Pros in college

If they're pro or close to it, they know a lot of people in the industry. Knowing people in the industry = job opportunities in the industry, or at least a better shot at one.

most people you think are pro don't have a cent to their names and in ten years they're gonna be fucked.

Speaking from experience on the contest-side of things, it's kind of a catch-22 for a lot of guys - if you're on the come up and trying to get to that point that you're getting paid fairly well by sponsors, skiing and traveling to comps costs a lot of money, so guys have to choose between putting money into one or the other (school or skiing). On the other hand, if you've already made it and are getting paid, it's not like you can take 6-7 months off from skiing each year to attend class, or else sponsors probably won't keep paying you.

Some guys made it work with a combination of online school, hard work, and a bit of luck. Wallisch came up while he was in school (4bi9 started when a few of those guys were freshmen at the U of Utah) and I'm pretty sure he and bunch of those guys finished eventually. Come to think of it, a lot of the Park City 'pros' are in school or finished school relatively recently.

its kinda like the NFL. when you retire from the pro game theres usually a cushy advertising job or sportscenter gig waiting for you.

Smart phone+ gondola= college degree soon enough

I think evan raps is in med school/went to med school.

FROGGINBULLFISHI think evan raps is in med school/went to med school.

yup and according to his LinkedIn he had a 3.98 GPA in undergrad.... :O

i know t wall went through college when he was already pro. also ian compton and many more that i dont know of

kfed_bong_ripits kinda like the NFL. when you retire from the pro game theres usually a cushy advertising job or sportscenter gig waiting for you.

Not really as those are jobs extremely more limited in the ski industry when you have only got one channel broadcasting about 2 snow sports events a year.

kfed_bong_ripits kinda like the NFL. when you retire from the pro game theres usually a cushy advertising job or sportscenter gig waiting for you.

Basically this. They pretty much just throw money at you once you're done being PRO.

I remember Twall had to fly back to school after winning the x games a few years ago to take his finals.

Wassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

Isn't Kieran McVeigh like a genius or something?

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

That was beautiful

Thanks homie! ^

KEEFBOXLearning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Dropping knowledge and getting me thinking as usual! Your outlook on learning and education is so motivating to me. Taking a stats course this semester and I'm terrified but it'll be good to challenge myself. Keep killing it with school!

Yeah thanks llana! Glad to hear. Maja and I miss you and hope your doing well these days! Keep it up and best of luck with the useful mathematics of statistics;)

Keeper dropping some real knowledge.
You can ski and be outdoorsy as much as you want, but a college education is going to help you in the long run. Took a semester off last year to reevualte & realign myself with my goals. Skiing every day all day was cool, but you gotta if fish your schooling kids.

Keefer just blew the lid off of this, loving that wisdom, makes you feel better deep down.

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

Holy shit dude. We gotta have an intelligent conversation sometime!

Best post ever.

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

so your insta bio isn't a joke lol, thats sick dude STEM skiers we out here

Word is Giray and Ross both have mechanical engineering degrees, this is in accordance to Krotch so im not sure the true validity.

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

I haven't posted on NS in years but for whatever reason I was feeling nostalgic this afternoon and decided to log on today and browse the site. It seems fitting that I would see this post. Nicky pretty much nailed it here, and I would encourage any skiers that are nearing college age to heed Nicky's advice.

While I am not, and certainly never was a professional skier, I think that my story may be worth sharing here for a bit of persecutive on skiing and college. I too attended the University of Utah and got a STEM degree, but probably didn't go about it in the best way...

Out of high school I was pretty similar to the Nicky of old that he described in his post, except a way shittier skier. All I wanted was to ski, party, get high and chase girls. I only applied to two colleges because they were both in close proximity to mountains and when I got into the U I accepted with the intention on getting a cop-out degree so as to maximize my time on hill. But about a month after I committed to the U I ate shit on closing day and tore my ACL MCL, and Meniscus in my left knee. After surgery I gimped around for a Summer bummed out, but still optimistic about the skiing I was going to get in the following winter in Utah.

When I moved to Salt Lake the following Fall I met up with many like-minded skiers and it was a ton of fun parting with these people and getting hyped up for ski season. But, when the season finally arrived the reality of the injury I sustained the previous Spring set in and it quickly became clear that I would likely not be the skier that I once was. Yes, I could have probably physically rehabbed enough to get as strong as I once was, but mentally I just couldn't shake the injury. This sent me into a weird funk and I started thinking about what the hell I was doing with my life. The coursework I was taking was wholly uninteresting and, for someone who had come from a relatively affluent upbringing, the prospect of probably making less 30k a year out of college with a comm. degree was daunting. I had always been vaguely interested in construction so I made the choice to switch majors into civil engineering.

Pretty much immediately after making the switch my grades took a major turn for the worse. While I had changed majors I had not changed my lifestyle at all and engineering school was seriously fucking me up. After a couple of piss-poor semesters and failing a statics class it became clear to me that obtaining this engineering degree was going to require a lot more effort, and here is where I think I went wrong...

Instead of taking a metered approach to studying harder, I went all in. I pretty much stopped skiing entirely and alienated myself from the group of friends and people who I had initially gotten along with so well. Yeah, my grades improved, but at the cost of losing the majority of my social life. I think this was made easier for me because I had begun to resent skiing because at this point (by my standards) I sucked at it.

A few years and a couple of internships later and I graduated with a salvaged GPA and a great job offer at a well renowned company in hand, but this had come at the cost of my love for the sport of skiing and a valuable portion of my college experience...

I read the OP again after writing this all down it looks like I've drifted completely off subject, but I guess the point of my story is that hell yes you should go to college and try to get the best degree you possibly can, but take the Keefer approach and bring some moderation into your pursuits. Nicky is living a great example of how to incorporate skiing into a proactive lifestyle that prepares himself for the rest of his life while still enjoying skiing. I guess its not all bad for me now, being finically secure and pretty much universally employable definitely has it perks and has opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me. However, I'll never be able to quite reconcile some of the feelings of regret I have from how my college experience panned out.

It's great to see pro athletes support the need for an education.
Whether or not you are a pro athlete, getting a good education is vital.
Though it may not be easy to balance skiing and school, education is the key.

I love skiing. It's my favorite sport, hobby, therapy, pastime, etc. I love it and there is nothing more in the world I would have loved to do for my life, also I am by no means a pro. But this post caught my attention. Just having recently graduating from high school, I was faced with the decision of college or not? I figured that where I wanted to go, would have to have skiing. I ended up not letting this be a determinate of my decision. I go to a great school in central Virginia! The weather is hot, the skiing sucks. But with a lot of hard work and hopefully a degree, I know I will be able to afford to do what I love for the rest of my life.

One piece of advice is that the more decisive you are about what you want to accomplish in college, the better off you will be. The earlier you choose, the better you can set yourself up for success. I'm attending a fairly competitive college and i have good grades and I'm struggling to get into the major I want, and its really the only major i'm interested in. I'm definitely not a pro, but at this point its looking like ya boy is going to be taking some time off school and ski/film/dedicating myself to something i'm more passionate about outside the realm of school with all intentions of going back and finishing up my senior year in the near future.

I'm a kind of guy who isn't too worried about graduating in 4 years. The college life is fun as shit even though being broke kind of sucks... but life is too short to worry about anything as long as you have the basics takin care of. If you do what you enjoy, everything will work out bro. Life is about having fun as long as you can take care of your responsibilities and not fuck up too hard. Dont sacrifice too much happiness now for the potential of making more money in the future. Do what makes you happy. And who knows, maybe one day the labor of your love will reward you.

fuck it everyone is different, we all have dreams and pursuing them may or may not be worth it. in the end, who the fuck knows what they're doing, and i'm the last person who should give advice. Jah will provide

rant over best of luck to everyone getting edumacated and skiing at the same time

KEEFBOXIs it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are?

This scares the shit out of me. The obvious solution seems to be you know, not do it so it doesn't run the risk of wiping us out. My brand new phone doesn't even make phonecalls reliably so I'm not feeling that confident we can get the commands not to destroy humanity right at the first and only time of asking.

Walter Wood is my math partner /claim

TwigThis scares the shit out of me. The obvious solution seems to be you know, not do it so it doesn't run the risk of wiping us out. My brand new phone doesn't even make phonecalls reliably so I'm not feeling that confident we can get the commands not to destroy humanity right at the first and only time of asking.

Here Ya go twig! This guy is one of the best we have to listen to. Just on how we should think/handle the advancement of AI

https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_bostrom_what_happens_when_our_computers_get_smarter_than_we_are?language=en

mizzikeI haven't posted on NS in years but for whatever reason I was feeling nostalgic this afternoon and decided to log on today and browse the site. It seems fitting that I would see this post. Nicky pretty much nailed it here, and I would encourage any skiers that are nearing college age to heed Nicky's advice.

While I am not, and certainly never was a professional skier, I think that my story may be worth sharing here for a bit of persecutive on skiing and college. I too attended the University of Utah and got a STEM degree, but probably didn't go about it in the best way...

Out of high school I was pretty similar to the Nicky of old that he described in his post, except a way shittier skier. All I wanted was to ski, party, get high and chase girls. I only applied to two colleges because they were both in close proximity to mountains and when I got into the U I accepted with the intention on getting a cop-out degree so as to maximize my time on hill. But about a month after I committed to the U I ate shit on closing day and tore my ACL MCL, and Meniscus in my left knee. After surgery I gimped around for a Summer bummed out, but still optimistic about the skiing I was going to get in the following winter in Utah.

When I moved to Salt Lake the following Fall I met up with many like-minded skiers and it was a ton of fun parting with these people and getting hyped up for ski season. But, when the season finally arrived the reality of the injury I sustained the previous Spring set in and it quickly became clear that I would likely not be the skier that I once was. Yes, I could have probably physically rehabbed enough to get as strong as I once was, but mentally I just couldn't shake the injury. This sent me into a weird funk and I started thinking about what the hell I was doing with my life. The coursework I was taking was wholly uninteresting and, for someone who had come from a relatively affluent upbringing, the prospect of probably making less 30k a year out of college with a comm. degree was daunting. I had always been vaguely interested in construction so I made the choice to switch majors into civil engineering.

Pretty much immediately after making the switch my grades took a major turn for the worse. While I had changed majors I had not changed my lifestyle at all and engineering school was seriously fucking me up. After a couple of piss-poor semesters and failing a statics class it became clear to me that obtaining this engineering degree was going to require a lot more effort, and here is where I think I went wrong...

Instead of taking a metered approach to studying harder, I went all in. I pretty much stopped skiing entirely and alienated myself from the group of friends and people who I had initially gotten along with so well. Yeah, my grades improved, but at the cost of losing the majority of my social life. I think this was made easier for me because I had begun to resent skiing because at this point (by my standards) I sucked at it.

A few years and a couple of internships later and I graduated with a salvaged GPA and a great job offer at a well renowned company in hand, but this had come at the cost of my love for the sport of skiing and a valuable portion of my college experience...

I read the OP again after writing this all down it looks like I've drifted completely off subject, but I guess the point of my story is that hell yes you should go to college and try to get the best degree you possibly can, but take the Keefer approach and bring some moderation into your pursuits. Nicky is living a great example of how to incorporate skiing into a proactive lifestyle that prepares himself for the rest of his life while still enjoying skiing. I guess its not all bad for me now, being finically secure and pretty much universally employable definitely has it perks and has opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me. However, I'll never be able to quite reconcile some of the feelings of regret I have from how my college experience panned out.

Your a boss. Thanks for sharing.

I f

KEEFBOXLearning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

Dont wanna quote the whole thing but thats so awesome! Until recently I've been indifferent about school. I always did well but it was just boring. I took some time to figure shit out and now I'm studying stuff that I really like. It's made a huge difference. Anyways, good luck and stay stoked on the rest of your schoolin!


I think I'm gonna go do some homework or something haha. Feelin pretty motivated right now.

Was starting to feel a little behind in life, as a 19 yr old working on my AA right now. Most of my friends are either off at a university, or already know exactly what they want to do in life. Also, since I'm only working towards my AA at my local community college i was having a hard time/still having a hard time thinking about what i really want to do with this life i have been blessed with. This can be frustrating sometimes because i feel like I'm in limbo...of course I'm skiing, skating, hiking, biking and living life the way i like, although i start to feel like I'm stuck in a rut.
Up until this point I've been taking a fairly easy way out. Skiing is more fun than school, so that moves to the top of my priorities. I make money working, so that started to climb above academics, and before i even realized what happened it was almost too late. A couple of poor grades and reality started to set in. My parents started criticizing my every move, and at the time all i felt was resentment. I felt that my parents had no right to get mad at me...until i really started to think about it. Ive been fortunate enough to grow up with parents that supported my every move. As long as a kept my grades up in high school they were there to make sure what ever i wanted, could be achieved somehow or another. So obviously it came as a surprise to me when they were not supportive of my recent lifestyle choices.
To them it was a major sign of disrespect, as if i was throwing away everything they worked so hard for, to provide for me. And like i said, i resented the fact that they didn't want to support my lifestyle. Now i was not relying on them for support, i made my own money, my own choices etc. but i started to notice that they were truly worried for me. I had to take a step back and evaluate my life, look at the choices I've made, and where i am now. Think about the choices i can make, and where i might end up.
It sure can be fun skiing all the time, chasing the next high, and living a huck finn lifestyle. But where does all this get you?? I think personally I've always wanted to do something that will change the world for the better, but I've been scared to put myself out there, and work really hard towards something. As i said earlier sometimes the easy way is more fun in the moment, but not nearly as rewarding in the end. I can succesfully say this thread/ keefers philosophy on life/school has inspired me to keep on truckin with this whole school thing, and definitely focus a bit more on STEM. Still not positive what i want to for a career but i can say forsure that i have a new perspective on life, school, math and science.
Im sure there are a thousand errors in this little post, so please don't hate too much, wrote this up on my lunch break at work :)

KEEFBOXYeah thanks llana! Glad to hear. Maja and I miss you and hope your doing well these days! Keep it up and best of luck with the useful mathematics of statistics;)

NS science people unite.

KEEFBOXHere Ya go twig! This guy is one of the best we have to listen to. Just on how we should think/handle the advancement of AI

https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_bostrom_what_happens_when_our_computers_get_smarter_than_we_are?language=en

Yeah man, I'd seen that before and read a couple of his papers. He's part of the reason the whole thing freaks me out so much. I'd still err on the side of it isn't inevitable unless we decide it is, and nobody seems to honestly believe with any degree of certainty that we can control it so why risk all of humanity.

I'd disagree that it's so imminent too though. People have thought that technology would make human thought redundant repeatedly over the past few generations and turned out to be wrong.

TwigYeah man, I'd seen that before and read a couple of his papers. He's part of the reason the whole thing freaks me out so much. I'd still err on the side of it isn't inevitable unless we decide it is, and nobody seems to honestly believe with any degree of certainty that we can control it so why risk all of humanity.

I'd disagree that it's so imminent too though. People have thought that technology would make human thought redundant repeatedly over the past few generations and turned out to be wrong.

Yeah duder, I totally hear what your saying.. You read some of his papers? Thats awesome! I just got his book "Superintelligence". Super excited to get into it.

But as far as the situation goes, I think the risk IS worth the reward. I mean, as long as we were able to upgrade our own intelligence by putting the AI into us. Know what I mean? Its crazy ass Ray Kurzweil's theory of the singularity. (I agree with you saying it is NOT as imminent as some say.)

"When it comes to technology, most people overestimate the impact in the short term and underestimate it in the long term." - Arthur C. Clarke

But if we could just somehow integrate the technology into our biology, then I can't possibly see how it could go south? What do you think? Obviously this would have huge implications on what it would mean to be human. Some serious ethical questions there. But if we were to try and integrate it into us it would need to be done incrementally and VERY cautiously. We wouldn't want a run away AI effect right?.

I guess the reason why I am so down to send it, is because I am obsessed with what lies beyond and I want to know what the fuck were doing here. And if AI is going to help us get there than by all means go for it.

Question for you: If we somehow used technology to reset our telomeres and in turn slow the aging process if not freeze it. Would you go for it? Guess what I would do. ;)

Have you see this Ted talk? - https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_shares_mindboggling_new_science?language=en

KEEFBOXBut as far as the situation goes, I think the risk IS worth the reward. I mean, as long as we were able to upgrade our own intelligence by putting the AI into us. Know what I mean? Its crazy ass Ray Kurzweil's theory of the singularity. (I agree with you saying it is NOT as imminent as some say.)

"When it comes to technology, most people overestimate the impact in the short term and underestimate it in the long term." - Arthur C. Clarke

But if we could just somehow integrate the technology into our biology, then I can't possibly see how it could go south? What do you think? Obviously this would have huge implications on what it would mean to be human. Some serious ethical questions there. But if we were to try and integrate it into us it would need to be done incrementally and VERY cautiously. We wouldn't want a run away AI effect right?.

I guess the reason why I am so down to send it, is because I am obsessed with what lies beyond and I want to know what the fuck were doing here. And if AI is going to help us get there than by all means go for it.

Question for you: If we somehow used technology to reset our telomeres and in turn slow the aging process if not freeze it. Would you go for it? Guess what I would do. ;)

Have you see this Ted talk? - https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_shares_mindboggling_new_science?language=en

Maybe this thread isn't the place to have this chat, but onwards! I'd like to get my hands on a copy of that book actually, I've been meaning too though I assume it borrows heavily from stuff I have read by him.

The Arthur C. Clarke quote certainly describes the historic pre-emption and result of most technology. And there has always been fear of technology that has ultimately, at least so far been unfounded (to the ultimate degree at least). Nuclear war and even arguably the switching on of CERN being two examples of technology that we thought could conceivably wipe us out (though in the latter case that did always seem like nonsense) and yet we've survived.

I feel like AI more intelligent than ourselves, self-improving AI probably presents more of a risk than any other thus far, though maybe that is me falling in to the Clarke trap. It's important to seperate Bio-engineering from that, which is essentially what is discussed in the Juan Enriquez talk and is the obvious/relatively safe future. That path that is both low risk and almost inevitable. We will see engineered body parts (I'm hoping that means knees first) and probably even brain enhancements to a degree without what I'd call true AI. The resetting telomeres idea again, while obviously coming with it's own problems, massive overpopulation unless we stop reproducing being the obvious one, is again, more or less inevitable progress eventually and not too high risk unless we starve ourselves by overpopulating.

Improving humans is one thing, but creating separate entities more intelligent than ourselves, autonomous artificial intelligences (AAIs if you will), to me represents a big risk, bigger than the big red button I'd say. Humans haven't existed in a situation where anything else on this planet is more powerful than ourselves since we out-evolved the Neanderthals and introducing something more evolved than us (in mental capacity) in the hope that we can control it is a scary prospect, at least for the majority.

I simply don't think we know what would happen if we switched on a 'brain' even 1% more efficient than the most intelligent human. As Brostrom says the idea of a killer robot is obviously ridiculous but the brainpower we might create could ultimately do anything. Unless we got it right, a runaway AI effect seems the most likely outcome, perhaps even more so if it was in a human brain laden with human instincts to command and conquer. It's obviously hard to say with any degree of certainty, since we really are nowhere close, and the direction the technology takes is hard to predict at this point. But there are reasons to fear the technology, 'the A-Bomb' situation wasn't all that far from going critical at one point, and it was only human control, ultimately a degree of self preservation that stopped that relatively primitive advancement wiping us off the planet. If the plain old human is no longer in the driving seat, who knows?



*this isn't the most coherent piece of prose I've ever written but you need a book length to really go in to the issues in any kind of coherent way*

**This post was edited on Sep 13th 2015 at 2:32:24pm

steeze_boii know t wall went through college when he was already pro. also ian compton and many more that i dont know of

Ian dropped out after a semester. Just like on traveling circus in NJ.

I think if more kids knew how broke and unskilled most "pro" skiers are, they would stop trying to get sponsored and go to school.

Usually when certain pros "drop off," it's not that they couldn't keep up. It's that they realized that a career in skiing is a dead end, wised up, and did something more sustainable with their lives. Bumming around skiing is worthwhile in your 20's. After that it sucks big time.

THESAUCEPOSSEI'm a kind of guy who isn't too worried about graduating in 4 years. The college life is fun as shit even though being broke kind of sucks...

Maybe I'm alone on this, but college fucking sucks after the freshman honeymoon phase. Unless maybe you study something you care about, but if everyone did that we'd have even less STEM majors.

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hi bb ;3

KEEFBOXYeah duder, I totally hear what your saying.. You read some of his papers? Thats awesome! I just got his book "Superintelligence". Super excited to get into it.

But as far as the situation goes, I think the risk IS worth the reward. I mean, as long as we were able to upgrade our own intelligence by putting the AI into us. Know what I mean? Its crazy ass Ray Kurzweil's theory of the singularity. (I agree with you saying it is NOT as imminent as some say.)

"When it comes to technology, most people overestimate the impact in the short term and underestimate it in the long term." - Arthur C. Clarke

But if we could just somehow integrate the technology into our biology, then I can't possibly see how it could go south? What do you think? Obviously this would have huge implications on what it would mean to be human. Some serious ethical questions there. But if we were to try and integrate it into us it would need to be done incrementally and VERY cautiously. We wouldn't want a run away AI effect right?.

I guess the reason why I am so down to send it, is because I am obsessed with what lies beyond and I want to know what the fuck were doing here. And if AI is going to help us get there than by all means go for it.

Question for you: If we somehow used technology to reset our telomeres and in turn slow the aging process if not freeze it. Would you go for it? Guess what I would do. ;)

Have you see this Ted talk? - https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_shares_mindboggling_new_science?language=en

Slowing the aging process, in my opinion, would really have some adverse effects. If you slow the process down, you can effectively eliminate natural selection, (Darwin would agree). It is naturally in the human psych to want to extend longevity, but the reality is that the population of the world would increase upwards of ten fold. As a future IR/PoliSci major, I find this very interesting. If this technology would come about, then we would definitely see a globalization of a different breed on a scale more than imaginable. How do we manage this without becoming oppressive? I love these philosophical questions! Great discussion!!!

TamasIan dropped out after a semester. Just like on traveling circus in NJ.

oh i guess i didnt hear that. thats halarious

KEEFBOXWassup guys and gals..

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your off season and getting stoked to get back out on the slopes in the next few months.

Its a bit of an anomaly for me to get on here and write a post like this. I've been playing the sit back and watch role for quite sometime now when it comes to NS. So with that said I hope you will enjoy my post and hopefully gain any sort of insight possible.

Once I saw the title of this thread I just couldn't resist.. So here's the Nicky story.. Enjoy!

Right now I am in the midst of fall semester at the University of Utah, chest deep in my sophomore year. Just came out of the summer semester saving myself a year and half's worth of work in just 12 weeks. I completed the whole calculus sequence -which is Calc 1, Calc 2, and Calc 3 (each one was 4 weeks long, Monday -Friday, and 4 hrs of class and another 6 hrs of HW every god damn day). Boy was it rough! Not only was it accelerated and taught by the head of the math department (tough/strict professor), but that I fucking suck at Math. My foundation is WEAK! I mean I didn't give a shit about math until I got older (21ish) now 24. I just didn't realize how important of a language/ tool it is. I just wanted to do what every young teenager wants to do. Get high, get drunk, chase girls and be a rockstar pro skier. Well lemme tell ya friends, that is one POOR short sighted vision. FOR REAL.

(unfortunately a decent amount of action sports athletes still think this way, especially in a sport where everyone wants to be a gangster and shoot dice and smoke blunts) i'm guilty of it too. ;)

Back to my story- Like I said once I turned 21, luckily, my mother stumbled upon self -help/ self -improvement/ self -realization books. Shit, am I lucky that happened. I wasn't at the best place in my life, I mean skiing was going well, but not as good as it could of been, and I was blowing it my first year of college at Salt Lake Community College trying to get a Communications degree -Its the quickest easiest one to attain. I was partying way too much and didn't have the confidence every human should have. So I decided to give these books (the ones my mom stumbled upon) a shot, what the hell, theres nothing to lose, And to be honest after I read them, they FLIPPED my world on its head. Especially these three- ("The Big Leap" - By Gay Hendricks (funny name i know) "The Untethered Soul" By Michael A. Singer and "Mindsight" By Dr. Dan Siegel.) They opened up my mind to the whole world/ Universe, meaning this- Self -Help led to > Philosophy (5 questions with Evan Heath) > which led to Science which led to> Physics and Math. I think the reason it ended up this way was because Consciousness is super interesting, Philosophy is super interesting (sometimes not so much, lol) but the most interesting is Physics and Math. Philosophy is great and all but it doesn't really get us anywhere, anymore? Maybe i'm wrong. But what I do know is that Physics and Math are the two fields that have pushed the human race further than anything else. I PROMISE you that. I mean why else would Albert Einstein be regarded as one of the biggest game changers? and his theory of special and general relativity? Why else would Issac Newton be remembered forever because he invented Calculus? Hell yeah! This is the REAL SHIT you guys. Why do you think religion exists? Probably because, once the human race evolved to point where self-awarness showed up, we were put into a situation where we all are orphan babies wondering what the fuck were doing on the this rock called earth spinning around in empty space? So what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to make up stories about a guy in the sky, and try to get everyone to believe us who comes into this world after us? Because its an EASY way out? Its whats been done for a long ass time until science got to a place where it could predict and prove and test certain trains of thought. Hence why religion will never be as important to our species. (I think anyway...)

Sorry for my rambling but you know how it goes once your in the flow. Right now my plan is Double Major in Physics and Applied Mathematics, and Minor in Computer Science. Heavy schedule right? Its going to be a long tough road especially if I am taking every winter semester off to travel the world and do Pro skier things. So to answer the post more directly.. I think skiing is really great, its an awesome way to express ourselves, get back in touch with nature, or get some exercise and entertainment with our friends. But is it going to save us from the Astroied that wiped out the Dinosaurs? Is it going to set us up for the time (our lifetime for sure) Artificial Intelligence becomes smarter than we are? Is it going to create the solution to the worlds ever depleting resource abundance? No it won't but that doesn't mean you should stop skiing, it means everyone should learn and continue to learn and that everyone should be S.T.E.M. literate (science, technology, engineering, and math) So that we can vote for the right politicians or fund the right science when big problems like global warming threaten our ability to go skiing in the future. Also wouldn't you want to fly to Planet Hoth and go skiing there? I know I do ;) Thats why we physicists need to figure out worm holes or warp drives to get us there.

Lets get together get smart and solve world problems so that skiing can get an even longer opportunity to be shared with generations after us.

Learning/ School is like Skiing/ Snowboarding.. The hike may be long and tough and sometimes you may even forget why your hiking in the first place, but once you get to the top your remember THE VIEW IS WORTH THE HIKE. (or the ride down for that matter ;)

Peace!

Nicky, that was the most inspiring thing I've ever read. By the way, my last name is Keefe.

As for everyone else's posts, thank you. I was at a time where I was confused and lost, I was scared for the future, but I was scared of hard work most of all. I had a come to jesus moment this summer, where I knew that if I just kept living life as I had been, (going to school, just looking forward to ski every weekend in the winter and just kinda slide by in school) and didn't get myself involved in anything, I knew I wouldn't get accepted by a good college because I wasn't well rounded and didn't work hard at stuff. I've never really had to work hard in school, and I am thankful for that, but In a way I know that I need to work harder to be prepared for the rest of my life. I knew if I didn't get into a good college, I might as well go somewhere where I can ski my way through college anyway. I may only be in eighth grade, but I want to have a plan for the rest of my life, but be able to keep skiing, and most of all, progress and have fun. You have taught me that if you work hard, you can achieve your goals, hopefully get a degree that gets you a job to support your passion, and still be able to do what you love! I mean after all, what would life be if you couldn't do what you loved? You just have to fit a little bit of everything in and have a backup plan, and hopefully, end up doing what you love in the end, but it all takes hard work and perseverance.

KEEFBOXYour a boss

damn after that post i thought you'd have this one in the bag

keefer i love it. i'll hopefully have a geophysics degree in may so i can help find teh new planetz

I'm going to throw it out there that STEM should be changed to STEAM as in Science Technology Engineering ART & Math. When I say art I refer to the expression of ideas and concepts through visual imagery (and written/spoken mediums). Including art among these fields became paramount to me when I realized that no matter how extraordinary your research/technical abilities are if you can't communicate them to the general public, you don't have shit!

Shoutout to Keefer for demonstrating how powerful articulate communication can be for inspiring people to learn math and science (and hopefully adobe illustrator).

NS scientists unite!

Fuck school. Go skiing. And don't stop.

super interesting discussion, especially since I come from the opposite side of the spectrum.

Keefer killed it with his remarks, the guy is def grinding hard to be able to live the life he does and it is cool to see a pro's passion for learning and expanding the mind.

I had the 'realization' from a totally different perspective. I was sitting in class going to school for accounting w a minor in supply chain mgmt in Ohio. Fear of staring at a computer screen for the next several decades of my life (not to mention tax season is during winter) steered me to look at other, less draining work options. Not to mention, picking a major at age 18 is ridiculous and is not a great way to make a lifelong career choice, for anyone.

I always had the skiing itch in school and had to get on a hill, even if it was 200 vert. to ski a tiny park.

to scratch the itch, i picked up gigs as an instructor and worked part time for my local ski/snb/skate shop to get a pass for 3 seasons while in school full-time.

after racking up two seasons on a tiny hill with about 40 days each I was only left wanting more. I was lucky to meet some rippers who lived in Leadville and skied/worked at Copper while I was taking summer classes and living at the college apt. At 22, they inspired me to follow my heart and get to a place with more terrain/snow to expand my skiing horizon.

After graduating, I worked all summer to save up for a move to CO. I was fortunate that my Leadville homies were looking for roommates, so I packed up the car in Aug and left for Leadville with 5 gs, no job, no house, no promises and a business degree.

when I got to CO, me and five friends dropped coin to rent a duplex and had a crew of about 15 ppl, including an RV with another homie in it, living at the house in the fall. I applied to the rental shop at Copper, got a $10/hr job full time for the season and was on my way to my first 100 day ski season..

Worked in the rental shop the entire season scraping by but it was totally worth it for the skiing. While working at the hill this spring, a guy came approached me and started explaining his business concept to me and that he wanted to expand his company into CO. I was intrigued and he asked about my education. Told him about my accounting/business background and he said to shoot him my resume.

Fast forward to today: I was offered a full time job in August to help develop the market in CO. Salary. benefits. working from home in a small ski town. pretty much all i could ask for.

The point is to heed Nickys advice...education will take you where you want to go in todays world but at the same time follow your heart keep your options open and be willing to take a risk to pursue what ya love.

PEACE