Jim Adlington is a pro rider for Salomon. He travels the world and gets paid to ski.

Nice work if you can get it - but how do you get it? Well you can enter our Salomon pro rider search or maybe try Adlington's route and work as a night porter in Val d'Isere!

For three winters Adlington worked through the night and skied through the day, exploring the off-piste and trying new tricks. Then in 1999, he saw a pair of Salomon 1080s and everything changed.

His story sums up what is possible if you want it enough. Who knows, maybe it'll inspire you to become the next season worker to become a pro...

'I wanted to be a snowboarder on skis'

It started for Adlington when Eric Davis, Sales Manager for Salomon, came out to stay at the First Choice clubhotel, Ducs de Savoie.

Davis had come out to Val d'Isere for the first week of the season to do some photography work for Salomon. And he had some 1080s with him.

'I used to go down to the ski room at night just to look at them. I would sit there and flex them. I needed these skis,' Adlington remembers.

He had been doing 360s and grabs in the snow park in Tignes on 205cm Salomon 3Ss. 'I wanted to be a snowboarder on skis - the 1080s were going to make it happen for me.'

'You need to sponsor me'

Getting them was another story. 'I went up to Eric and told him 'I need these skis. You need to give me some. You need me to sponsor me.'

Strangely, this wasn't enough to convince Davis straightaway, but he did tell Adlington to put a portfolio together and send it to him.

Together with First Choice colleague Steve Holmes, Adlington hastily picked out the best shots taken by Steve over the previous seasons and put together a portfolio.

It couldn't compare to what he could offer now, but it was enough. Davis asked Adlington to ski guide for him on a test week in January and sent him a pair of brand new 177cm 1080s.

Perhaps because he didn't really know who was who, Adlington's personality shone through over his nerves and impressed not just the buyers, but, crucially, Salomon UK's managing director, who at the end of the week offered him a contract.

Since then Adlington has gone from strength to strength, working with all the major photographers, in particular Ross Woodhall, and travelling the world.

Kidsgrove to Val d'Isere

Season worker becomes pro is a great story, but what makes Adlington's story special is the journey to get there, a journey that began on an 80m dry slope at Kidsgrove near Stoke.

Taught to ski by his best friend, he had only been to the Alps once before his first season, on a race training camp in Chamonix organised by his mentor and owner of Kidsgrove, Chris Poole. Poole saw in Adlington a genuine talent and encouraged him to make that break and go to work his first season.

Tragically Poole died in an avalanche in Val d'Isere in 1997, an event that caused Adlington to step back from the industry completely. He took the 97/98 winter off, choosing instead to travel in Asia.

How much Adlington's resolve was hardened by the tragedy is impossible to say, but no one would be more delighted and less surprised than Poole about what has happened over the last three years.

Believe it...

For sure there's a lesson here for any aspiring riders, whether going out to work this winter or on a dry slope in the UK.

It'll never happen without the talent, but Adlington's story shows that whether you're a plongeur, chalet host, ski tech or just a fanatic, if you really want it enough, you can have it all.

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