Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais - Snowboarder Jake Blauvelt on Risk, Confidence, Flow

Episode Date: February 7, 2018

This week’s conversation is with Jake Blauvelt, one of the world’s best all around snowboarders.He’s got a smooth, creative and effortless-looking style and it’s lifted him into an elite group of top athletes in the snowboarding world.Jake’s career started like most other snowboarders: traveling from contest to contest, making a name for himself riding half pipe & slopestyle events, & eventually winning the Burton US Open Slopestyle in 2004, one of the most prestigious events in snowboarding.It wasn’t long before Jake realized that his was a different calling; his style & his capability on a snowboard belonged in the backcountry, in natural terrain where he could let his endless imagination & creativity run wild where he could find his own lines and make use of the features that nature provides.Jake sees himself as an artist, not a stuntman and in this conversation we get into everything from how Jake approaches risk, trains confidence, and aspires to live in the state of flow.Jake is true to himself and I appreciated his willingness to open up._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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And the whole design of these podcasts are to sit down with people who are extraordinary at what they do, extraordinary how they think, and we want to deconstruct and better understand how they've organized their life and their internal life to be able to pursue mastery. And what we're really looking to do is to search for what they're searching for and to see if we can understand their psychological framework, which is how they understand themselves and the world and events, and then also dig to understand the mental skills that they've used to build and refine their craft. Finding Mastery is brought to you by LinkedIn Sales Solutions.

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when you head to davidprotein.com slash finding mastery. That's David, D-A-V-I-D, protein, P-R-O-T-E-I-N.com slash Finding Mastery. Okay. This week's conversation is with Jake Blauvelt, and he's one of the best all-around snowboarders in the world. He's just really smooth. When you watch his videos of what he's been able to do, he's got this creative, effortless-looking style. And it's that approach that's lifted him into being one of the best flat out and recognized as the best in the world. Jake's career started like most other snowboarders, traveling from contest to contest around the world, riding halfpipe and slope-style events,

and eventually even winning the Burton U.S. Open Slope Style in 2004. It's one of the most prestigious and recognized events in snowboarding. It's legit. But then there was a transition. And this is the part of the conversation I was really interested to learn from him is he was heading down one path and then that path wasn't working for him. How did he pivot and transition into a new career path, a new lifestyle? And it wasn't long before he realized that he just had a different calling and it was his style and his capability on a snowboard that really belonged in the back country. So instead of inside of pipes and structured lines, he had a more creative approach

that the canvas of the back country, the uncharted terrain was something that he was better fit for. His chips were on the table and he pushed them in and he did something that is extraordinary. So now he's used his craft snowboarding and he sees himself as an artist. And, you know, each turn that he makes, each expression that he has is coming from within and he's trying to fit what he feels and thinks and sees inside of him and express it externally. And in this conversation, we get into everything from how he approaches risk, how he trains confidence, how he aspires to live and how he's organizing his life to live in a state of flow more frequently. So Jake is true to himself. And I just really appreciate his willingness to be open and to express and to find the words to articulate what's deep inside of him.

And with that, let's jump right into this conversation with Jake. Jake, how are you? Yeah, doing well, man. How are you doing, Mike? Yeah, fantastic. So you live a very unconventional way of living. You have committed and chipped in at a relatively early age to snowboarding, but there was a transition that you had to make from your first sport to your second sport. And I hope that you could maybe walk through or walk me through the chapters of your life, like the major headings, the things that help shape like the overall trajectory of your life, just so I could try to get an understanding of where you came from. Yeah. Yeah. I'll try and make a long story short. I grew up in Vermont and I was always playing sports, you know, baseball, soccer, basketball.

I started skiing, then I broke my leg skiing and then transitioned into snowboarding. What age did you break your leg? I was, I think, 11 years old. Okay, so were you aggressively skiing or were you hesitating and you broke your leg or somewhere in the middle? I kind of, I'd say somewhere in the middle. It's just, uh, I had always been, I had been a cross country skier ever since I could remember. Um, uh, and, and then, uh, I got up onto Alpine skis just for one year, uh, doing lift access Alpine skiing and, broke my leg and uh and i think when i was up on the mountain i saw all these snowboarders and at that time i had been skateboarding for maybe two years

and so i was like why am i not snowboarding i'm skiing i'm on these skis i should be snowboarding and then i broke my leg i uh after i healed, uh, the following year I got on a board and the rest was history. I was like, I love this. I couldn't think of anything else. I don't want to gloss that over. That's a really cool thought. I couldn't think of anything else. Yeah. Yeah. It was funny because yeah, like I, like I said, you know, I'd always played sports, basketball, soccer, skating, you know, but I had never really been so obsessed with any of those, even soccer, which was like my second passion, you know, I had never been obsessed with any of them. Then after I got into snowboarding, that's like, all I could think about was just when I was going to get up onto the hill next, because at that point, it was an after-school program, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of.

And then otherwise, the weekends. And so I was just like, I need to get on my board more often. And eventually, as the years went on, I figured out ways to get on my board more often than just the weekends. Okay. So looking back as an adult, looking back, what were you most attracted to or hungry for? What was the crave? Back then, let's see, I was probably 13 or 14 at that point. And the crave was just it was nothing superficial it was just uh the pure stoke that it gave me and like being up i was making all these new friends on the mountain and just the pure joy that snowboarding gave me you know of just uh just learning tricks, learning something new, and just genuinely being so happy.

You know, because when you're 14 and 15, you're not thinking about bills to pay or whatnot. All you have to think about is fun. And it just, that was the funnest thing I could do at the time. Okay. And then I wonder as an adult, as a professional athlete, as one of the best arguably that's out there right now, have you stayed connected to that? Or have you had an ebb and flow relationship with Stoke? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, there has been a serious ebb and flow. And I think sometimes I get burnt out. There's no two ways about it. It's like I'll just work really hard and maybe over-immerse myself in my work and my snowboarding, and I'll just be drained afterwards. And so I'm trying to learn as the years go on to maybe not go so hard so that I can maintain that stoke and, you know, not ebb and flow quite so hard, but maybe the ebb and flow is, is healthy. I've, I've realized that I've tried to not be so one dimensional in my life and to

try and learn new things and not just be a snowboarder. And I think that that in return really helps me be a better snowboarder. Okay. So is that hard work? Is that over, you know, weeks, six weeks, months, like what is that hard work and what does the hard work look like and then what does what are some of the signs that you pick up on that you're starting to slip into that fatigue or even like burnout state and i know i just asked you three questions but they're totally related for me right yeah yeah um I think the burnout looked like, for instance, one example would be like when I was working on a movie that I produced. It was kind of about my snowboarding. It's called Naturally. And it was a two-year project. It was originally supposed to be just a one-year project. And we had gained funding through my sponsors for the project. And they were placing all their eggs in my basket, you know, to produce. And so there was a lot of pressure on me to produce and fulfill what I said I was going to do. And the first year of filming about halfway through, I had a shoulder dislocation and my shoulder just kept popping out. And I just, and then I got into my head and I just wasn't healthy to healthy, both physically and mentally to produce what I wanted to produce. And so we really, we only got like 20%, maybe not even, of the job done.

And I had to call it quits mid-March and go in for shoulder surgery. And it was a really in-depth surgery. I don't know if you're familiar with a Bankart surgery. It's torn labrum. Anyway, it's like a pretty much a year turnaround until you're a hundred percent. I, uh, and so I got in, I got stitched up and I got really, really focused on, I had time to kind of chill and look at the bigger picture and gain more confidence in myself while I was laid up. And,. And I ended up coming back a little sooner than a year.

I got back on my board in November or December. And that following winter, we got 80% of the film done, and it turned out to be a major success. But I think it was due to the fact that I had a really low point where I was like, oh, oh man I don't know if I'm gonna be able to produce this and pull this all off and my shoulders in a bad way my head's in a bad way but then I had time to just chill and think about everything and and get strong physically but for me more it was mentally uh preparing for the following year and we were able to pull it off and so it was

kind of like i always think of it as when i do get injured i try and take something from the injury instead of letting the injury take something from me and and so some like with this little knee scope this is so minor compared to what I had with my shoulder. But it does give me some time to look at the bigger picture and get back into the gym, get strong, get my head back on straight and take something from the injury. What you're capturing right now is when you hit adversity, you've got a model that says, okay, I'm going to learn and grow from this rather than it take from me. And what is it that you're learning right now? Let's use this small little capture injury and then let's go back to the shoulder and

let's go back to the when you broke your leg earlier. Let's see if we can do it in that order. I'm taking from it that I got a little complacent over the last couple of years. been fortunate fortunate enough to be healthy and therefore i wasn't maintaining my my body like i should have like a professional athlete should just because i was healthy you know i was getting by but i wasn't i wasn't really snowboarding i'll be totally honest, like the last couple of years, the way that I want to. Um, and I think now that I have the time to, to heal and look at everything and look at the bigger picture, see how fortunate I am to be in the position that I'm in. I think between just getting really strong in the gym and realizing that I did get complacent

and that I need to get strong both mentally and physically. That's what I'm learning now. Okay. So on the mental side, what do you do to get stronger? What are some of the activities or ways that you go about that? I try and read inspiring things. I'm not much of a reader, but I mean, with the brief little talk that we had before, you know, I've been, I have, I was doing a lot of research on Bruce Lee.

He's amazing, man. I've been reading. I got like three of his books. I can't put them down. I know. Yeah. He's unreal, man. It's so sick. Have you read? I mean, he he's unreal man it's so sick have you read i mean

he's got a lot of them but have you read artist of life no i have not yeah it's a good one and then his daughter fired up a podcast no way yeah yeah yeah so check that out as well yeah i think it's pretty good nice yeah i think i'm oh man i forget the one it's something about mastering your own body something along that title anyway um yeah so you know reading uh but uh just taking time uh doing yoga that was another thing after my shoulder surgery i got super into yoga too uh i went to i went to hawai Hawaii for a little bit to heal and got into some really good Mysore yoga classes. And above all, it just taught me to. And so, you know, I'm not much of a meditator, but I do try and take some time every morning to breathe and, and, and, uh, you know, try and find center. And then also, uh, my mom was kind of helping push me in this direction of,

uh, uh, doing some Qigong classes. She does Tai Chi and, uh, the qigong classes she does tai chi and uh the qigong is kind of like a good i'm sure you're familiar with it it's like a good warm-up in order to do your tai chi sets from how i understand and i'm just just on the tip of it i'm just starting to learn but it's really cool to do all this chi this energy work this qigong work and uh like you'll go into the class beforehand and your your hands will be all clenched and you'll be all tight and after the class the instructor always has me notice that my fingers are just limp and the energy is flowing out of my fingers and it's so cool to is this like a like a four minute set that you'll do of qigong yeah yeah the sets what do we do with him are normally like 15 to 20 minutes okay so a little bit longer yeah yeah

by the time the qigong class is done they go into tai chi and i'm just i'm not there yet for now but uh yeah it's really really cool and I want to get more into it okay alright and then what did you learn when you broke your leg at 11? I think above all I just learned about snowboarding I didn't really

think too hard about things at 11 I guess I just learned that I didn't want to i didn't want to alpine ski anymore i wanted to snowboard got it okay so that was the yeah so you you got your fire began at the moment of injury really yeah exactly okay nothing nothing against skiing you know skiing's great and all i just realized that I wanted to be on a board. Yeah. And I didn't really overthink it at that point.

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Clean, clear, no funky color distortion. Just good design, great science. And if you're ready to feel the difference for yourself, Felix Gray is offering all Finding Mastery listeners 20% off. Just head to FelixGray.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at checkout. Again, that's Felix Gray. You spell it F-E-L-I-X-G-R-A-Y.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at FelixGray.com for 20% off. Okay. Why Vermont? What, what did your parents do? What was it like growing up? Like what brought your family to Vermont? What did they do, you know, in their, in their waking moments? My parents and their parents and on my mom's side for like five generations have been in Vermont. We've always been here. Growing up, we're out in the

sticks. We don't have any neighbors. I mean, the closest neighbor is actually my uncle. He's a ways away through the woods. So it's very, very peaceful. My dad's a carpenter and my mom is an interior painter. She used to have her own business, her own nursery. And so she's really good in the garden. She'd always be cooking up fresh vegetables. We always had a big vegetable garden. And so it's just pretty holistic upbringing, very chill, very fortunate, middle-class family. And so how did your parents influence your path? What did they do? I think, above all, they supported whatever I wanted to do,

whatever my sister and I wanted to do within the budget, within their means. They'd do whatever they could like for instance i i was getting into skateboarding and my dad's a carpenter and he built me a mini ramp you know and we had the mini ramp in the backyard as from when i was 14 on and we actually just tore it down the other couple years ago but uh and then like when i was getting super into snowboarding it's my junior year and it was kind of like either really pursue this or not and uh if you're gonna pursue it you gotta be out west and my parents found a host family out in mammoth lakes the vealers and uh they allowed me to do homeschooling out West when I was 16 years old and live with this random, super nice family so that I could snowboard every day, you know,

and they found the means to make that happen and support my dreams, you know, so they've just always been super supportive. And it doesn't, I don't get this sense but i i just i don't want to make up a story in my head but i don't get the sense that they saw young jakey as like the star you know athlete and they would do whatever they could to get the the shine and the glory for them you know no yeah i don't know why i'm picking that up that that it's not that. It just feels differently. That's right. Yeah, for sure. Why is that?

Well, I think above all, they just wanted me to grasp onto something positive. And they saw that snowboarding was positive for me. It was a positive outlet. And it wasn't about winning contests or anything. They just saw how stoked it made me. And, you know, at that pivotal point for teenagers, you know, 15, 16, 17 years old, it's like, are you going to start doing drugs? Or are you going 17 years old it's like are you gonna start doing drugs or are you gonna stay clean and what are you gonna do are you gonna find a find a niche and it was like snowboarding was my niche my way to not do drugs and and stay focused you know and and so i think they just saw that it was a positive outlet and they didn't, they didn't care if I, I want anything or what they just wanted to make sure I was, had, had my head on straight.

You know, I had a similar experience with surfing is that I was so into it. I couldn't understand how all the other guys were ripping, whatever they were ripping at night. And then, um, and then like, it was like, great. I hope you guys get loaded because you're going to miss 6am, you know, when the sun is up and the glass is out in the water and it's perfect, like you're going to miss it. So I had a very similar experience with alcohol and drugs. And it sounds like, I don't know if you used or didn't use, but it sounds like you, you were more into your craft than you were into drugs definitely yeah yeah which i don't know if i think that that's not really that rare and surfing and snowboarding and there's a lot of drug use for sure there is yeah but at the same time it's like you know uh i think a lot of people that don't know action sports well especially like

for some reason i'm kind of leaning towards skateboarding like people old timers they look at the skateboarders like a skate rat doing drugs and whatnot but it's like these days it's like it's gonna be an olympic sport which is for better or worse it is and it's just something to for the kids to do to you know instead of sitting on the couch playing video games or whatnot it's like just get them outside breathing some fresh air and doing something so okay so let's try this when you were let's go 15 okay so you're living out in mammoth california yeah with the host family 15 16 in that range how would your yeah how would your closest friends describe you?

And then I want to do the same thing now and see if there's any delta between the two. So how would my closest friends describe me back then? Yes. Let's see. I don't know. I guess maybe pretty, I think the same for now, like fairly quiet and reserved until you get to know me. But I'd say, yeah, just quiet and reserved, respectful. Yeah, I'm not sure, I guess.

I haven't really thought about that. I hope that's how they think of me. I'd rather be quiet and reserved than loud and outgoing, although sometimes it pays to be outgoing, for sure. It's good to be outgoing. Would it be fair to say that back then you were hard to get to know? Yeah, probably. I would think so yeah yeah and then is that how do people describe you now let's see i think about the same i would say i mean yeah i'm not one to yeah if i like just meet you i am definitely more reserved and I'm not going to go out of my way to make a joke or something. I'd rather not say anything than if I don't have anything good to say, I just won't say anything at all.

Okay. And then with the good to say, is there a strong inner critic that is filtering what deems appropriate or good for you to say? Or like I'm just trying to get a sense of the inner experience for you. So can you talk about the inner critic? Yeah, I think I'd probably, I would overanalyze later on. I'd think about my interactions with so and so and maybe i'd over overanalyze and say well why did i say that well that was stupid i wonder what they think of me now and maybe and maybe that's the thing is i shouldn't care what people think of me but I do yeah and I don't think it's that uncommon but you know what is the upside what's the cost to that

for you the cost of what people think of me yeah or caring what they think caring about what people think I guess you're just I would think would think I'm just always being hindered. I'm spending time thinking about the past and what people think of me instead of focusing on what really matters, which is the present and what you want to do, your goals and what you want to do going forward. And then when you're in the back country, it's starting to make sense for me, right? It's because when you're in the back country and you're with a select few and a trusted few, that that filter probably lifts in some way and that critic or whatever. And then, and you get, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but then something happens because I can't imagine that you would be an ultimate critic in the back country as well

and still be one of the best in the world, but I can be flat out wrong. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. I see where you're going with this and that's totally right. And I, I'm just realizing it now. It's like when I'm, when I'm in the backcountry, it's more of a riding in the the people you're with in the backcountry. And so therefore, I do lift that filter. And I don't care so much about what I say to them, because if they have a problem with it, I'm going to see them later. And they can tell me and I can tell them how what i really meant when i said that i guess and yeah it's um a trust thing where they're like in the they're in my inner circle when we're out there and i fully trust them and respect them as opposed to someone

that i've just met. How do you build trust? Through prior situations that you've been through with those people and seeing that they pull them off, maybe similar to how you would have pulled them off or pulled them off in a respectable way. That's at least within snowboarding. That's how I gain trust is like if we get out in the backcountry and we look at a face and it's a looming convex roll with a gnarly train trap at the bottom slow it all down for me convex roll with a say it again with a terrain trap oh terrain trap yeah okay so okay so walk that walk uh the world through what that means so that's kind of like two, they're just dangerous features within the backcountry.

And so a convex roll, normally when you're on the top of a convex roll, which is like you're on the top of a mountain and the mountain has a convex roll, meaning it slowly convex rolls over into the face that you're going to ride. So therefore, you can't see any of the face that you're going to ride. So therefore, you can't see any of the face that you're going to ride. All you see is this blind roll in front of you. And then also because it's convex, normally that's kind of where the slope, it's kind of hard to explain, but the slope is unsupported because of that convex roll. And I mean, it also matters what's at the bottom of the face. But the convex roll just creates a lot of uncertainty as to where your line is going to be because you can't see it. And then if an avalanche is going to happen happen it's most likely going to happen on a convex roll

because it's unsupported and then at the bottom all the terrain trap is it's just like a big gully or uh a bunch of trees uh but mainly. If it, all that snow piles into a gully and you get pinned in that gully, and then the snow piles up on top of you in that gut, that's a terrain trap. You can, you know, be buried anywhere from six to 30 feet, you know, if the, if the gully is 30 feet 30 feet deep so you just really as opposed to the bottom of the mountain all just being open and the snow evenly dispersing out so okay when you're at the top of a pitch and you're assessing a line that you can't see from your vantage point so you can't see the convex or you can't see like many people would say i can't see from your vantage point. So you can't see the convex or you can't see,

like many people would say, I can't see over the horizon, but literally you can't see the terrain under the feet that you're about to go. How do you manage your mind and your body in those experiences? Yeah. Well, I mean, say if we're in a heli and we're heli boarding, we'll be in the heli. We'll say, oh, I want to ride that face right there. I know that I can see it's a convex roll at the top.

I got to make sure that while I'm in the heli, I've got to get a good photo of the face and make sure that I get that good photo so that when I do get dropped off on top and I can't see anything because it is that convex roll, I've at least got the picture to reassure me that there is a face below this convex roll. And hopefully sometimes, every once in a while, you can see a tree or some kind of rock feature, which you can see in your photo. And you can also just barely see the tip of the tree from where you're about to drop. And so you can say, there's that tree in my photo. I can see the tree. I need to go riders left of that. Make sure you don't go riders right because there's a cliff and you're screwed if you go that way. Stay riders left of that.

And then from there, you're looking, you're examining your photo and you're saying, okay, there's these other features. And you just got to remember and make sure that you're confident before you get dropped off. Okay, what do you do for the confidence i just make sure that before they drop me off that uh i'm 100 sure that i can ride this and i guess it's just through getting a good photo and knowing that when you are in the heli, it's like, that's when you make the decision. You don't make the decision at the top of the run. Oh, look at that. Okay. You make the decision in the heli. Okay. So confidence for you. I mean, I'm, I love what you're saying. I would often say this to folks because I found this to be true, but I can't find research

around it. You have to make up your mind. And so like with confidence, you're saying like you just make a decision. Now that decision is based on a series of calculations and historic experiences and predictions about something that is yet to come. So there is this map that we're sorting through to be able to make the decision. I can do this, or I think I can do this pretty well, or I'm pretty sure that I can manage this. It doesn't need to be absolute. And for me, at least, but maybe for you, it does need to be completely absolute. I don't know. I don't want to put words in your mouth again. But so when you're making that decision, what are the variables that you're factoring in to be able to have enough certainty before you jump out of the heli? First and foremost, I guess I just make sure

that there are very few. I don't like to be a stunt man when I'm on my board. I try and think of myself more like an artist when I'm on my board as opposed to a stunt man. And so those are some of the things that if I look at a line and there's a point in the line where death would be certain, if you were to do a wrong move there i don't do it so yeah if there's looming death i just it's like why would i risk my life for like yeah i want to be able to ride another day so that definitely that and then uh second to that i just want to make sure that i have fun on the way down and that is is what actually want to do. And I'm not doing it for anybody else, which I haven't always done for sure. But I'm trying to get better about that is just making sure that I'm going to have a good time on the way down. So yeah, just making sure I'm not going to die and then make sure that I have fun. I love the laugh at the end because you know how ridiculous it is and how wonderful it is.

All kind of mixed together, right? I love it. Okay. So how do you make the discerning decision that, okay, I'm not going to die on this one. At the same time, it's new terrain. It's the thrill of uncharted terrain, I'm sure, is wonderful for you. There's a pitch that you are looking to be able to, some speed and pitch and all that fun stuff that, for some reason, you're attracted to. Because you could get on the bunny hill, but you can't do the carve

and the turns that you want to do. So like, can you talk to me about that, that, that risk, um, assessment, if you will? Yeah, I think if I understand the correction or the question, right. It's like, um, I guess I, there's like, no, I never get that feeling anywhere else in my life as when I just get to the bottom of a gnarly run and I nailed it. And I'm so stoked that, you know, that I nailed what I wanted to do. I pulled it off. I had this vision and then I pulled it off. Hopefully the cinematographer and the photographer pulled it off and I did my job. And, but above all, it's like, it's just that, that adrenaline you get at the bottom of like fully being in the moment

you know whether it's like it's 3 000 vertical foot run you're like you're riding for a minute or so and you're just you're not thinking about bills to pay or whatever you're just thinking about staying on your feet nailing your line and just the adrenaline and it's just like nothing else i get in my life and it's definitely like that's my drug is there an addiction yeah yeah there is for sure yeah it's like i think just because i know how good it feels that i want to keep keep doing that. And I want to keep my body in shape and my head in shape so that I can keep doing my addiction. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Cozy Earth. Over the years, I've learned that recovery doesn't just happen when we sleep. It starts with how we transition and wind down.

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them out. Head to calderalab.com slash finding mastery and use the code finding mastery at checkout for 20 off your first order that's caldera lab c-a-l-d-e-r-l-a-b.com finding mastery i want to go back to the top of the of the pitch when you're at the top you've made the decision and then you look down and you say oh man this is up in the heli it seemed great And so there's that little bit of doubt. Is that, is that ever happened to you? Or I imagine it's had to have, and I'd love to know how you work that out because you've got options. Hey, start waving your hands, come back. Right. You know, I made a mistake. That's one, but there's, there's some social pressures around that, that you have to sort out. And early on in your career, that was probably tougher than it is now.

So you could wave your arms and have – or not literally. I know you got a walkie. But you could have them come back and pick you up or you can try to work your mind out in that moment when your legs are shaking, if they shake. And so can you talk to me about that moment of trepidation or when you're wondering if you miscalculated? Yeah. moment of trepidation or when you're wondering if you miscalculated yeah sometimes when you get on the face and say that the snow isn't like how you had you had uh thought it would be like on the previous face you had just ridden you know say that the snow is much worse on this face you've gotten on and you're like oh man is it going to get better further down you get or uh it feels a little punchy or or yeah sometimes you just have to fully call it and be like nope i i can't do this you gotta come and pick me up but a lot of the time on a lot of drops

it's easier for them to drop you off than it is for them to pick you up with the heli so sometimes there isn't the option to get picked back up and that's when you really need to be like a hundred percent confident but as far as like yeah working through working through it i think yeah how do i do that i guess i just try and have the confidence in myself and know that when i was assessing the line i i i made sure i did my checklist you know i'm not gonna die i'm gonna have fun i'm gonna do my job and it's kind of nice sometimes to have that doubt and say, no, I'm confident in myself. I'm going to do it. You get down and then it's almost like an even better feeling when you did have that doubt at the top, but then you worked through it and you got to the bottom and you're like,

holy, the adrenaline's even more so than if you just get dropped off and you're like oh yeah 100 i got this you know no problem yeah okay so are there some go-to sentences or statements or or practice or strategies that you use in in those moments to try to when you feel like literally you're you're over your skis yeah as far as like a mantra or anything like that, I don't really have any mantra or like, like what I, any, anything I do before I drop in, I guess I just try and clear my head and take some big, deep breaths. And that's all I really do. And just feel confident that you're going to have a good time on the way down. Um. Yeah. If that answers your question. Okay.

Yeah. Good. Okay. Good. Good. Good. All right. So what I think we're tracking down is like, how do you train and front load your mental

skills and toughness to be able to do difficult things that have real danger? And so it sounds like some of the things you're doing or practices like, you know, yoga or Qigong or breathing work. And, you know, it sounds like you have great things you're doing are practices like yoga or qigong or breathing work. And it sounds like you have great awareness of your inner dialogue. And you also are sorting out risk assessments using technology and also probably talking to other people about the scenario. And that's all leading up to be able to make clear decisions. And then once you make the decision, then the next phase is more about committing to it. And then once you commit to it, it feels like you're searching for an artistic expression rather than something just radical. Right.

Okay. So can you walk me through that artistic expression piece versus what you see some other guys do that are more like, I the language you use was more of a stunt man or woman which is like hucking right yeah so can you walk me through that a little bit i try and ride uh natural terrain uh within snowboarding and so it's pretty much just taking the mountain as it is and riding what the mountain gives you, as opposed to a lot of snowboarders and skiers, they'll go out and they'll find a nice steep landing and they'll build a jump. You know, they call it a cheese wedge. It looks like a wedge of cheese that they put right before the rollover into that steep landing. And they'll do, you know that they'll build they'll

build a jump for three or four five hours sometimes days and then they'll huck off from it into the landing and do not i mean it's not stuntman stuff it's sick stuff i like it and i've done it before i'll do it again for sure but for me like i said i try and think of myself more as like an artist out there and each face you get to you just you look at it and you just you see all these different lines down the mountain and all these things to air off from and places to do slashes and every time you every year the face feels indifferent every storm the face feels indifferent and uh and so you can just kind of take that like your creativity your creativity is your your limit you know and and there's no right or wrong way to snowboard you know if you just want to go out and and build cheese wedges and do that, that's sick, man, as long as you're having fun. But for me, it's more about getting to a new face,

a new mountain, a new location, and just seeing how you can work with kind of what mother nature has given you and, and try and have a good time and inspire others. Okay. So what has been the cost or some of the dark side of pursuing your craft? What have been the challenges that you faced? Injuries, I guess. And then for me, maybe for like my discipline and, and, you know, back country kind of freestyle natural terrain riding sometimes it's it's really difficult to make those things look look good you know it's hard to find proper airtime when you're not building a jump you're just working with what

what nature's given you and so sometimes you, there's maybe people don't appreciate what I'm, what I'm doing. Uh, if, if you don't know how hard it is to actually flow down a mountain and work with just what is given to you, as opposed to like, you know, you build a jump, you air a hundred feet and anyone's going to think that's sick, but that's just not for me. So I guess if that's a setback, you know. But, I mean, the most obvious is injuries. Yeah, and you've had them, that's for sure. Yeah, definitely had them. Let's talk about philosophy for a minute.

Is there a phrase that guides your life? I'd say, as of late, just kind of like flow like water, you know, and just be like water, kind of like Bruce Lee style. My friend, be like, be water, my friend. Yeah, be water. It's just such a classic line. Yeah, yeah. Because, I mean, it's so true. It's like it's so powerful and can carve canyons, but at the same time, it's so soft and just flows.

It's like I was even thinking of doing that for a board graphic for one of my boards for next year. It's like somehow incorporating water into it. I'm not much of a water person, you know, so it might kind of be weird, but just being like water, it's strong, but soft at the same time. I think that that's really resonated with me lately. Okay. And then is there a word or phrase that cuts to the center of what you understand most? I'd say just be kind, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I think that our world could use a lot of that, a lot more of that these days. And never has it ever done me wrong in my life. It's just being kind, you know? Sometimes it's like, it feels like you got to be a dick in order to get your way or something but

never it's never worked for me it's always just kind of worked to just be kind and try and see one of that person's side of the story whether they're you know a republican democrat liberal whatever it's like yeah you've got your your point and and I've got mine and, and that's, that's okay. Just be nice. Be kind. Was there, was there a particular moment in time when you realized that kindness was incredibly important for you? Yeah. Um, yeah, I would say when my wife, when her father unexpectedly passed away five or six years ago, just one day he was healthy in there and brilliant, awesome dude. And that will just always live on with us is how kind and smart and giving he was. And we'll never think a bad thing of him. We'll just think of how awesome he was like that

and so it's like when yes i guess when when you're yeah it's like you couldn't just not be there one day and how do you want to be remembered you know so when you are not kind to yourself the inner critic how do you sort how do you work through that? Like what, what do you do to get back to kindness? I look at the bigger picture and always try and feel grateful for the amazing life that I've been given. And, and so, yeah, when I, when I find myself in a rut, or being negative, it's like, come on, man, like, are you kidding me? Look at your life, like, look at how much you have to be fortunate for. Okay, cool. And then so that begs the question, laced in there is like you said, what you've been given? What your spiritual framework is it deity based is it non-deity based like you know what talk talk through that because what i heard like what you've

been given that there's maybe um this underlying thought that god has given you uh stuff but i i don't want to assume anything no no yeah um i i'm not religious at all. If anything, I try and I'm more and more spiritual as the years go on, for sure. But I guess if anything, I just believe in energy and, you know, and acts of forms of energy, whether it be, you know, kindness, love and anger and all that. I think that if anything, my religion is kind of, for me, it's like my spirituality is based on energy flowing in and out of all of us and around us. Okay. And then is it because mom and dad weren't, uh, didn't have a religious foundation or framework or they did and you were turned away from it? Like what, what was your relationship like early on with religion? And there's no, there's no critique.

This is all curiosity. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, um, they weren't religious at all. I've actually, uh, honestly, I've never been a church in my life um i've never i i've been in a couple churches but never for a proper sit down um and uh yeah they just they didn't put any ideas into my head other than being kind yeah yeah being nice and, and doing the best you can do.

Cool. When my son was born, my wife and I sat down, it was a number of years ago, we sat down, we said, okay, you make a list and I'll make a list. And let's see if we can come up with like the attributes that are most important to, as a parent for us to shape and to do our best, you know, to instill. And it was two words. It was kind and strong. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And so, yeah, the combination. Okay. So I want to go back to risk taking really quickly. You, you make a lot of decisions in your job that are, that involve risk. And I'm just curious, what is by far the greatest risk you've taken? It doesn't need to, it doesn't need to be on the mountain. Like it might be, but like, what is the greatest risk that you've taken it doesn't need to it doesn't need to be on the mountain like it might be but like what is the greatest risk that you've taken i guess spending time

away from my wife and uh we don't have kids yet but uh spending time away from my wife and my my family back in vermont you know that's i'd say the greatest risk is like what I noticed it a couple years ago it's like when I come back after a long winter everyone's a little bit older including myself and it's just kind of for me it's it's a little risky spending that much time away from the ones that you love when you go away and you come back, are you different? Yeah, yeah, definitely. And are they different? Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, a little bit. I notice the difference more in myself than them. But I think that, yeah, we're both different but uh as far as what i've learned on the road and and normally it's always a sense of gratefulness when i come back from a trip and being like wow like this is the life that i get to live like they're living they live great lives where i just was don't get me wrong but I don't want to live like that. I want to live like I live here in Vermont and then on the West Coast in Washington. You know, it's like, yeah.

So I think it's just feeling very fortunate a lot of the time when I get back from trips. Okay. And then, so how about this? Where does pressure come from for you? Always from myself. I've always been really hard on myself um and i think that that's helped push me to to be fairly successful but um the pressure just it comes first and foremost from myself i just always expect way too much from myself and then you know there's always pressure from sponsors and whatnot but that's really not nearly the pressure that i put

on myself too i sometimes i just work way too hard and i'm trying like i said earlier i'm trying to kind of balance that and maybe not put 110 in maybe just put 90 and and see if maybe that works out a little better so it always comes the pressure comes from me okay and how would you answer this it all comes down to being happy and being true to yourself and the ones you love and that's and just it all comes down to doing the best you can do. Okay. Success is? Success is being content and happy. It always kind of comes back to happiness.

I just want to be happy. All right. In your words, how do you think about or define or articulate mastery? To define mastery, I would say it's like flowing effortlessly and not copying anyone's style with whatever skill you're trying to master it's more just being you you know having your own style or you know back to bruce lee not not having any style at all but uh for for me it's like you're never going to be better than that person's style that's their style so you know be a master at your own style and the way that that you do it and just flow flow through it

and and then also being able to to teach you know like there's a lot of people who are so good but they don't know how to articulate like how to teach someone how to be better at whatever they want to be. So I think between just having your own unique style, your own genuine style and flowing effortlessly with that style and then being able to pass it on to someone else shows mastery to me. I knew you'd bring it. I knew you'd bring it. I knew you'd bring it, Jake. Okay. I love it. Okay.

So seriously, Jake, thank you for your time. And thank you for lending your years of operating in dangerous and risk and passionate environments that are just an know, just an amphitheater for wonderful expression of art. And your movies that you've created are phenomenal. And as well as the way you've articulated what's within you. So with that, where can people learn more about what you're up to? Let's see, you can. Well, first off, let me just say thank you, man. Thank you so much for taking the time. And yeah, I, you've really opened my eyes to a lot of my life that I didn't even know that was there. So thank you.

Cool. That's, that's fun. Yeah, that's good. Um, but, uh, let's see where I can, uh, I've got, uh, the movie Naturally on Netflix. And then otherwise, you can just Google my name or YouTube. Everything's on YouTube. All the Snowboarder Magazine movies that I've been working on lately, they're all just online, ready for viewing pleasure. Beautiful. And what's your Instagram handle?

It is jake underscore blavelt so j-a-k-e underscore b-l-a-u-v-e-l-t okay so looking forward to be uh connecting with you on social i know there's going to be lots of great questions that folks are going to have we've got a finding mastery community that we pulled together called the tribe and it's been a blast and they're switched on and they're switched on and they're supporting and challenging each other on the path of mastery so i know there's going to be a lot of questions and if you're interested in folks that are listening if you're interested in being part of that punch over to our website which is finding mastery.net and then click on the invite for community and uh trevor bar our producer will, will help get you connected there.

And then, so thank you. And for those who are new to the conversation, head over to iTunes. If you like this and you like Jake stuff, head over to iTunes, find finding mastery, head over to Facebook,

head over to Instagram for Jake and follow what he's up to. Download his movie on Netflix called naturally. And then you can find us at Finding Mastery on Instagram and on Twitter. It's at Michael Gervais, G-E-R-V-A-I-S. And Jake, wonderful. Look forward to connecting with you. And this is, it's a gift. So thank you. Thanks so much for having me, Mike. Really appreciate it. It's been a pleasure, man. Yeah. All the best. Take care been a pleasure, man. Yeah. All the best. Take care.

Take care. Bye. All right. Thank you so much for diving into another episode of Finding Mastery with us. Our team loves creating this podcast and sharing these conversations with you. We really appreciate you being part of this community. And if you're enjoying the show, the easiest no-cost way to support is to hit the subscribe or follow button wherever you're listening. Also, if you haven't already, please consider dropping us a review on Apple or Spotify. We are incredibly grateful for the support and feedback.

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