Suite101 spoke with Andrea Binning at her home-base in Chamonix, France about how she ended up in a dream job — making money from her passion of skiing.
Andrea Binning's Skiing Background
Born into a family of skiers, 33-year-old Australian Andrea Binning was introduced to the mountains in Victoria by her parents. She started skiing at the age of four and in her teens she began competing in mogul skiing in Australia and overseas. Although she completed a BA of Applied Science in Physical Education in Melbourne, Andrea was never able to visualize herself in a conventional city job. While she was competing on the French mogul circuit, Andrea was inspired watching the impressive feats of competitors in the 1997 Red Bull Snow Thrill, a free-ski competition held in Chamonix. Little did she know at the time that this influential event marked a turning point in her skiing career path. The following season Andrea quit moguls, moved to Chamonix Mont Blanc and began competing in the IFSA freeskiing events.
The Life of a Professional Skier
Andrea has been working professionally as a skier since 1999. Mountains have shaped her lifestyle, provided a way she can truly express herself and given her confidence.
While she feels privileged to lead what she agrees is an 'exhilarating lifestyle' she considers it very much a job and as such takes her training seriously. “I like to see that I’m pushing the limits not only for myself but for other women. I’m paid to be a leader as a female free skier and I’d like to think I’m doing that job,” Andrea explains.
The recognition Andrea gained by winning the 2000 World Extreme Skiing Championships allowed her to retire from free skiing competitions but continue to ski professionally, earning her living by performing in ski movies and for photographers shooting for magazines and advertisements. Recent films have included Enjoy, an internationally distributed ski movie produced by Rage Films and Respect by Wink Inc Productions.
Andrea is sponsored as a professional skier by Red Bull (energy drink). Her other sponsors include:
- Roxy (a women's offshoot of the Quiksilver ski and surf focused brand)
- Volkl skis
- Suzuki
- Marker (bindings)
- Black Diamond mountain equipment
- Mt Hotham Ski Resort
- Roxy eyewear.
2000 World Extreme Skiing Champion
A select list of Andrea Binning's career highlights:
- 2006 Nominee at the Powder Awards, Best Female Ski Segment
- 2004 Winner Engadin Snow, St Moritz, Switzerland
- 2003 Winner of the World Tour Freeskiing Finals, Les Arcs, France
- 2002 Winner Red Bull Snow Thrill of Chamonix, France
- 2000 Winner of the World Extreme Skiing Championships in Valdez, Alaska
- 1999, 2000 Winner of the Rip Curl World Heli Challenge in New Zealand.
Andrea Binning's Avalanche Experience
In 2006 Andrea was caught in a serious avalanche on Mt. Waddington, in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. On her second turn on a steep mountain face that she had been dropped at the top of by helicopter, the whole face fractured into a slab avalanche. Reliving the experience Andrea described how she " . . . tried to cut out to the right and then the whole force of the slide pushed me over and I got sent into high speed cartwheels." She was carried about 1,000 feet down the face, buried to her waist but suffered relatively minor injuries. Footage of Andrea's avalanche can be viewed in the ski film Respect and on Andrea's personal website.
From her big mountain skiing experiences Andrea says she has learned that "the mountains are a very powerful place" that must be experienced on their terms.
Andrea Binning also talked to Suite101 about Ski Fitness Training.
Photographs provided by A. Binning with permission from the Red Bull Photofiles.
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