Insiders: Seth Hill

What does it take to be a pro snowboarder?

When I was growing up, to be considered a professional snowboarder meant having a pro model. Having your name on board not only cemented your place in the snowboard history books but also would get you a percentage of the sales of your model. Sounds simple, right? However, as my career hit its peak back in 2010, this evolved into what I think is still a valid definition of being a professional snowboarder: making enough money from your various sponsors to completely live off snowboarding without having another source of income. That’s what I did, so I considered myself a pro. To do this back then, I rode the contests, filmed for the videos, and worked as hard as I could to get shots in the snowboarding publications. 

Today, things are not quite so simple: now you have training camps and riding schools. If you don’t have a coach, time on the airbag, or the ability to travel around the country or, better yet, around the world, the chances of making it very far decrease considerably…

In a recent conversation I had with the Vail Snowboard Club’s head coach Chris Laske, he concurred with me, observing that, “Your snowboarding is only half of it. 50% of it is how you represent and market yourself in the industry”. He added, “The sooner you start, the better – all kids learn at different paces so starting late doesn’t mean you can’t make it, but if you haven’t mastered the basics before hitting your teenage years, snowboarding will most likely just be a recreational part of your life.”  

Slightly brutal, but it’s clear at this point that to be a ranked competitive snowboarder, it takes some mega dedication, some funds and the ability to get to some of the amazing training facilities. In my eyes, being a competitive snowboarder has never been harder, but is this even the right direction to becoming a pro snowboarder? 

Well, whether right or wrong, it sure isn’t the only way…

In today’s social media-focused world and with the understanding that living off snowboarding is the goal, there are other routes you can take. Content creation and becoming an influencer is now another path to make that happen. The problem with this method is that only part of the ‘profession’ is snowboarding. You have to dedicate lots of time to documenting and producing the content, and as soon as the passion to showcase falls off, so does your snowboarding. Basically, the job changes from ‘snowboarding for a living’ to ‘creating content for a living’ which may be great in its own right, but might not be what you signed up for when thinking about becoming a pro snowboarder. 

For lots of us, the dream is to get paid to do the thing we love. So, to go back to the initial question, what is the best route to becoming a pro in today’s world? And is there such a thing as ‘the better way’?  

I am inclined to say that it requires a bit of everything, but no matter what way you choose, full dedication is the common denominator. You’re not going to get anywhere without skills, love and lots of time on the board! The name of the game is sponsors, you are a riding billboard and brands need to have something to showcase their name on. It’s about creating value for the ones that support you and that means managing to stand out in a mass field of talented athletes.

Before signing off, I’d like to add that what may start as seeking a professional snowboarder career is ultimately about living off what you love, and part of that includes keeping in mind what you like about the industry, things that jump out to you and that might be something you could do in the future. While making it in snowboarding is absolutely a possibility, the chances of it sustaining you for life are slim to none, so finding people to connect with, learning from them, and trying to involve yourself in every part of the industry you can may set you up so you can play the long game and enable you to be part of what you love forever, pro or not…