Everyone has crazy dreams or lofty goals that they aim for. It’s only human and our dreams and goals usually tend to involve things that really mean something to each of us.
I don’t think it’d be an exaggeration to say that for many of us in the snow scene, we’ve all got some sort of crazy snowboard dream.
And I don’t think these dreams are bad, in fact, I think they’re a big factor in helping to push us to step outside our comfort zone. From personal experience, I’d say that whether we actually accomplish these dreams or not, the ride we have along the way is well worth trying.
So what’s your crazy snowboard dream? How about this… I’ll tell you a few of mine if you tell me one of yours.
Dream 1) Land a 1080 spin
Just another spin on the long road to landing a 1080.
5 years ago, back when I was faceplanting on green runs as a beginner, I set myself the goal of landing a 1080. Back then, it was the trick that every big name rider had in their bag, so I figured it was a worthy goal.
A beginner declaring they were going to land a 1080 did bring some amusement to most people I told. Perhaps it’s why I didn’t tell people my next lofty goal.
It took many years of falling, 5+ seasons on the slopes and multiple knee surgeries, but I did end up reaching this goal. Out of all my lofty goals, it’s probably the easiest on the list, but one that I’m quite proud of reaching.
Dream 2) Compete in the X-Games
This is a dream that I never shared with anyone other than my family. I knew many would think I was stupid and crazy, but I have a knack for believing that I can accomplish insane goals, even if I may only be deluding myself.
And not many of you know, but I actually competed in the X-Games… just kidding :p I’m not a bad snowboarder and I do have a few big tricks in my bag, but I am definitely not good enough to go to the X-Games.
My path and what I wanted changed along the way.
I found that the more I advanced my snowboarding and the more seasons I did, the less I wanted to do anything other than just snowboard every day and have fun in the park. Competitive riders tend to end up travelling constantly and end up having less and less time to just snowboard.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, there’s certainly benefits to being a X-Games level snowboarder, but I found that it’s not a dream that I wanted to keep pursuing.
Dream 3) Own a house in Whistler & snowboard every day
I’ve grown to love Whistler and love the freedom of just snowboarding. It makes me happy. The daily walk to the lifts. Riding the chairlift alone on the last run of the day. Even the cold walks in the snow to get a burger from my favourite burger joint.
I’ve picked the exact dream home I want to own. A nice 4 bedroom house within walking distance to the lifts, fully heated and air conned with a hot tub, built in BBQ and underground parking. This house costs $1.7 million dollars.
You may have realized by now that I’m not one to aim low.
My dream home. I like to dream big.
Do I have an inflated sense of confidence in myself? Possibly.
Are the odds stacked against me? Definately.
Is that going stop me from trying? Heck no.
The journey is what life is all about. I’m reminded of a quote:
Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
Whether I’ll ever reach these goals is besides the point. I like having lofty goals. They’re something to aim for. Something that gets me up in the morning thinking ‘Yeah, I’m going to get 1% closer to that goal today’.
So, now you know about my crazy snowboard dreams. What’s one of yours?