We aren't going to lie: attaining a ski scholarship is incredibly difficult. Even incredibly gifted skiers struggle to get recognized. Many of the top schools, like University of Denver and University of Colorado recruit their members, so if you're not on their radar, it might be hard to get your foot in the door.

What also makes it hard is that these recruiters cannot be everywhere at once. (Mind-blowing, we know.) So if you're from a small town or some obscure city, chances are good they won't know who you are. Yes, even if you're the hometown hero.

So if you really want to get noticed, you're going to have to learn to market yourself. You have to sell, sell, sell…otherwise, the people you want to have drooling over you won't even know you exist. One popular way of getting attention is making a video and sending schools the best footage you can find (source).

Although there are no specific stats about how many high school skiers apply for scholarships and how many of them are awarded financial help, it's clear that it's pretty hard. After all, there are only a handful of scholarships given out for Division-I and -II skiers. Yes, a handful. To be more specific, only about 5% of high school skiers go on to compete in college (source). Gulp.

Don't rule out the small colleges. The top schools, like the University of Denver, for example, are highly competitive and seek out the best skiers in the nation. Smaller colleges have more attainable programs that can potentially pay for your education, though. And college-based scholarships—ones that take GPA into consideration—are a great way to have your skis pay for your books.