"It really started out as a dream for me. Growing up in the Mt. Shasta Community was a blessing when I was a kid I got to watch so many talented racers; both skiers and snowboarders succeed at what I had a growing passion to do.  Coaches worked hard to set courses, prepare adequate training and having the Ski Park in our backyard was amazing. Than environment, the willingness to inspire young athletes to work hard and have fun was such an important part for me.

As a professional snowboarder the process of developing my riding has taught me so much more about life and less about snowboarding. What I do now is not so much different from what I did growing up in Mt. Shasta. I go to work each day training in and out of gates, on and off the snow, it’s really a never ending process. The process of trial and error, success and failure, it continues to show you what you’re doing well and what you can work on to get better, or in our case faster.  I find myself constantly breaking things down.  If you don’t understand something at first then it’s just another opportunity to learn.  And that’s what it was all about when I was a kid in Mt. Shasta and the same still holds true today.

What I can say is that some of the most important lessons I have learned I started learning when I was a kid listening to my coaches and I continue to learn those same lessons today as a professional athlete. Life has a way of putting you in challenging situations that seem overwhelming, you’ll always want to take it seriously. Challenge is opportunity, take every opportunity you get and don’t worry as much about failure. Don’t be too hard on yourself,  take a moment to acknowledge the life you get to live, work hard at whatever you are doing,  and don’t forget to have fun."