9) Ramp Builder / Course Designer

Whether it’s building mini-ramps, shovelling mountains of dirt for a run, or shaping kickers, without ramp builders and course designers we’d have nothing to ride.

Pros

In many ways, these folk are the very heart of action sports. Their craft is a combination of art and science, and is one that cannot be learnt from a book. They also get the first crack on what they’ve built.

Cons

Building is long, backbreaking, thankless work. It’s what feminist thinkers call Shit Work; the kind that’s only noticed when it’s done badly. Also, do you think that guy driving past in a Ferrari is a ramp builder? Nope.

6) Marshal

Marshals are the people who ensure that events go off without a hitch. Usually lining the sides of runs, ensuring spectators don’t get mown down by riders, and escorting them to the medical centre when they do.

Pros

More often than not, marshals have proverbial ring-side seats at an event. They’re so close to the action that they can smell it!

Cons

Marshals are often seen as the high-vis wearing manifestation of bureaucratic authority. Clip board in hand, barking “stand back” to anybody within a meter of a safety fence, they are the embodiment of The Man that we are so readily encouraged to stick “it” to.

“everybody thinks agents are dicks”

5) Groomer

Snow doesn’t just fall in to that elegant corduroy pattern, you know. It has to be pushed, shifted and combed by a dedicated team of groomers. These are the alpine equivalent of groundsmen, ensuring that the piste is maintained for you skiing and snowboarding pleasure.

Pros

Groomers get to play around in a big old tractor-like thing for a living. If they’re really lucky, they might even get to cut a few pipes with a Dragon!

And when they’re done, groomers are the first people on the mountain, sneaking a cheeky shred in, without a 14 year olds called Claude flailing wildly towards them at mach 10.

Cons

Beating the eager first lift fans up the mountain means groomers starting every day at stupid o’clock. And early starts mean equally early nights.

Either that or driving a snowy combine harvester around an icy mountain while still half cut. Not even a Helgason, hyped on RV Juice is gnarly enough for that.

2) Chalet Host

Many an action sport relies on mountains. And where there are mountains, there are inevitably chalets. These quaint, rustic dwellings are often staffed by tired, hung-over, oversexed young reprobates called chalet hosts.

Pros

Not only do they  get free accommodation on the mountain, chalet hosts live with the best friends they didn’t know they had, while actually getting paid to be there. That’s like being  ¼ of a pro, right?

Cons

Wrong! For starters, only their parents call them chalet hosts. The rest of the world will know them as chalet bitches. It’s a life of bleaching toilets, making beds, mopping up little Toby’s four cheese vomit and running Lady Muck to the nearest town for a new fur coat.

This excellent blog tells it how it really is.

1) Journalist

Action Sports journalists are the people who work tirelessly, covering the hottest stories, making the world think with in-depth opinion pieces, and bringing action sports to life with a rich tapestry of words.

Either that or searching Youtube for Micro Scooter slams and researching stories via Wikipedia.

Pros

Days are spent hanging out with friends, drinking coffee, and occasionally writing while in a snazzy office where large TV screens show action sports films all day.

Or maybe it’s a work-from-home kinda day, where they skype friends, drink coffee, and occasionally write while in a makeshift office where small screens show action sports films all day.

Cons

Aside from your parents asking when you’re going to get a proper job, the life of an action sports journalist is one of missed connecting trains, rapidly approaching deadlines, and angry online reaction.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the world’s smallest violin, playing just for the journalists.