Give me some advice guys

steezplease said:

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:

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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?

And i'm definately not the best rider on my mountain by far, but with a little parental support, I assure you i damn will be within a few years

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

steezplease said:

And i'm definately not the best rider on my mountain by far, but with a little parental support, I assure you i damn will be within a few years

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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.

If I'm strapped in, I'm havin fun

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.

steezplease said:

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?

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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.

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.

steezplease said:

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.

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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:

killclimbz said:

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.

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Not trying to be a wise guy, but what's worse than dying? Paralysis?

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!

steezplease said:

Not trying to be a wise guy, but what's worse than dying? Paralysis?

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Probably being married to some cold hearted woman who doesn't let you snowboard, having a dead end job, 15 kids all within a year of each other, and back to the part of not being let to snowboard, being stuck on an island somewhere near the equator that is constantly getting hit with monsoons and junk. I'll take that paralysis junk any day over that crap!!

Man you're 15, still young, lots of doors of opportunity for ya man. Keep riding as much as you can, and dabble your fingers in some other areas like previously stated. Who knows you may pioneer something or change something for snowboarding, end up being a CEO of the company and get to snowboard whenever you want to by the time your 27. BAM, ride all the time, being famous for what you enjoy, and a little scratch on the side.

steezplease said:

Not trying to be a wise guy, but what's worse than dying? Paralysis?

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That's one of them. Permanent vegetative state is another.