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Freeskiers Do It for the Thrills

Death-defying sport doesn't come with a big paycheck

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 24, 2008 5:36 PM CST

(Newser) – Freeskiing, extreme skiing, call it what you like—just don't say it's a stable career. Freeskiers admit that their work is risky and low-paying, but skiers and fans alike indulge in the adrenaline rush of danger. "It's the same reason people watch NASCAR," said Steve Winter, who founded a ski film company in Redmond, Utah. "There's always that possibility that something can go wrong."

When it does, skiers are left grieving for fallen colleagues. While skiing for a film in Utah last month, freeskier Billy Poole lost control and cartwheeled fatally into rocks. "It's like going 60 mph in a car on the way to the store and taking one wrong turn one day and dying," one skier told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (2)]

Most freeskiers practice their sport for the love of the thrill, rather than as a lucrative career.

Freeskiers accept the risks with their sport.

For those lucky enough to snag endorsements, freeskiing can rake in some dough, but most do it for the feeling of the wind in their hair and the snow at their feet.

Freeskiers realize that every run may end in disaster, but then so could any car ride, they say.

Some freeskiers literally do ski for free, if they're lucky enough to catch the attention of resorts.

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Billy Poole - From "The Fall of 07" (TheLevitationProject (YouTube))

Billy Poole at Jackson in 2006 (billypooleusa (YouTube))

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Freeskiers Do It for the Thrills