Hello everyone! Our OMT action sports team is pleased to present you an Athlete feature interview with Billy Hanson, in which he dives into the topic of skateboarding and shares his personal experience.
Enjoy watching!
Hello to all action sports fans and not only! Our team is very excited to introduce our special guest Geordie to you! In this podcast Geordie talks about his rock climbing career and tells a fascinating story about his friend’s injury. Enjoy listening!
Ski Locations March 11, 2022
British Columbia is home to more than 30 ski hills. They range from quiet and delicate to internationally recognized resorts. It’s not hard to find what you’re looking for here in Canada.
Choosing the right ski hill depends on what type of skiing you like. All ski hills have a difficulty rating of; green = intro/beginner, blue = medium/experienced and finally, black diamond = most difficult/expert and so forth.
There are many different types of skiers/boarders. People who like tree and powder, the ones that like the well maintained runs and the people who spend most their time at the park. Sun Peaks has a terrain park that is 10 acres long and accessible by the Sundance Express chairlift. The terrain park has over 45 features like, rails, boxes and jumps. Sun Peaks also offers the platter park which can be accessed by the village platter. The platter park is open later than the terrain park and has a mix of features.
Big White Ski Resort is located in Kelowna BC, 2-3 hours from Kamloops and 5 hours from the Vancouver coast. Big White/ “Biggie” has 119 designed and maintained trails as well as an additional 27 unnamed trails. 18% of the trails are beginner, 56% are intermediate and the remaining 26% are categorized as expert.
Big White is known as, home to the adrenaline junkies courtesy of the Cliff which is classified as a double black diamond and has an elevation of 2,260m. Biggie also offers Telus park which has a variety of rails and jumps that have been used for regional, national and world cup events. So if you enjoy challenging yourself and having some fun maybe adopting park skiing is for you.
Elevation stats from: https://www.bigwhite.com/explore-big-white/mountain-info/mountain-stats
BC ski hill numbers from: https://www.bcliving.ca/bcs-best-ski-hills#:~:text=BC%20has%20over%2030%20ski%20hills%2C%20from%20quaint,got%20what%20you%20need.%20Big%20White%20Ski%20Resort
Josephine Tuaiti was born in Hamilton, New Zealand. Later on, she soon moved to British Columbia. Josephine currently lives in Kamloops, BC. She enjoys going snowboarding in the winter and skateboarding in the summer at the skateparks. She started snowboarding at 18 years old & skateboarding at 20 years old. She is currently 23 years old. She is living her best life constantly learning and practicing new tricks.
We asked her:
How often do you practice the extreme action sports you participate in?
“I usually need a rest day if I take a few hard falls in a session. So I guess around 4-5 times a week.”
What is your reasoning for doing what you do?
“I honestly used to have a pretty unhealthy relationship with exercise. Doing sports like snowboarding and skateboarding put me in a completely different mindset and it’s more about what new tricks I can stomp versus anything else.”
What would you tell someone who is just starting out?
“Everyone starts somewhere! I also find that no one’s looking at how bad you are, but want to help you improve & encourage you to learn/accomplish tricks. It always makes me so stoked to see people learning.”
Do you think resting is important?
“Rest is so important! I find that after a rest day, something I struggled with before comes almost naturally because my body is feeling good and my mind is refreshed.”
Do you think gear matters? (brand, price, durability)
“When you’re first starting out gear really isn’t that important. I got my first skateboard from the thrift store and my first snowboard from Facebook. I actually haven’t ridden a board I like better than my $20 Facebook find. With that being said tho, I strongly believe in look good – feel good – play good. So it’s also good to take the time to find the gear that makes you stoked to get out.”
How often should someone practice?
“I think practicing every day is really important. I think muscle memory is really important in sports and while your brains working hard, it’s good for your body to have a kind of baseline. With that being said I think rest is equally as important.”
What are the benefits you have gained from doing these extreme action sports?
“For me, I’ve gained a lot of perseverance and mental toughness. In everyday life, as soon as things get tough I tend to quit, but when it comes to the sports I love, I will fall as many times as I have to. I know that in the end, I’ll stomp whatever trick I’m working on and the fight to get to there makes it just that much better.”
What motivates you?
“I think my biggest motivation is just wanting to be better than I was a year ago. I’m obsessed with watching progression videos on YouTube and seeing how much someone can improve by just sticking with it just blows my mind. Also, I think competing at the x-games would be absolutely wild.”
Have you ever participated in any competitions?
“Only ever one skate competition I’ve competed in and I got first place in the women’s division in Kamloops which was pretty awesome! It felt super cool to be recognized for something I work really hard at.”
Did you ever build a community within the action sports you participate in?
“When I first started out I reached out to a few girls in Kamloops over Instagram and it turns out they had just started a “Girls Skate Night”. I’ve met a lot of really cool people through that and just being at the park. We’ve got a good crew going! I haven’t found people to it the hill and park with me yet so I’m a bit of a loner up there but there’s a lot of online groups for women in snow sports that give me that community I’m missing.”
Mesha Naiker, Justin Tarasoff, February 10, 2022
Warning! Stomach churning photos are about to be shown.
How extreme can a sport get? Well, let me tell you a little story about my friend Justin Tarasoff…
Inevitably, the largest part of extreme sports is the degree of risk and danger that comes with it, hence the term “extreme.” Every time a skater steps on their board, a biker gets on their bike or a skier straps on those skis, they are taking the chance of getting a sprain, injury or even in the worst cases, death.
Thrill does not come without risk, with skateboarding being no exception. Back in July 2020, Justin Tarasoff went for a joyride at his local skatepark when he took a turn for the worst…
While trying a pop-shuv tail grab Justin broke and dislocated his ankle, shown in the picture to the left.
Justins first thoughts were…well… he had no thoughts. He was in shock, stating that “he didn’t feel anything and it hadn’t registered in his mind that his ankle was broken.” The person behind the camera had to tell him what had happened for Justin to comprehend what was going on.
Post break, he sat on the ground, contemplating his existence. Multiple friends offered him smokes and marijuana to ease the pain. But at that point he knew it was doctors care that he needed most. So he kindly declined and sat tight while anticipating the arrival of the paramedics.
Justin was rushed to the hospital, where he got an x-ray. A clean break was confirmed. Shortly after, he had his first surgery where he had to have several staples put into his leg (shown in the picture to the left)
The next day, Justins mom drove him 3 hours from the hospital in Smithers to the hospital in Kitimat for his second emergency surgery.
After 3 months of rest and rehabilitation and not being able to walk, Justin went back to Kitimat for his third surgery. Shortly after, Justin gained mobility back into his ankle and was able to walk out.
Fortunately after his last surgery, Justin was able to do physio-therapy treatments to aid in completing his recovery and to regain strength.
The question remains… was skateboarding worth the risk?
Justin admits that it was not worth it. For three months, he was jobless and broke… not to mention the terrible PTSD ankle-breaking nightmares that followed.
Other important questions and thoughts Justin had to consider:
Do he ever really think about the risk factor of doing what he does? If so, why did he still do it?
He thinks about the risk factor more than he did before but the risk is what makes it exciting to do. Justin also does it for community reasons as well as its a great way to kill time and be active.
How does it effect him now?
It effects him mentally in a way that he is more cautious when approaching tricks. He is effected physically because his ankle is now supported by metal rods and screws. His ankle clicks often, and reminds him of how it will never be as strong as it once was.
Did this scare Justin away from skateboarding? For awhile it did. Recovery took a combination of 3 months time and 3 surgeries before he could even think about stepping back on the board. But once he was fully recovered, he started skating again.
Why? Because the amount of fun you have doing the sport is worth the risk, even if it means breaking a bone.
Justin now skateboards still but stays lower to the ground and is thankful that he was able to ride.
Could it have gotten any worse? Where is Justin now? How can you prevent injuries like this from happening in other sports? Tune in to the next post to find out!
One More Try Extreme Sports is a platform showcasing rare and extreme footage of brave athletes risking their lives to do what they love. While this site is primarily trick/stunt focused skiing, skateboarding and snowboarding, we welcome any and all types of action sports that carry any element or degree of risk.
