Your thoughts, on becomming a professional skier

lyndon

lyndon

Active member
I’m just wondering, who really wants to become a professional skier? I’ve thought about it, and to be honest, I personally don’t want to. As odd as it may sound, I can picture my self skiing until I’m really old, but not as a living. When you really think about it, its really not all that great. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying being a professional skier isn’t a worthy profession, but really, just think. It must be amazing to travel the world, however, you don’t get paid a lot, you constantly must battle injuries, and essentially you must constantly progress on a daily, better yet, hourly basis. In some areas I am wrong. Sure, winning major competitions will bring you cash, but how long will you be able to sustain it? I don’t know, I think that’s it’s the “cool” thing right now in your, our*, lives. When I grow up, I don’t want to have to be concerned with where I may have to sleep, or what I’m eating. I want everything to be in its place.

well, thats my take, what does everyone else think?
 
it would be amazing....until you're old and washed up looking for a decent job with no education behind you. (especially if you've dropped out of high school to ski) most people won't go back to school when they're 30.
 
its quite obvious that the professional freestyle skier lifestyle is not compatible with the suburban, "everything in it's place", conservative lifestyle. It is full of risk, and usually shitty pay, but it's probably the funnest way to live your life. I would kill to be a pro skier, i can worry about settling down later.
 
i am kinda with ferguson. altho it would be awesome, my family is not normal. my parents travel all the time and r busy and do kina crazy stuff like visit europe and asia and shit. id rather be normal sometimes.
 
I would love to be a pro skier, but i just dont see it happening. Thats why i have 2 job's in the ski industry and im building contacts with different ski companys. That way if i decided to make a career in the ski industry i have a start.
 
I kinda just wanna be a ski bum. Because there is not commitment. It always seems when there is commitment, we fuck up, so why not just do what you want?

Id personally rather dricve a 98 chevy impala and work at a ski resort than drive a hummer and not work. Im a man of reality, and my friend, that is reality.
 
i'd rather be happy and poor then bored and rich. that's why i want to be a pro. if not pro involved in the ski industry or a ski bum making just enough to get food. the rest i can figure out later.
 
And L.Ferguson, you've just proved why some skiers aren't professional skiers. Professional skiers... they all love skiing. It is there life, there dream. If you like something to that extent... being rich does not matter. Living a hectic life and living day by day loving what you're doing is what truly matters.
 
if your a pro skier most of your expenses can be paid for. for example all of your equipment, clothes, etc. mountains can sponsor you for free tickets(aswell as companys paying for trips) and lodging may be free depending if the resort sponsors you too. that said, only a few pros actually have these benifits, and they still have to cover the costs of health care.
 
would love to ski alot and get to go heli sking and travel the world, plus free gear those are the benifits of being a pro skier, but it does have it's trade offs. the big one though is that most "pro" skiers pay for most of it out of their pocket. Other draw backs are that you need to be constintly pushing it. If you want to be sucsefful as a pro skier you need to keep pushing your self at all times, you may have a bad feeling about a certin jump or a line but you still need to do it. If you just ski for fun you can always back out of something and still have your job. but if you are a pro skier and you start backing out of doing a line, jump or rail because you have a bad fealing about it, film companies will stop spending time and money on you because there will be some new kid who will charge 100% of the time no matter what and he will do better in comps in dicy conditions and you will start to lose sponsors. another thing is you have a high risk of getting serously injured, and when you get injured sponsors will drop you. It's not the same as being paid to ski with your buddy's.
 
living in whistler, ive met my fair share of pro skiers. and honestly, theres nothing idlike to do more. its everything ive wanted in a lifestyle...cant eve explain
 
My dad and two uncles are or have been professional skiers. And I can

tell you this: it's a ridiculous amount of work.

I really really love

skiing, and I've been accused of being pretty good at it, but I don't

think I'd want to go pro. My dad trains about four hours a day in the

off season. A decade ago, when he was doing big mountain comps

regularly, he trained seven or

eight hours a day. Hard. One of my uncles has overtrained and

overworked

himself to a point where he's constantly in pain. I guess it paid off

because

he was at two olympic games and he's currently the top rated x-country

skier for his age division in the US, but I wouldn't want to be 45

years old and not be able to walk painlessly. Even my dad, who was

never seriously injured, is constantly taking ibuprofin for the

wear and tear on his body over the years.

And

except for the very top skiers in the world, professional skiers don't

make very much money at all. Most that I've met hold a couple other

various jobs that work with their travel schedules. Free skis and paid

trips are cool, but it's just too much work to get to the top for me. There

are other areas where I'd rather put in the work.

Those of you that want to be pro skiers, go for it. Nobody is stopping you. Train every minute of your free time. Save your money and buy a season pass. Live out of your car at a resort and ski 180 days a year. Work evenings. In the off season, get a cheap flight to somewhere with snow and be a ski bum all season there too. Never take an easy run. Constantly push yourself on every jump, rail, or turn. And compete in every comp you can find. If you know you're going to come in last place in a comp, enter anyway. A few seasons of this, and hopefully you'll be getting free gear. After several years, hopefully you'll be getting film segs and heli trips. Marry somebody who loves to ski and doesn't mind you constantly training and who has money, and with any luck you'll be living over the poverty line when you're in your 20s. The point is professional skiing is a job like any other job; it takes work. If this doesn't sound fun to you, get a real job, buy a season pass at your favorite mountain and have glorious weekends having fun with your friends on the snow.
 
are you sure professional skiers train in the off season hard? cause after seeing some of the guys in UP1 puking at the gym, that made me wonder.
 
yeah but now every "big pros" got something....look, phil belan owns plehouse and d-structure, phil dion is the team manager for dynastar in europe, tanner got armada and he's millionaire without it, jp got armada, TJ will got something too for sure .... if you're in the top pros its pretty sure you'll get something in the ski world if you got a great attitude and a good "speaking" with the people

yo
 
ya, I would definitley be a professional skier...but the thing I will have to be aware of is when my time has passed, meaning giving up pro skiing and going back to regular life with a job.
 
like, for sure, i can see my self opening my own ski shop. However, i plan on becomming a teacher. I would rather have a steady job, and be able to ski pretty much whenever.
 
i am miles away from being a pro but it would def. the shit, at least until i am 25 or so, i am pretty sure that it isnt very well paid unless youre one of the best so you can win x or the us open or so

but i am about to work and study beside skiing, work long to afford my skiing.

its pretty much what i want to do after school for a time, so what would be better if i dont need to work because i get money through skiing

something which is really hard to take into account is the whole injury-stuff. we have to see in 20 years how and if all the pros and how the rest of the skiers can are still able to walk without help and so
 
Think about it... I'd love to become a pro skier (but that's just a dream for me). I think it's pretty cool because you get to travel all over the world and to do the thing you enjoy the most in your life everyday. You also get a lot of support from your sponsers (free clothes, skis, goggles...), you get all the girls you want ;). You live the dream of a life. You always go farther in the sport, always surpassing yourself to be the best around. I'd love to be good enough to be a pro skier.
 
If riches are your asspiration then don't look for it in skiing. If a stable life with basic needs met are your asspiration then don't look for it in skiing. If skiing is your asspiration look for it in skiing
 
however, as Danny Way said in the DC skate video.."It's not the glamourous life you think we all live."

thats what it seems, and i feel its kinda promoted in that sence...
 
^ thats kinda trippy

and anyhow there is actually alot of pros going to school and skiing,and if your anthony or steele then you could sell your paintings for quite a bit
 
It really depends on your philosophy on life. If you live for today, then it's perfect. If you're more partial to worrying about the future it's not for you. I try to find a balance. In which case, being a pro skier would be cool for a while until I felt like my run was over.
 
I want to be the best that I can be at whatever I do, so if skiing is what makes it that what I would do for a living, I mean right now I am practically homeless and live for skiing so if I made some money skiing it would be more then normal.
 
You shouldn't ski to become a pro. You should ski for the love of skiing. IF you get lucky enough you can become a pro
 
I love it. Skiing is my life but straight up, it seems most people just get freakin wrecked trying to stay on top. I don't think I have the drive to be among the X games eliet ro whatev...
 
i was kinda pro- not in being sponsored but in teaching all everday all winter for 2 years. and like any job there were ups and downs for sure. but in comparison to any other job i've ever had its handsdown the best. and therefore i imagine being pro as in being sponsored skiing for films etc would be even better because of the variety of life that might be amiss when teaching.

bottom line i'm 27 - probably too old to be discovered as some big mountain master (only way i'd stand a chance cause the park- i'm terrible) but i'd still give my left nut if i knew how i could be pro.
 
everyone who wants to be pro should go for there dreams and follow threw, but for me being a pro would take the love out of the sport. i want to become a teacher so i have a good job and lots of time to ski. i have had my dreams but when it comes down to it i want a good job and a long life skiing!!
 
This is from the L1P interview with Steele....sounds like at least one pro skier is planning for the future and making it all work:

JW: How is the graphic design situation for you these days?

SS: BUSY! I just started another quarter of school and will have my degree before Christmas. Between schoolwork, and all of the 4FRNT projects, I’m constantly working and challenging myself with design.

JW: Where do you see yourself fitting into the industry right now? Are you a soul skier, a park rat, BC hucker? All of the above?

SS: I am still living my dream and intend to keep on doing what I love as long as possible. I may not like competing, but I am still there at every competition to keep my presence known. My favorite is filming backcountry and I make sure I get a lot of time in doing that.

JW: Given injuries and the sport’s progression, about how long do you think someone can last at the top of the jib game?

SS: Injuries are always something to think about. A major injury can knock you out of the game forever; take Boyd as an example. It’s all a matter of calculated risks, and not taking huge chances that could end my career.

JW: In what role might we see you in the future?

SS: I intend to keep skiing for my sponsors for more years to come. At one point it’s possible that I will assume the position of art director at 4FRNT skis and make that my official job.

 
very knowledgeable in how the game works.

the few guys who make the money arent about to quit. and the hundreds...no wait, thousands trying to make the money arent about to quit. skiing for a living is fun. but not all of it is. if you try to be a competition skier, you have to be among the best to make anything. same goes for a film skier. but filming you dont make 10G for a day of park skiing. you put in year after year of threatening your life, just to make it to the end of your contract, hoping the previous year was good enough to bump the dollar amount up for the following season. And dont tell me its not all about the money, because i know this. but if you ski professionally, then you dont have any other income. how do you buy a house? or car? while eating, skiing, and paying for gas, among other things. when you only make enough to support the latter three

if you want to become pro, then dont focus on one area. if you specialize in only one area, you'll have no chance in the vicious industry. sure, you could win slopestyle after slopestyle, until the kid 4 years yonger than you is better. then you'll want to turn to the filming. sadly, most everything in the parks has been done on video. you'll find yourself in a hole trying to dig yourself out. and what did it to you? the ski industry. to sum it up. if you want to make it, then you have to be the best all around skier there is. a good start is on a pair of GS skis.
 
Haha, I know they ain't rich or anything... I know a pro that has to work his ass off at his uncle's industry during summer. But he still loves it! He's living the dream of his life, he quit school to ski and he said that he's happy he has done it. But of course he'll have to find another job later on.
 
i honestly would rather live a hectic life skiing with little money, than to work a good job in an office somewhere and ski on the weekends if i have time.
 
proskiers have a one up on some people. when they have sponsorships, and help with product design taht gives them valuable knowledge for the business world. its like a free internship, at a really high level. yea you may only be able to ski and make a good living for a decade at most, but that will be the beset decade of my life, and also there is always the option of going back to school. ski while your young
 
i just want to win powerball or lottery or something that gives me $300million so that i can like put it in a savings bond or mutual fund or something, so that ill be making like $7mil a year, so i dont have to work or anyhting, and can just travel the world and ski wherever i want...but of course thatll never happen...

but i have another plan, i wanna buy some huge ass piece of land (maybe w/ a house) and then lease it to some power company or any company looking for power so that they can use it for wind farms...my uncle said that you can get like $120,000 a year, which would be pretty nice, and then i wouldn't have to work either and i could ski every day...

..but back to reality:

i dont think i would want to be pro, but rather just ski everyday...

speaking of get rich quick schemes, anyone know of any good ones?

and what aobut any half decent jobs (above poverty line) that allow you to ski more than just weekends?
 
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