Replying to A Doomed Ski Industry?
Recently, on a weekend trip to Whistler/Blackcomb I witnessed a small class of most likely 8-10 year olds throwing down some pretty stellar tricks in the park. At first I had the upmost respect for the little shredders, However later on, I saw the students talking to their instructors fairly aggressively, and when I put it all together, I realized that these kids, suited up with Helly Hansen and next years skis, were very wealthy, or atleast came from wealthy enough families. They had rude attitudes towards the people being paid thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars a year to make them good.
I grew up skiing occasionally with my family and now find myself, a freshman in highschool, finding a friend for a ride up to the mountain to work all day and freeski at night. I smoke pot and appreciate style over every other aspect of skiing. Watching edits from the beginning of park skiing til now. I’m convinced I’m making the right decision by playing into the ski industry this way. And after witnessing the same scenario with kids in Sun Peaks a month or two prior, I have come to the conclusion that money is playing into the ski industry like never before. Parents pay for their children to become good at throwing tricks and in this way I believe the ski industry will die. The appreciation for style and the ski bums that truly love the sport is deteriorating and eventually I belive that the concept of style, steez and individuality in skiing will die. I would like to offer up this discussion topic to maybe the greatest group discussion website on the internet. What do you all think? Will the ski industry fail to include the true ski lovers who have unknowingly been keeping the great sport alive?
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