So I want to go pro. That is all. I'm 15. I'm pretty good. I legit never stop thinking about riding and this is all I want in life. I don't live near a mountain, but have another house that is 2 hours away, and that house is 5 minutes from a mountain. I live on the east coast, and will probably be able to ride every weekend this winter (hopefully, as long as the parental units oblige). Be straight up with me, tell me how hard it is, tell me what I gotta do, let me hear what you have to say. I don't care what you say, give me some of your thoughts as you were reading this.
Rock and roll fellas :thumbsup: :eusa_clap:
The real question is why? I don't think becoming a pro is hard if you ride enough, but the real question is why do you want to be a pro?
If it's for the ability to snowboard a lot, then forget it because you end up riding for other people and having less free time to snowboard the 'bigger' a pro you become.
If it's for the money then forget it because most pros don't even earn enough to pay rent and have to work a second job while living paycheck to paycheck.
The only reason you might want to be a pro is if you love competing. Everything else about being a pro is overrated, generally sucks and can be found in far better careers and jobs.
For example, I know several people on this forum who get paid more than most pros, while snowboarding more than most pros, and have better job security and freedom to do what they want compared to most pro snowboarders.
This has been discussed previously, if I can find th e posts I'll include them in this post. Mostly from what I remember, you need to just ride and be seen. Find a unique angle, and market yourself. No one's going to do shit for you. BurtonAvenger has plenty of experience in this arena as he runs a fairly popular snowboarding blog, so I'd do a search on some of his posts if I were you.
Snowboard because you love it, not because you want to "be a pro".
Becoming pro usually involves winning contests, getting local sponsors first, and eventually getting the attention of the general community to the point where x company will want you to rep their brand.
If you are truly serious about getting a sponsorship, consider this: are you one of the best all around snowboarders on your entire mountain? If your answer is yes, you should either make a video and show it to a local shop, or quit being such a dirty liar and get back to working on your riding.
I want to go pro because I love riding. It's what I want my life to be. I don't care if I make more money and get to ride as much as a pro - I'll still have that other career in my life, and I don't want that. I'll love to be famous for doing something I love, having interviews for something I love. It would be awesome to ride for huge companies-not because I could say I did, but because it'd be awesome to represent a global company like Burton. It's hard to explain. Another thing; in my head I'm planning to save up as much money as I can, leave home after high school, move to somewhere I can ride, and go from there. I'm gonna say that 19 isn't too old to go big, right? If I don't turn pro til im 20, 21, 22, 25, whatever, that's fine by me, but I'd like to hear, is that feasable?
Go do what you love, but forget about the fame. Only the top 0.1% of pro snowboarders get famous anyway, the rest are just average snowbums in a town of snowbums who get some free gear and hook-ups.
By the way, you can be famous for doing what you love in a lot of ways, not just by becoming a pro snowboarder.
You could start a snowboard based charity that raises millions of dollars.
You could become a great business man and run an amazing snowboard company.
You could invent a technology that changes how snowboarders travel or ride.
I know at 15 all you get told and think is you have to go pro to be famous and make it as a snowboarder, but you have far more options open to you and honestly a lot of the options are a million times better than 'going pro' and seeing the ugly side of corporate snowboarding.
No one can really say you will/wont be but the level of riding these days, even in younger kids (I say that because I'm 34) is ridiculous. As killz said get a good education. Even if you don't go pro you'll be able to get a better job that will pay for more riding. Having motivation is awesome, just don't let it get in the way of having fun snowboarding.
Keep riding, enter contests, win. Don't drop out of school, you might need that education. In fact the chances are heavily stacked against you that you have the talent or dedication to be that good. Not saying that you can't, but it is going to take a lot of dedication and discipline on your part.
Definitely man. Every day after football I play around on a little practice job I build. doing wall sits and air squats right now to strengthen my legs for the season as we speak
There is also a very real dark side to trying to go pro. You can die, or worse. I suggest watching the crash reel to get an idea of how fucked up it can get. Not to dissuade you, but there are very real risks out there.
There is also a very real dark side to trying to go pro. You can die, or worse. I suggest watching the crash reel to get an idea of how fucked up it can get. Not to dissuade you, but there are very real risks out there.
I understand what you're saying. For now just getting as good as I possibly can is my goal. I'll start some comps and go from there. I've always had little business schemes since I was little, so you never know, those options you suggested may be the road I take. Currently I'm just focusing on my skills though.
That's what'd I'd do, just snowboard for the love of snowboarding, focus on your skills and riding what you enjoy. Forget the sponsorship stuff for now.
I've been down the same path you're trying to do and I've done the 200+ days a year riding back-to-back-to-back seasons while spending $20k+ on private coaching and going through the injuries and rehabs and I ended up a really good snowboarder, but also found out that I was on the wrong path and that the 'tv' version of pro snowboarding and what really happens behind the scenes are very different stories.
Focus on what you love to do and keep an open mind to opportunity and I guarantee there will be ways to get everything you want from doing what you love and not following the set 'pro snowboarder' path.
Just a piece of the puzzle...you are what you ride...meaning the environment/hill will in a significant part determine your skills. It doesn't mean that a lot of skills won't be transferable...what kind of pro do you want to be?...urban jib monkey, big air contestant, park rat, big mtn, or bc...each have slightly different skill sets and knowledge. There are limited number of hills that you would have access to more than 1 or 2 environments.
I was going to aim for jib monkey/park rat. Hopefully big air, so i'll work my way up from small kickers and work on my rotations and whatnot. I ride JFBB in the poconos, Pa, and their one run the past few years had a massive kicker on it, like 65-70 feet. Not that i'd hit that, but the opportunity is there :dizzy:
Keep riding as much as you can, practice makes perfect! Start entering contest all around you. If you know you're gonna lose just watch, don't be afraid to talk to the guys better than you. If you already have mad skills thou make a sick edit. Get a nice camera and some good software and spend some time on it. Definitely thou if you want to add more tricks to your bag...my trampoline helped me so so so much!
For what it's worth, I've been riding for 21 years, thought myself half decent. Entered a competition at my local hill and got KILLED. Like outright destroyed!
If you love snowboarding (as I do) make it a big part of your life. Do the right things in school to get the education to get a good paying job in a town close to some big hills.
I moved 3500 km from home to be near mountains, and I also make a good salary, and the snowboard life is good! :yahoo: Don't get me wrong, I would love to have competed for a bit at the amature level (I did back in high school and wish I had continued). But I wouldn't worry about turning pro.
Board for the love of it, certainly compete if it makes you happy, but don't lose sight of the real world that awaits if you don't make it to a "pro" level that can pay your bills for you. :thumbsup:
You probably see all these young cats (mcmorris, horgmo, white, etc.) at the x games throwing down and in films repping big companies. They have vids of them just being silly all the time and chilling and having fun. You see them getting flown out to nice places to ride and have park grooming guys at their beck and call to shape whatever they want for them. Hell Seb Toots has an Audi R8. Whats not to like right...
Well...of the .1% that become pro...like Jed said, .01% of those ppl become famous enough make decent money and have the freedom to do what they want (relatively). Mueller, Blauvelt, and Rice are probably the top guys in boarding right now that can pretty much say i'm going to do this...and have the backing of their sponsors...they've earned it. But thats like 3 ppl in the lime light. What you don't see are the thousands that again...work 2 jobs and have no freedom to ride for themselves and are 1 injury away from being homeless (maybe an exaggeration).
If you are really serious about it check out usasa.org, find out what region you are in, and sign up for some slopestyles or rail jams. If you place high enough in your age group you can quailfy for nationals, which is held at Copper Mtn in Colo., and really get to see where you stand against other kids your age. Be forewarned though, the kids in your age group(14-15) and the age group above you(16-17) slaughter it at nationals. so make sure you have tricks you can do without even thinking and also have variety. You don't want to be throwing 3 same way spins with different grabs and doing backside boardslides on all the rails on a slopestyle course with 3 jumps and 3 jibs. Judges don't like that shit.
Most important thing is to work on style, everyone is worried about throwing the biggest tricks, which is def still something you would need the ability to do, especially in competitons, but I think style is going to start coming back in a big way once all this gymnastic chucking gets boring. You want to have tricks that when you do them, it has your signature style to it that can be seen from a mile away.
Some things you might want to work on if you aren't already doing them are 360s-720s ALL 4 ways with at least 2 different grabs for each spin. Be able to approach the rail from any direction(frontside,backside,front lip style, back lip style) and be able to at least approach the rails switch, while working on being able to approach from any direction switch as well.
Sound advice here. USASA is a good place to get a measure of what you can do. Don't spend the money on committing to revolution tour type comps until you know where you stand. Good smooth style, amazing attitude and personality go a long way in the long run. Do smooth 5's before sloppy 7's. If you do regional USASA please don't gauge your level if your not in a big market. Get to nationals and gauge it from there. USASA Rocky mtn series usually kills it in nationals. There a 4-5 kids going into the 14-15 age group this year that are throwing double cork 10s. There are a couple 13 y/o kids here doing the same but likely competing in higher levels this year. One lives in breck, Red Gerard, the other here in vail, Blake Mollar. I have ridden around both and these little kids coming up are amazing.
Also, kids like these all live slope side and ride daily for 4-7 hours the do other training in the evening. My son is a competitor also. He is 13 and does big mtn comps. He also does SBX and banked slalom. It took 2 seasons of riding 200+ days plus offseason drylands/gymnastics training to get good enough to get ranked nationally. We also live slope side and homeschool him.
If you do compete make nationals you can sleep in our spare room for nationals.
Cro competes so he knows the routine it takes to be competitive.
You have to love the competition as much as the snowboarding to continue to be successful
They do them from any approach too. Front, back, switch, reg.... As well as pretty much any spin, flip, cork of the smaller sizes too...... Amazing talent to watch. It is fun hitting Woodward with them too.
There's really three routes you can follow to be pro.
1. You go into contests, huck your meat, and only train train train. This becomes an endurance race and you hammer your body. In the process you might get noticed or get dominated. As it currently stands there's a whole generation of kids in your age group that are academy/schooled for the purpose of competing. They have coaches, they have connections, and they ride 10 times more than you. Basically unless you have some mystical talent no one knows about you're fucked and should give up on going this route right now.
2. You become a park rat dominator producing park edit after park edit. You film from first chair till after the resort is closed. You ride every hour of every day you can. When you can't get to a resort you go and hike a jump you built or a rail. You learn how to hard way 450 on to a down rail and then send a bs 7 japan off a 50 plus footer in your sleep. Your edits get noticed and you in turn get noticed.
3. You quit school, live on the streets, and ride nothing but rails while filming it all. You drop hammers people can't even comprehend. You look up to the Yawgoons and emulate their style like there is no tomorrow. You stalk film crews that come to your area and poach spots while they're there dropping hammer tricks for a warm up so that it impresses them.
I'm going to guess you have 0 rider resume, no current sponsor me tape that is always updated, connections to reps/shops/tm's/media to promote yourself, access to real quality filming equipment/editing, and the skills to back it up.
Fame and glory are great but you know what happens after that? Exit strategy is key you want to make sure you have that planned out and are prepared to initiate it the second your "career" goes south. Education is great but that will always be there, maybe you can juggle that with shredding or do the summer/fall thing then quit for the winter/spring.
The truth is at 15 you are behind the curve and as the talent pool is endless and sponsorship dollars/opportunities are shrinking you bring nothing to the table.
Do you know who manages what companies teams? Who is the companies head of marketing? Do you know company area reps that are being scoped for promotion to in-house? This is what you need to know these days to get ahead. As the saying goes it's not what you know but who you know. Start researching who is managing where, general rule their email address is usually their full name @insertcompany.com or their first initial and last name at the domain. Become that annoying kid that keeps sending shitty edits to them.
Learn how to film/edit and send up angles/shots. Or find someone that does. Filming creative content people want to watch is the future of snowboarding right now. No one gives a shit if you win a contest it means fuck all.
If you really think you're the golden child get a good agent and not one that demands 30% off the top or a paid fee up front. But one that knows their ass from a whole in the ground. Look up who is managed by who and what big names are getting paid due to having a good agency behind them.
Prepare yourself to ride less than the kid working at a t-shirt shop in the base area of a resort that still rides harder than you and doesn't care to be sponsored.
Become marketable. How? Get a face tat. Fuck Miley Cyrus on film. Set a cop car on fire then jib it. Some of the most inconsistent riders right now are actually getting a lot of hype because they're marketable.
Learn who everyone is and what they do, accumulate business cards, don't be a little turd burglar. The guy working at small company X today could end up the head of marketing/team management at Nike tomorrow. There is a high turn over rate in this industry.
EXIT STRATEGY! I can not stress this enough, have it figured out. Because when you're at the end of your career you will get dropped like a ton of bricks if you can't produce. Why are JP Walker and Jeremy Jones (Burton) still filming and getting paid? They still produce and offer something.
Stay in shape and fit. Minor nagging injuries have ending peoples careers simply because they couldn't produce for one season. Relevancy is the key to life in snowboarding.
Loyalty! Learn this trait as most kids these days will jump ship the second someone even mentions a better offer even if it's not. Build a lasting relationship with people.
And in all honesty be prepared to hate snowboarding. I mean absolutely fucking loathing everything you're about to enter if you choose the pro career. Snowboarding is predominately run by a bunch of fat cubicle jockeys from SoCal that think they're so fucking "core" because they ride Bear Mountain one day a week and work for a snowboard company. You will either learn to play the game or burn out.
weekend rider wont cut it in the pro game or competing amatuer for that matter... realistically your gonna wanna be doing 4 to 7 days a week every week for a few seasons before you start seeing real progression, add to that 4 to 6 week summer snowboard camps working on your fitness and gymnastics to get your aerials down and probably a lot of other shit involved in the whole process. The kids at kongsberg & oslo tryvann are regulars season pass goers who live in the area and basically live snowboarding, after school, holidays, weekends, during the summer they are at the camps, freestyle school, trampolines... etc.. etc..
its a long process, and you'll need to commit to a certain lifestyle, most of them start at an early age, but if your commited I dont see why you wouldnt be able to get to where you wanna be if you put in the work...
This is what my buddy did, and he's damn near about to be up there with the greats in a couple years (for the most part)
This all depends also on the amount you're able to be on the mountain also..
Hangout at the local mountain shop (a lot), everyone will get to know you, show them what you're made of, get to know the owners.. if they see that you have what it takes, they'll put your name out there (they know all the connections to the companies).
ENTER COMPETITIONS ENTER COMPETITIONS ENTER COMPETITIONS. They wanna see if you can handle yourself under pressure and beat ahead of the game.
Of course make a video, your best and cleanest tricks, edit and make it a short and simple good shred vid of your best stuff.
Once your local resort has sponsored you (if you've gotten this far at this point), then that's your starting point. From there, you just progress and they'll put your name out there for other companies to keep their eye on you. Then just keep competing.
It is a LOT of work, but with the dedication, it can be done.
Best of luck to you!
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