Launching into it

We all know the feeling of sending it off a jump and everything going our way from take-off until landing. Unhampered by notions of who we are or what we can do, a timeless sensation is created where we are masters of our domain. This understanding is routinely demonstrated through the world’s best snowboarders.

Nicolas Müller by rights should not be as talented as he is. Physically small, he has about half the muscle mass of someone like Travis Rice, yet he is able to manage some of the most impressive feats in all of snowboarding. He is also one of the most easy going people in the sport. According to Müller, “I put a lot into a reality that becomes a way for me to create. You can create a state of mind that makes you feel good, strong and creative.” He continues, “You can do this easily with snowboarding because you are naturally in the moment.”

Jake Blauvelt is another one of our freakishly gifted athletes, and it’s no surprise the credit he gives the mind clearing benefits of awareness: “The greatest thing about riding is that I’m not thinking about anything else. Not thinking about phone calls or e-mails to respond to. I’m living in the moment and I think that’s what always brings out the best in people… really feeling the here and now.”

R: Nicolas Mueller | P: Adam Moran | Laax, Switzerland

R: Nicolas Mueller | P: Adam Moran | Laax, Switzerland

The story of an unknown rider named Harry Kearney from Telluride who at the age of seventeen upset powerhouse riders Temple Cummins and Terje Haakonsen in the 2011 Legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom is one of significance as well. By adhering to a specific mind-body training as taught by ex pro rider and Tai Chi practitioner Jason Troth, he was able to transcend any doubts of his abilitiy and access a place of true power that led him to victory over the world’s best. Troth explains, “It went down like this: He was late for his start to race, trying to get off the lift when they were calling his drop. Harry ran to the start shack, strapped in as fast as he could and just dropped in. It was with no distraction, no time to think, one point of focus and zero resistance that he transcended his own reality and accessed his true power. In that moment he became the end-result of all of his thoughts and preparations.”

Native American rider Lonnie Kauk explains, “It seemed the harder I tried to impress people, the harder it actually was to get sponsored. When I stopped caring about that altogether and just rode for myself, all of those desires for a career in snowboarding came effortlessly.”

These accounts go on and on as Jeremy Jones parallels his backcountry conquests to “climbing an internal ladder”, while Travis Rice often refers to “full immersion” as the measure of experience on his adventures.

It is so common among the best of the best to transcend notions of limitation that the evidence suggests the gap in skill set lies not in inherent talent, but in one’s ability to access unfiltered consciousness. Perhaps more encouraging to the casual snowboarder though, is that this is the same awareness that supports the soul rider’s connection to his passion. It is that which enables him to be the happiest guy on the mountain, alone in the trees. So if you are convinced that you are unable to do this trick or that because only Travis Rice can, or even worse, that you won’t really be happy until you get that new board you’ve been eyeballing, then accordingly, you will live within those boundaries.

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