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I'm sorry nobody responded.
Working in the ski industry can really suck.
When I was 14 years old, I met Anthony Boronowski (I hope people still know who he is) on the chairlift at Mammoth. He complimented my custom painted skis that I drew on with sharpies. From that moment on I was pretty set on dedicating my life to working in the ski / snow industry. That was in 2004.
I stopped trying to be involved in the ski industry in 2016, and I've not looked back. My life is better for it. Part of that, admittedly, is that I wanted to start a family and being involved in an industry where working late and traveling all over the place for not much money is not conducive to that, so that's a personal thing. The ski ind. didn't align with how I wanted to live anymore.
The other things that leave me feeling fine about leaving, though, were all about how lame it was to try to "fit in" to the ski industry. If you really want to "make it" you have to be a guy everyone knows, you have to network like a MF. Like... dedicate all your time to it. Get to know everyone. I found it exhausting — so many relationships, not many of them were very deep. I also was never very into the partying — honestly a lot of ski industry "friendships" are very much based on endorphins and not connection in my experience.
TBH it was mostly the people that made it what it was. I found out pretty quick how shallow a lot of the friendships were that I made (even ones I thought were a lot deeper) as people dropped off the map and sorta just never talked to me again, I'd have to say that the good relationships I did develop are the best memories and definitely the best part of the whole thing (that, and, of course all the skiing.)
Find people who give a shit. For me, that was ON3P and co. Everyone there was there to have a good time and ski a lot, but truly cared about skiing, and the people around them. For them, that meant producing a product that was reliable, dependable, skied incredibly and you didn't have to worry about so you could focus on skiing vs. being held up by your gear in any way. They actually wanted to support skiing and that led to real relationships. There's other small brands out there too with a similar ethos. Find them and support them.
In my experience, however, a lot of industry people aren't really all that passionate about the industry, or at least maybe more than you'd assume in an industry that's based on such a pure, positive experience and being outside. So beware. Remember that if you want to make it, you'll have to fight for it. Don't assume people are your friends until you really know they are. Unless things have dramatically changed, there was always this sense that everything had to be positive and friendly, really "good vibes only" but not too far under the surface it was petty, disparaging, competitive and cutthroat.
Climbing the ladder, IMO, also requires making some sacrifices when it comes to loyalty. You gotta be smart with who and what brands you work with, and re: your loyalty to those brands, if they aren't helping you to reach whatever goal you have in regards to career sustainability need to be let go of. I didn't allow myself to "get as far" as I could have in the industry because loyalty meant too much to me. I didn't want to jump around to the next biggest brand and potentially burn bridges. That didn't help me get anywhere... although I don't really regret that.
That's my two cents. Obviously it's been 6 years since I cared, but as someone who sounds a lot like a me circa 2006 I couldn't help but chime in. I'm not going to deny it — I had a lot of fun skiing with the pros, hanging out at SIA, partying at premieres (and after the premieres) and going to the competitions and making some cool art to boot — but making a life out of it wasn't something that ended up being worth it to me.
Notice I didn't name any names re: negatives, just positives. I won't, it's not worth it, so feel free to take that as you will. If I were you — if you're committed to it — move somewhere that's a ski industry hub and start networking like crazy. If you're not totally sold on the idea of workin in the industry, move to an outdoor hub and find a cool job at a company with a 10 inch rule or good flex work schedule opportunities, buy your season pass, and have fun without the industry baggage.
