This week’s conversation is with Jake Blauvelt, one of the world’s best all around snowboarders.
He’s got a smooth, creative and effortless-looking style and it’s lifted him into an elite group of top athletes in the snowboarding world.
Jake’s career started like most other snowboarders: traveling from contest to contest, making a name for himself riding half pipe & slopestyle events, & eventually winning the Burton US Open Slopestyle in 2004, one of the most prestigious events in snowboarding.
It wasn’t long before Jake realized that his was a different calling; his style & his capability on a snowboard belonged in the backcountry, in natural terrain where he could let his endless imagination & creativity run wild where he could find his own lines and make use of the features that nature provides.
Jake sees himself as an artist, not a stuntman and in this conversation we get into everything from how Jake approaches risk, trains confidence, and aspires to live in the state of flow.
Jake is true to himself and I appreciated his willingness to open up.
“It all comes down to being true to yourself and the ones you love.”
In This Episode:
- Growing up in Vermont, played a lot of sports
- Broke his leg skiing and decided to try snowboarding
- How he manages burnout
- Why there are positive take aways from getting injured
- What he does to improve his mental game
- How his parents supported his dreams
- How snowboarding helped him avoid getting into partying and drugs in adolescence
- The way he builds trust with others
- How he trains confidence so he’s able to take on intense challenges on the mountain
- The rush / addictive feeling he gets when he nails a run
- How he combats self-doubt
- Why he sees himself as an artist, not a stuntman
- Kindness as one word that cuts to the center of what he understands most
References:
Naturally – the web-series Jake produced
