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While his bros look on from way up on the
other side, Omar (left) comes to grips with a
mighty high 360 tailgrab. Carving a pow
der plume (right) through a tree line. On his
way out, Omar could not resist one final
cliff blast (opposite right) for the road.
Do you ever get scared?
I get scared some of the time. If I didn't get scared I'd be dead now.
How do you deal with it?
It's natural to be scared of something you've never done before. You
have to turn that fear into focus. I just take all the safety precautions
that I can. I check out the take-off, my trajectory, and then focus on my
landing. Look around for some points of reference like trees, rocks or
a mound of snow. After all that, if I'm scared and I don't think I can
do it, I don't. The way to find out the truth is to get past the fear, and
if you can't do that then you'll never know if you could have made it.
I usually try it and see what happens. Seems to be working so far.
Is your mom stoked about this?
She's always been supportive of what I choose to do. So yeah, she is
stoked. I don't think she's going to be happy hearing about me jump-
ing over flames as a kid. Oh well, what can I say, I always made it.■
Do you still compete?
quit for a couple of years. I had burned out on
pipe and I was never one who enjoyed being told
who has style and who doesn't. So then I took an
extended vacation from competitions. That lasted
till I found out about border cross. You get to haul
ass down the course taking on all the terrain the
organizers can throw at you. Whoever reaches the
bottom first is obviously having the better day. I'll
be doing all the Kokanee border crosses this year.
What's your opinion on style?
It's when you push your own limits, just flow
and get into your own rhythm. Style isn't when
you go out and mock someone else. I know that it
has to come from inside. It's the way you ride.
So you love snowboarding?
Nope, hate it!
Do you dream about it?
Yeah, I've had some pretty fun dreams before. I
always seem to ride better in my dreams than I do
on the hill. If I could ride as well as I dream then
I'd be on a Wheaties box.
Is it true you like to do stunts?
I've loved doing stunts since I was a kid. I used
to jump my bike over dirt pits-we'd dig them up
and fill them with broken glass and burning plas-
tic. When I got older and started skating, I'd jump
over friend's cars. Now that I snowboard, I jump
over whatever else I can find. I still want to find at
chairlift I can clear.
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