Deeper: The Dream has Changed

Haines, Alaska. The Dream has changed.  Since I can remember the dream was always about getting paid enough snowboarding so I could spend the spring in Alaska flying in helicopters and making snowboard movies. After starring in over 45 movies the dream was starting to wear off. The challenge was gone and I was getting bored.  No longer was I having the “best day of my life” every time I went out and although I was riding some of the best lines of my life it did not feel like it at the end of the day. (Cry me a river…I know.)

Now the dream is about taking a plane deep into unridden mountains, setting up a base camp and hiking and riding first descents on foot. It is a much more intimate experience with the mountains because I am not retreating back to our hotel rooms when nightfall comes or a storm blows in. I see every layer in the snowpack form as it falls.  We watch our projected lines day and night for weeks on end and get to learn their moods and hopefully solve their problems.  The big lines are a complex chess game with mother nature that keeps us adapting each step of the way and require total focus.

The complexity of the lines leave me turning back on more lines then I actually get to ride.  From a “getting the shot” perspective we come home more days empty handed than holding the goods.  Thankfully I love the process, and the people I am surrounded by do as well.  At this point in snowboarding less is more.  The reward of riding a new “dream line” that I have worked so hard for is the ultimate reward for me in snowboarding.  After 25 years of riding this is where I am; getting my greatest highs in snowboarding. That is the whole point of it.  He who comes home at the end of the day happiest wins.

Evolution of My Snowboarding Dreams

1982 Getting a snowboard for Xmass.

1985 My Backhill had metal edges and a P-tex base

1986 Snowboarding was allowed on my home mountain.

1989 Getting sponsored.

1991 Going out west.

1992 Being a pro snowboarder.

1993 Moving out west.

1994 Going to Valdez,Alaska.

1996 Being in Standard Films movies

2000 New terrain in Haines Alaska.

2009 Riding first descents in Alaska, accessed on foot.

2010 See below…

**Jonaven Moore moments before the payoff.**

**“Heat up some hot water for my tea” was the last thing Tom Burt said before dropping into this line.**

**Being out at night and watching the sunset and the moon ride is one of the best parts of camping.**

**Climbing up the lines is an amazing experience but it is still all about the down.**