The idea behind this article series was to gather unfiltered, unadulterated (& anonymous) thoughts, good or bad, from pros, your average joe, and anyone in-between. Contrary to what most magazines try to portray, skiing isn't all rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes you want to speak your mind on issues but, if you did you would be crucified publicly. This isn't supposed to be a series or idea that breeds hate or anything of the sort. This is merely a platform to voice your opinion on the world of skiing. If this offends you, I'm sorry.

Not really.

I did not ask questions to any of the people who submitted besides to "Post your unfiltered, anonymous thoughts on skiing here." The bold parts are simply my thoughts on the matter and a way to introduce the submitted posts.

1. This is always an interesting debate. It's along the lines of #SupportLocal for businesses in your area. You want to support the small guys and send the big corporations a big ol' fuck you by not buying their gear. Trust me, I am all about buying from core brands whenever possible but the thing is, those companies support your favorite riders and allow them to make a career off of skiing. It's an interesting dynamic to pick apart.

"I really think the biggest shift we, as a community, need to make is to only give our money to core freeskiing brands. If you buy a pair of Atomic skis because you love Jossi Wells, that money mostly goes to racing. In the big picture people that think "let everyone do what they want" are wrong. It seems like an easy thing to consider correct but we've got a responsibility to keep this alive. Moguls, half pipe now, slope next. Also buying park skis from race brands, thats the worst thing happening now."

2. Hating for no reason is lame but criticism is needed in our sport. As I've said before, the world of skiing isn't all rainbows and unicorns. I agree 100% with this post.

"Why is the ski industry so soft? I'm totally on board with not tolerating hating, but since when is any opinion that's not positive hating? Today you can't say something like "I didn't really like the style" or "That was kind of sketchy, idk if I'd count it, but still cool" People will comment back like "STOP HATING JUST BE HYPED FOR HIM" What's with that? Everyone should be able to share their opinion without being attacked for it. Look at NS today, people get ripped apart, called names and told to fuck off just for saying something was sketchy or they didn't like the style of it. Not everything is sick, and we shouldn't pretend it is. And what's with justifying stuff that isn't sick? I'm sorry that a sketch 4 on to a box isn't sick, no need to justify it based on the conditions, setup, time you had to film, etc. If you know it's not that sick don't post it. How will we know what people really like watching if everyone's scared of getting shit on for hating? If you get comments such as "where's the style" just let that inspire you to work at it. Look at it as constructive criticism, it's not hate, and not every trick is cool."

3. I don't understand why people continue to rip on the new guys in the park (or anywhere for that matter), especially if he's rolling around with other homies who are more experienced. That shouldn't matter though, we should be encouraging people who make the effort to get into the park whether they roll around with an established crew or a bunch of their noob friends. It's a shame to see multiple submissions like this one.

"I got a friend to come and shred with me once (he's a noob) and some ass hat started to rip on him, making fun of what he was wearing and the way he was skiing. long story short he doesn't ski any more. It stinks that people have to make fun of other skiers to make themselves feel like good skiers. We could have had another ski bro but some one else had to ruin the chances of that"

4. #StopSkiing

"Skiing is a joke, thats all it is. Kids take this shit way too seriously. Competition, filming, groomers, parks, gates, acro, aerial, lip blind tru its all a fucking joke and thats whats awesome about it. QUIT TAKING ANY OF IT SERIOUSLY! HAVE SOME DAM FUN AND PULL YO HEAD OUT YO ASS AND GET LIFTED ON SOME SKIS WETHER YO TWENTY FEET OF THE GROUND O FEEL TWENTY FEET OF THE GROUND"

5. The "I hate Matt" submissions. I love you all.

"Matt is fanboy bitch"

"You suck at skiing, Matt."

"I'll come to UWSP and beat the shit out of you, Matt."

"I know where you live, bitch."

"Krotch sucks."

Want to submit your own anonymous thoughts on skiing? Click here: nwsc.co/ThoughtsOnSkiing