Could my sister become a proffesional skier?

Question

or a proffesional atleast. She skied about a week ago for the first time and really liked it, She would like to become an Olympic Skier. She is 15.

Answer 1

No..she can become a good recreational skier with a lot of lessons and hard work. Olympian? Absolutely NOT!

Answer 2

No.

Answer 3

She sure can become a professional skier at any of several levels. Even a professional competitor is possible. The Olympic competitors train for years to attain their peak accomplishments.  Alpine skiing is probably the least attainable, but there are many other events.  Free style which is similar to ballet. Aerials, which is more like diving and gymnastics.  Mogul events, are all skiing. There is also the nordic events, biathalon, and jumping, cross country.  Good luck about any competition. There is also professional ski instructors and ski patrols.  These are always opportunities for all skiers.

Answer 4

There are other ways to spend a life on the snow apart from racing.  Instructing and patrolling are obvious solutions.  I have a friend who had not skied before.  At the end of a season working on the lifts he had his level 2 instructor certificate.  There are also resort management positions.

Racing, particularly in a country with a strong Alpine tradition, requires dedication and commitment from an early age.  Even the Olympic and World Cup racers from Australia, my country which does not have a strong tradition, started when they were very young and have been racing every weekend and school holidays during our season, and spent many weeks in Europe or North America during our summer every year.  Some of them lived in resorts with their parents and skied every day.

Answer 5

Its a long shot- You got to start young and get a lot of time on the mountain.

Answer 6

Sorry but no. At 15 the window is most likely closed. Kids start on development teams as young as 8 years old. Besides this sport is not about MAKING IT. Have a good time, ski for the love of being outside and enjoy.

Answer 7

Nope. too late a start.  Most(99.8%) of ski racers start racing programs at 8-9 yrs old, or younger.  If she is attractive, she may be able to be background(fluff) in a ski movie.

Answer 8

I guess if she was up the mountains everyday working at it she would have a chance, but most the kids in the olympics start before their potty trained

Answer 9

Anything is possible but it is likely that she may be too old already to get good enough.

This is what she should do:

Ski a lot.  Get good.  Don't try to advance too fast - even if you have a natural aptitude, going on slopes that are too hard for you too soon is a good way to get hurt.  She will not be ready for black diamonds or moguls for a while.

Once she is pretty good (i.e. can ski down a blue quickly and under control at all times) she should look into joining NASTAR (www.nastar.org).  It is an amateur racing association, and is free to join plus they'll send you a free magazine every couple months.  I tried it last year for the first time and it was a lot of fun, not to mention it showed me that I'm not nearly as good as I thought I was ;)  This is assuming you live in US/Canada - other countries will likely have similar organizations.  Then she just needs to work her way up through the NASTAR medals - bronze, silver, gold, platinum.  If she can get to gold or platinum, things could start happening.

Answer 10

i doubt this.

like lets get real.. how many olympic skiiers from the u.s are competing in the olympics? about four? i mean that actually compete for a place and have a chance. They started when they were verrryyy young and by the time they were 15 they were on a junior olympic team (or something like it). I'm 15 and I've been racing since I was 10 and I'm considered really good. Although, I know that I'll never actually compete in the olympics. It's my dream though and I work to achieve it everyday. I guess anything's possible. It's just a really small chance.