Lessons | Tanner Davidson
Tanner Davidson might be the most overlooked rider in Canada. With so much talent, he can honestly do it all: rails, jumps, backcountry. On top of that, he’s knowledgeable about the sport, knowing: history, spot locations, and how to build features well. He works hard. He gets up early. He has a plan. He pushes you. He pushes himself. He shovels. He talks to cops. He’s an all-around good guy and an asset to any crew. A piece on what life lessons Tanner Davidson has learned during his time snowboarding.
—William Fraser
Melon [o] Liam Glass
When I started thinking about this, I had no idea what snowboarding had taught me. I honestly looked over at my partner after getting the text from Will and said, "Snowboarding hasn’t taught me fuckin’ anything." Wrong answer. I think snowboarding has actually taught me a lot, not the snowboarding itself. But the experiences I’ve gone through while snowboarding. Here are two big ones.
Fs 360 [o] Liam Glass
Time Management
It is crazy going on trips now and being the oldest. I see these 25-year-olds doing things I did back then, but now regret. The main one is wasting time. I remember being young and coming home at the end of the day, maybe with a clip, and being fired up, on a high, crushing a six-pack, smoking some joints and staying up until 1 a.m. We would sleep until around 10 a.m. the next day and get a super-late start. Now that I’m older, it kills me to see the young guys doing that stuff. Life is too short. I swear, if some of the young guys could teleport themselves to the future, they’d probably think the same. “Why am I wasting this time?” It’s hard to have that perspective when you’re young—time doesn't have the same meaning. I don’t fault them or my younger self. But I take my time and snowboarding seriously now. I cherish the time I have to board. Working full time, I do everything I can, I schedule work around the weather, build spots the night before, and prepare as much as possible for the short two-hour window I have the next day to get a clip. I almost love snowboarding more now because of that. But snowboarding has taught me we can’t waste our time, especially in our prime snowboarding years, and in other areas of life, too.
Snow surfer [o] Liam Glass
There's More To Life
Snowboarding is a selfish sport, especially when filming. It’s selfish in the sense that you're always thinking about your next clip or striving for your next thing. It’s kind of me, me, me. I’ve been in situations where I had the opportunity to go on a trip with friends, family, or my wife, but I’ll shut it down to link up with a crew and get a clip. I‘ve made decisions that leave people I love in the dust. As I’ve matured, I’ve realized how many people I have hurt by putting them second or making them worried that I still leave the ground when I snowboard. I’ve come to understand how significant compromise is and how I’ve missed out on some great things. I was addicted to the clip high for a long time, and definitely still am, but now I’m opening up other avenues of my life. I wanna go teach my nephews how to ride. I want to invest in the community. I want to take that hot weather vacation with my partner. I see the value in that now. In a way, it has even made me a better snowboarder. This is a weird, big lesson for me. It’s weird that someone would choose to ride an icey rail in the streets rather than have a nice pow day with family. It just does not feel right anymore. I’m making a conscious effort to not focus on myself as much. I consider the people in my life more because I know all the injuries and trauma I have put my family through over the years.
