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DingoSeanBullshit it's not expensive.
Unless you live in the midwest or somewhere near a smaller local hill, it's still a big commitment to pay for a ski pass every season. I mean, the Ikon base pass is almost 900 bucks. Even the Epic Local is nearly 700. Before all the room/board, and travel, it's already damn expensive. Even with secondhand gear, you still have to have a reliable car and spend a lot of money and time driving to and from the mountain. It's taxing, man...
and you're doing all that for just 4 months out of the year at most places... 5 if youre lucky.
When you compare it to Basketball or Soccer where you can do it in the dusty lot near your house, It's massively more expensive.
BiffbarfSkiing isn't that expensive. Competition, room/board, and traveling is. Same applies with most sports. you simply cannot remove all barriers of entry.
r00kieCompared to playing travel and club sports maybe, implying we're talking about kids here. Compared to school sports though skiing is nearly impossible for a lot of people. As an adult hobby its fairly competitive to golf and other stuff, roughly. (Pun intended)
BiffbarfWhy is it impossible? Are we just talking about doing the sport/activity? Or being a sick athlete? Because I'm referencing the barriers it takes to be a renowned athlete. You're not getting an NCAA d1 hockey scholarship if you're not living with a billet family playing teir 1 juniors during HS. You're not going to get a d1 football scholarship to a reputable school from going to a no-name 3a highschool. Things like that. Sure, you can play the sport and the accessibility is there but priviledge and being in the right time right place is essential in any sport to make truly make it.
r00kieMoney and location mostly. Most school sponsered sports have no fee to join, travel is covered, and practice is right after school in the same building. Super accessible for anyone to join up and get into it. You're examples are obviously going to have more of a barrier to be 'elite' but skiing is difficult to get down to as basic as average middle and high school athletics.
BiffbarfThere exists stuff like that for skiing too, it just depends on where you're privileged to grow up. Summit county, CO kids have tons of opportunity, for example, to ski while/during school using publicly funded transport and deeply discounted/free pases.
r00kieOh sure. Heavily discounted student lift tickets were the only reason I got to ski somewhat regularly growing up. But it will never be like basketball or soccer where every school has teams and all you need is a pair of shoes.
BiffbarfOf course. But there's no way to make wood/fiberglass/plastic compsite skis, injection molded boots, ISO DIN certified bindings, and access to skiable climate/terrain as accessible as a rubber/leather ball and an open space. You just cannot remove all barriers of entry for anything really.
r00kieWell yeah, of course. Not disagreeing there at all.
twinkle_toesWhy I cringe when I see some athletes boast about how they are "The Chosen One" and "It's in their DNA to rip fat pillow lines and shred pow every day". As if they are a holy missionary chosen to ski for our lord savior jesus christ and bless the rest of us with sick footy to watch from our couches
when in reality they're just lucky as fuck that their family was born in a ski town and owns a ski shop and a cabin in the village so they can shred every day and that they weren't spawned into north korea as a salt miner or crazy some shit
sorry for the run on sentences i'm academically challenged clearly
BmerrillAll the time. I love skiing, but this is why skateboarding is actually the “purest” action sport
imo.
You can pickup a skateboard for under 100 bucks and progress almost anywhere, anytime.
jompcockIt's a lot about barrier to entry. There are some absolute deals to be had on ski gear if you know where to look but going to a boot fitter and getting the right gear can be pretty expensive at first. Then there's the whole issue where sure you can go skiing on some park benches without any need for a lift ticket but you'll have a harder time learning to ski there than on a hill with groomed trails and someone who knows what they're doing to give you the right pointers.
Would be cool af if bonezone type hike parks were set up in urban areas, or at least accessible from urban areas with public transit.
Zac.suremanhell yeah! When I started at Mt. Bachelor (2017) starting wage was 11.25 when I left three years later it went up maybe a dollar. only way to get a raise was getting PISA certs (which are a sham mostly).
johnobleSherbrooke, Quebec, where I go to school has a small ski hill in the city itself. One quad and one t bar, passes are 7$ a night if your a resident. Seasons pass is 100$ Girls ski free every Wednesday, guys ski free every Thursday. Public transport accessible and they honestly set up a wicked park, 1.5 runs dedicated entirely to it. Just being there and seeing kids and diversity makes my day every time
