What The Heck Is Retired Olympian Nick Goepper Up To?

This past winter, decorated Olympic slopestyle skier Nick Goepper announced his retirement from competitive freestyle skiing.

The announcement -- shared via an Instagram post on January 27th, 2023 -- came after years of Goepper dominating X Games and Olympic slopestyle events. In short, the guy's got loads of hardware in his closet.

Then, Goepper's mostly straight-faced Instagram presence (there were a few pre-retirement silly moments in the mix) took a turn, starting with this tongue-in-cheek post shared on August 17th this year.

This one caught me off guard. Ever since I've been a fan of freeskiing, Goepper, at least to those outside his inner circle, has always presented as your standard Olympic athlete: always on script, committed to the sport, and never caught with his pants down.

And it only got goofier from there, with Goepper sharing a series of posts that seemed to lampoon his status as a retired professional skier. During this pivot of his public-facing persona, Goepper changed his Instagram bio to "Struggling Olympian trying to make ends meet."

As I noted in a previous POWDER article about Goepper's ongoing social media antics, I struggled to separate irony from reality after stumbling across his apparent rebrand.

For instance, in one post, Goepper stated that he'd lost all of his sponsors post-retirement and had to take out a second mortgage on his house -- surely someone with several Olympic medals wasn't actually "struggling" after a few months of stepping away from competitive skiing?

Adding to the confusion is a series of posts -- including one shared recently on October 25th -- that indicated that Goepper might be returning to the competitive circuit as a halfpipe skier (during his competitive tenure, Goepper primarily focused on slopestyle skiing).

Here's the thing.

The financial status of professional skiers isn't a subject frequently broached in a public setting. The closest I've gotten to being aware of how much the pros get paid (or don't, for that matter) was when a friend of mine spent a few seasons on the Freeride World Tour. I don't have any other points of reference, which makes sense. People don't typically share their yearly earnings willy-nilly.

Thus, for Goepper to air out exactly what's going on in his personal life -- with an added layer of ironic humor -- didn't seem, well, real.

So I took it upon myself to figure out what the heck Nick Goepper is up to these days by sending a few clarifying questions his way.

Here's Goepper on his retirement, altered social media presence, and the looming halfpipe question.

POWDER: Did you really lose most of your sponsors post-retirement announcement? Help me understand what happens to a professional competition skier when they announce their retirement.

Nick Goepper: Sure did! But thats business. It all started when I communicated to them "I do not want to do this anymore because it isn't fulfilling me and it feels forced, I likely will be of little value to you in the future". If you were a brand why would you support someone who isn't going to put any effort into their craft and literally gave you warning about it? I was prepared for this. It still was hard to swallow but I was prepared mentally.

P: To what extent is your current internet persona a comedic bit? Are you "struggling"? Did you actually have to get a second mortgage for your house?

NG: My internet persona is my real persona. The challenge I was facing the last few years (as far as marketing myself) was not being vulnerable enough. Vulnerability sells and it also makes me way more confident in what I am doing because I don't have anything to hide. Yes I took out a HELOC on my house to pay for my life in this "transition process". I've currently spent 60k of my allotted 120k balance. But you have to take calculated risk to chase your goals!

P: Similar question. Did retiring – and presumably ending multiple sponsor contracts – free you up to act goofier on social media? Your IG page was pretty straight-laced until this year.

NG: Retiring and ending some sponsor deals definitely helped the "rebrand" per se, but it was only the kicker. As I said before the courage to be vulnerable takes exactly that, courage. It doesn't matter what sponsors you do or don't have. Although not having some of my big sponsors anymore definitely made me feel less pressure to be myself. Whoever buys in next will be buying a way more authentic version of me.

P: Is any of what you're doing on social media planned? Is there some longer-term plan here, like becoming (sorry to use this word) an "influencer"?

NG: Absolutely it's planned and I'm loving every second of it! I hate the word "influencer" also but thats just business-speak for what we call these types of platforms these days. I'm building my online platform in congruency with my skiing transition.

P: You've hinted multiple times that a competition comeback via the halfpipe might be in order for you. What are the odds we see you at X Game again?

NG: I will be entering competition again, this time in the halfpipe, and you will see me at X Games in the future. Also Milan 2026 Olympics.

P: What do you pay your manager, Gary? He doesn't look cheap.

NG: Gary is one of my best buys and roommates Steve Stepp. I can't put a number on his value haha.

P: If you could give one piece of advice to a kid hoping to become an Olympic medalist, what would it be?

NG: F*CKING DO IT. Stop thinking and act. Action trumps absolutely everything else. Doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, white or black, from Indiana or Colorado, just f*cking do it. If you have a vision and you are driven, the next decision you make will always be the right one.

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