Article December 18, 2006 ISSUE

My #1 priority

BY RUSSEL FOGG

AFTER SNOWBOARDING for the first time in eighth grade, while I was living in Missouri, I fell in love with the sport and bought all the gear. I snowboarded all the time. I was good at it and identified with it, partly because I got recognition and made friends. But mostly snowboarding felt very much like me being me.

When I graduated from high school, I moved to Utah and joined a team. I snowboarded almost every day, competed, and worked in a snowboard shop. Then, after moving to Colorado the next year, I made it to the US Nationals and went on to compete in the US Snowboard Grand Prix tour for a few years. That's when I began seriously thinking about making a professional career out of snowboarding.