiing needs to become 'cool' in the mind of your average gaper. They don't even need to switch to freeskiing in order for the olympics to do its job, all the olympics needs to do is change the general stereotypes surrounding skiing. If that happens then all the sudden a move like The Art of Flight becomes feasible for skiing because they will actually have a market to sell to.

So you are right, if you want to look at only the direct proceeds from the olympics then it is only going to affect mostly competition skiers. I honestly believe if an American skier wins olympic gold for either slope or pipe, they will become a millionaire the subsequent months following the olympics. But like I said the olympics allows us exposure to a huge portion of the population that would otherwise never know our sport existed besides of the old stereotypes associated with skiing already.

Also please for the love of god stop assuming if sponsors stop putting a emphasis on paying competition riders that they will all the sudden start investing in film riders. The reason why they pay money to those riders is due to simple economics, they have been proven to be profitable for sponsor/ If you removed the $ from competition skiing, there is no reason for it to all the sudden be invested in film riders, that is a huge fallacy that everyone on this site seems to believe in. The reason why Cam prob makes chump change is because his sponsors value his ability to promote their brand at whatever they are paying him right now. And honestly I can imagine that being pretty damn low because I have no damn idea who even sponsors Cam and I follow the ski scene pretty religiously.

The word sponsor is really stupid, it implies that the relationship is not strictly business. But in reality every athlete for a ski company is just like a normal employe for any other company. But seeing as how skiing is in the 'entertainment business' like every other sport, it just so happens we have a very tiny market to entertain to. The olympics have the possibility of growing that market, so stop blindly hating it.
 
I like the idea but I hope you are wrong for the sake of the sport and that there can be this influx of money from the Olympics. At the same time I want to see more banging skiing movies that get people stoked on and will be willing to buy even more of them!
 
It all comes down to exposure. A ski movie will be seen by a tiny fraction of the population that the X-Games, or another televised comp will. Companies are not just sitting on cash that they are looking to gift away to talented but under-exposed skiers, they are looking to get bang for their buck.

You want to find a way to get more money into the movies? Find a way to absolutely explode the number of viewers that see them.

X games and the Olympics are easy free to the masses to watch, while the dopest movies cost $20 to see. Arguably worth it for someone like me, but you really limit your exposure that way. Obviously the movie companies need that money to make ends meet, which means they have to charge, which means a limited amount of people will see it, which means advertisers wont be willing to fork over the dollars. And so the circle continues.
 
I could type essays and respond to some of the stupid statements in this thread but the only one that is worth my time is this... You may not like Bobby's skiing style, that is your choice, but that does not make him a faggot. I have personally met many of the people who's dick you would like to ride and I can assure you Bobby is the most genuine, down to earth person I have ever met. If that makes him a faggot then it is you who is wrecking the ski industry, not Bobby.
 
thanks logan for speaking your mind... its such a shame that the lifestyle we fight so hard ( and die for) has to figure out to where, or whom these funds go. to me, if you take a look at how Inspired did a huge road tour, even as dollo was "supposed" to be training like his counterparts for x. but no, he was with the only thing that really matters in our sport, some really really stoked kids. those are the people that decide what brand they buy, and invest in our sport. i would rather have one of those kids, than 100 "fans" that watched us grow from the olympics... and the brands should figure that as well!! im stoked that dollo is in the olympics, especially as that wont be able to "contain" his stoke. however, he even told me that he cant wait til all this shit is over...
 
You've missed out all sorts of history. I'm just going to throw a few things out there that have contributed to the way things are now. First of all, snowboarding became serious competition for skiing. Ski companies weren't the only game for people heading to the mountains. Since the 80s, there have been several serious economic calamities including 911, and each time it was a slow climb back up to how it was before. Leisure activities usually get hit the hardest because it is the first thing people stop spending money on and the last thing they add back in once things are getting better. (I don't think the world has yet recovered from the economic meltdown from a few years ago.)

Next, people don't go out to the movies like they used to, let alone ski movies. I know that in my city, each year there are fewer places to go watch any kind of movie. People have big screen TVs and they buy movies. In the heyday of the Warren Miller movies, the only way to see them was to go out to see them. And they were the only big ski movies there were. There used to be one or two channels to watch sports and now there are dozens and so many events, competitions of all kinds. We are overwhelmed with choices so can't remember what we watched last month let alone who won X Games three years ago.

It seems like you're looking for one thing to blame because things aren't the way you want them to be. The good ol' days are gone. I don't think the Olympics will be the solution to the things that are bugging you but I don't think you can actually blame the Olympics for it all either. These are just the first things that came to mind but there are more factors that have changed the ski industry over the past 20 or 30 years.

It certainly isn't the fault of the skiers that you are hating on -- they are just trying to do the best they can considering their own circumstances. And TJ was doing hair product ads long before Tucker. Those mogul/aerial skiers (before the Olympics) did commercials for all kinds of products not part of the ski industry -- my uncle was one of those wild partying guys! They did stunt work for ads and movies and were models for magazine ads. They certainly didn't take themselves so seriously, from what I've heard.

 
This is exactly my thought. Why are there threads saying should I buy this film or that film? Just fucking buy it and see and help the industry at the same time.
 
Woah Woah Woah. No you don't. I know we have the odd gaper bashing on here, but we embrace most who come into the park or bc to learn to do tricks or ride pow. Skateboarding however is not a nice community, I skate a lot but it is harsher than the mountain world. When I was learning other skaters laugh at you, ask how old you are and I felt like I didn't really like it then until I got the basics later. The mentality is shit. Do you want to get up at 12 to ski at 3 and leave by 4 if you even want a chance of going with friends? No, but that's what skaters do. However there are those who build DIY parks like here in Zurich and 60% are nice guys most of the time, but it's a lazy community outside of their skating. You can roll up to the biggest skate park in your area at 11 and there will be 2 6 year olds on scooters. You come back at 5, everyone is there. You come back at 6, they're all gone. I like shredding because it's an all day thing, but skateboarding isn't what skiing/snowboarding should become.
 
Well im pretty sure if you wanted to get paid, skiing was a bad choice. Look at Andy Perry and Rob Hule, They both live out of vans and andy dosen't ski with tc sometimes because he is waiting tables. Look at 60% of the people on here, we dont get free skis, boots, coats, and sweatshirts, etc. (unless you win a contest, small comp, or so giveaway of the sorts) We are in college or HS trying to afford a new pair of skis every 3-4 years and we work hard for our money, not to mention we need lift tickets. plus if you're in college you would know you still need to buy food and shit, so in closing nobody skis for the money, and if you do, your a dumbass.
 
Agree totally! You pretty much took the words out of my mouth. And I also loved your post calling out @SIMPLE who so eloquently stated ."faggots like Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy."

Life sure isn't fair, and anyone going into the sport with dreams of it becoming their career and making money off it, well go for it! But don't be crying about it when skiing, filming, competing doesn't pay the bills or whatever. Its a leisure, fun activity that is EXPENSIVE! Only a few are fortunate to make skiing their career! There's a very small percentage of any sports athlete that goes on to make it their job or source of income to support themselves. There's a reason for the phrase "Ski Bum", and if you're skiing, filming, competing with expectations of it becoming a career or source of income, you're skiing for the wrong reason. For a lucky few, they are living the dream, and I for one will be there to cheer them in their debut in Sochi!!

 
And by the way, I support both sides of the freeski community. I LOVE competition, obviously, but I also love the edits, short films and movies and I purchase many of them. But as many have said, those of us who enjoy watching freestyle/urban ski movies are on a pretty small scale. The Olympics can only increase the public awareness of our sport, and maybe just maybe there will be a higher demand for the filming side of it once the general public knows our sport exists. I swear to God when I tell people my kids compete in freestyle SKIING, they often say, "Oh so they snowboard" People still don't know about freestyle skiing!
 
There are many, many levels to this complex argument but I would like to focus for a minute here on Mary's point. Regardless of your opinion concerning the definition of and how free Freeskiing should be, the Freeski segment of the global ski market is about 9-10%.

9-10%. That's it.

That sort of means that 90% of the money in skiing goes elsewhere. It goes to racing, all mountain, rental, etc. etc. If the Olympics can somehow generate more interest and more awareness of Freeskiing, then perhaps this number can grow and more money will exist to fund projects, build more parks, create more interest in filming, etc. More interest in Freeski will ultimately mean that more brands will focus on it and in turn create more and better products.

My beloved NS community lives in a very small bubble within the already small bubble called "Skiing". If more interest in Freeski can be generated by the Olympics, then it really has the potential to help us all out.
 
I heart Logan..no homo. I think hater was a poor choice of words tho. Cynic would fit more accurately. And I get it. All of this pre-Olympic crap has made me pretty cynical towards the industry. I guess ill use a Walter wood type story as one example. There is a reason that dudes like that train all the time and spin for the win. Someone told them that's how they were going to win comps and make that cheddar. I doubt anyone out there started out with that mentality..I'm just gonna go out and huck spins today till I'm dizzy. No..you start out skiing for fun and you fall in love with it. Then you get really good and decide that you would like to try and pursue it as a living, and that is when corporate skiing tells you that you need to hit the gym and spin your way into dew tour, the Grand Prix, X, maybe even the Olympics ..and that's how you're gonna make that money. So you do it. But you still don't make that money. In fact you have to go all over the internet to beg for money just to continue training. So what was the end game here? Now enter me, an average NS member who works extremely hard all year so that I can blow every penny I earn on skiing. It is my passion, my soul. And now you're begging me for my money so you can go out and keep spinning in hopes someone is finally gonna pay you. Seems like a pile of bullshit to me. I don't really ever like to hate on how someone skis, or style or whatever, but you change the game a little when your asking to take away from my season to give to yours for something I really don't care about when you're supposed to get paid to do this shit. Maybe that has nothing to do with Logan's hate, but it's one little piece of what's been irking me and this seemed like a good place to get it out.

And Logan for president of internet, totes
 
too many wannab's lookin to cash in on FREEskiing or thinkin the industry owes em sumthin15 years in the industry do it cause i gets paid in a lifestyle of freedom, untracked pow and faceshots. minus the $$$

What saves skiing will and always has been skiing

the circlejerk of comp skiing, edits, social media, and advertising aint gonna save shit.

There's a reason the fastest growing market within the sport involves puttin your gear on to climb up and ski down on real mountains with real snow without needing the $$$$$ or even having to film, blogz facefuck, twitter twater spewtube or tell anyone

motherfuckin poptarts and supermarkets and gymnasts on skis aint gonna save shit.

If you need a bunch of $$$$ for FREEskiing you are doing it wrong.
 
God, you couldn't be more right about that. You were kind of harping on extremes with that post though, don’t you think? I can't speak for the other dudes that do it, but I ski because I love it more than anything and because I want to share my take on it with the masses. Why can’t you have both? Also, there’s no way I would ask for a crowd sourced film project, nor do I think anyone should. The money is there to do it; it’s just in the wrong places right now. Matt, so we’re only 9-10% of the small bubble that is skiing, but what percentage of the advertising do we represent? I’m just tossing a number out, but I would guess that no less than 50% of ski advertising depicts some form of “freeskiing”, whether it be pow riding or flying through the air. THAT is the shit that sells skis.

You can cut the shit with the whole “life isn’t fair” bullshit argument as well. If everyone saw something that they didn’t like and said, “Well, life isn’t fair, I better just deal with it,” Then we would be nowhere as a society. (Incoming extreme example) “Oh sorry Mr. Slave, I know what you’re going through working for these white dudes sucks, but life isn’t fair, so you’re gonna have to deal with it.” Sure, I’d love to gallivant around the world and ski and not pay taxes and eat ham and cheese sandwiches in my underwear all damn day, but life isn’t fair. You have to work hard. You have to pay your taxes. I have said from the start that when it comes to all of this I fully realize I’m being an idealist, and unfortunately being idealistic generally makes you sound whiny. I’M NOT TRYING TO WHINE. I’m expressing my displeasure with the status quo, and presenting a manner in which I see to change it.

Also, why do people keep bringing up that competitions get more exposure? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Have some of you even read what I’ve written? I’m saying that they do right now, and corporate sponsors need to shift more money to promoting (read: exposing) ski films. I think that would sell more skis in the long run. Did the situation I presented above really seem that farfetched?

 
God damn Logan, you hit the nail right on the head.

Here in Norway, Field Productions Supervention was the first ski movie ever to be aired at cinemas(I dont know how it over there in the states). Field production has something figured out; their behind the scenes series from the making of their two last movies is aired on the website of the biggest newspaper in Norway, Aksel Lund Svindal-one of the worlds best alpinists(and the most popular athlete in Norway) skis in and promotes the movie and Supervention was marketed as a skiing documentary for the sole purpose of selling tickets. It worked, and I believe that it is the direction that ski movies has to go if your dream of movie-skiiers getting paid, is going to be fulfilled.
 
This is my 10th year skiing professionally, It is and always had been an uphill battle to make ends meet but the olympics have actually made the state on the industry worse.... Its pathetic, and i agree completely with OP... The "non olympic" athletes have an opinion and it barley gets heard because of the olympic hype.... I will be boycotting the olympics by not watching them and lets see what its like in another 10 years, ill be 35 saying hopefully not saying" I told you so".. Olympics was not and is not good for the core industry... We have our own contests why did we need the olympics... To sell out to big corporations that wouldn't touch the sport without the olympics, let me ask you, are those the companies we want controlling were the money in the sport goes? FTO!
 
As I see it, most of the population doesn't even live near mountains, of those who do most don't give a shit about skiing, and those who ski, most don't give a shit about freeskiing, so this sport will never have money. It's simply not a big enough market for major sponsors to give a shit about, especially the film portion which an even greater portion of people don't give a shit about, as compared to the Olympics where gapers galore will be watching.
 
This is my 10th year skiing professionally, It is and always had been an uphill battle to make ends meet but the olympics have actually made the state on the industry worse.... Its pathetic, and i agree completely with OP... The "non olympic" athletes have an opinion and it barley gets heard because of the olympic hype.... I will be boycotting the olympics by not watching them and lets see what its like in another 10 years, ill be 35 saying hopefully not saying" I told you so".. Olympics was not and is not good for the core industry... We have our own contests why did we need the olympics... To sell out to big corporations that wouldn't touch the sport without the olympics, let me ask you, are those the companies we want controlling were the money in the sport goes? FTO!
 
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