Focus on fun key to Pates’ halfpipe success
SNOWMASS VILLAGE» Eagle snowboarder Jake Pates isn’t paying attention.
The 19-year-old isn’t worrying about how Saturday’s halfpipe competition at the U.S. Grand Prix at Snowmass could punch his ticket to the PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea. He’s not thinking about points and qualifying criteria. And he’s not reliving that moment last month in Breckenridge when he linked together the best run of his life to win the Dew Tour, claiming his first major victory and propelling himself from dark horse to Olympic contender alongside icons Shaun White and Danny Davis.
“Life hasn’t really changed that much. I’m having fun and trying to enjoy it all. I’m trying not to get too caught up in it,” Pates said.
After a week of high-level training at the pipe at Copper Mountain, Pates arrived in Snowmass this week as the second-ranked contender to make U.S. Snowboarding’s Olympic halfpipe team, ahead of Davis and White. Saturday, he will get his chance to be the first snowboarder to lock in his spot on the Olympic halfpipe squad.
“I’ve been watching all these guys since I was so young. Forming a friendly relationship with those dudes has made it less intimidating. But they are still my
idols,” Pates said, nursing a shredded face from a crash in soft snow in the lift line this week. “So it’s crazy when you look at them and think ‘I gotta compete against these dudes.’ That’s a stress factor for sure, but I try to block all that out and have some fun with it. One thing that has been molded into my brain is trying to have as much fun as I can. I just try to have fun, and that has seemed to work out pretty well.”
The world’s best snowboarders and freeskiers often talk about an unwavering focus on the fun. It’s how they weather the risky trickery that dominates their sports. But Pates has a genuine love for that dangerous spinning.
Landing the backside double-cork 1260 he stuck in Breckenridge to cement his win was “super fun.”
“Flipping can be scary, especially learning that stuff. But landing it is such a supercool feeling. It’s so fun. I live for it,” he said.
Pates was raised in Eagle but shuttled be- tween training years with Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy, and teams in Summit County, spinning between three distinct Colorado ski valleys as he honed his riding skills. “I’ve mixed it up a good bit,” he said. His father, who directs sales for medical equipment, and mother always kept him grounded, Pates said. He chased his older brother, Cole, a film major at CU Boulder, around the ski hill. His little sister, Charlie Sue, took a different tack and recently secured a scholarship to Auburn University for horse reining.
“I have had the best people around me all my life,” he said.
Jeremy Forster, the director of the U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing programs, said Pates has an unwavering work ethic, with “a lot of commitment and determination.”
“He’s worked really hard for a really long time, and Breckenridge was just a huge event for him. He’s in the mix. This whole team, each of them bring their own style and creativity to the mix and he’s earned his position on this team. I’m excited to see what he can do here and next week in Mammoth,” Forster said.