As a kid, some of the biggest influences on the development of my skiing and mountain biking skills were some of my cousins. Particularly, my neighbour as a kid and now my neighbour in Roberts Creek, Mark. He always told us that if we didn’t fall or crash, then we weren’t trying hard enough. He was right, especially on snow. As you progress in a sport, the only way to continue pushing your levels is by pushing the size, speed, or gnar factor of everything you are riding. In turn, as you push these limits, you will go down. I try not to crash that often anymore because it now takes longer to recover from injuries, and the consequences of crashing are much bigger now than when I was 10 years old.

The last couple of days I have been reminded of how important crashing is in order to keep myself alert and aware of my current limits. In an action sport, if you push yourself, you will crash. The hope is that when you crash, you are mentally prepared for the outcome and you know how to crash safely. Last Saturday I was ripping Blackcomb on a fun day with my bro and cousin. All 3 of us managed to hit a knoll at mach speed only to realize in the air that the tranny was way behind us. Flat landings suck, and this was the biggest to total flat that I have participated in. Surprisingly though, because I prepared myself in the air for the flat landing and the impact that compressed my body like an accordian, everything was fun. A sore neck and tight back, but nothing major. The next day I was back on the Sunshine Coast. Curtis and Dylan from the Coastal Crew have been building a super fun and flowy trail, and it was time to hit the first part of it. A big drop into a loamy landing and then a creek gap were on order. This kind of stuff scares the crap out of me and I was not too keen on hitting it on the first run. Fortunately, for the sake of my riding progression, riding with Dyl and Curt just builds confidence. These guys are so damn smooth and provide so much positive energy, that usually their presence allows me to step up my game. As I hit the drop i went too big, landed too low down the tranny and I bounced off my bike and into the loam. Again, I was prepared for the crash if it were to happen and I knew which trees were potentially bad news. All was good, and for sure I’ll continue to hit it until i nail it. Moral of the story, when you are pushing your limits, be smart and mentally prepared for what you and your body will do if something goes wrong, but know that you can make it. Hopefully if you go down, it will only mean a few scrapes and bruises and nothing stopping you from hiking back up hill to hit it again.

Dave Teichrob going down at Crystal Mountain, WA