Jake Vedder never let the lack of mountains in his hometown stop him from pursuing snowboarding greatness.
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The 27-year-old from Pinckney, Michigan, is a professional snowboarder who made his Olympic debut in 2022. Now he's preparing for qualifiers in China this month that could secure his spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
"I've been so committed at this dream since I was 13 that it's been every single day, eat, sleep, breathe, waiting for the moment to become an Olympian," Vedder said.
Vedder's journey began at age 5 when he received a snowboard for Christmas. Growing up in a state without major ski resorts, his path to professional snowboarding was far from conventional.
"For sure, I wasn't expected to be where I'm at from, again, coming from where I'm from," Vedder said. "I remember having a teacher in school who I'm like, 'I want to be a professional snowboarder.' And it's like, 'oh, that's not really a thing.'"
The turning point came when Vedder won the Youth Olympics, proving his small-town origins wouldn't limit his potential.
"I remember telling one of our big bosses on our team, I'm a dog. Like, I'm ready to fight. Like, I have that grit, that Metro Detroit grit mentality," Vedder said.
His training regimen focuses heavily on injury prevention, recognizing the dangerous nature of his sport.
"A lot of my stuff in the offseason is building up my strength, but really it's a lot of injury prevention. Like, my sport is super dangerous. You could have some guy cut you off, and you could be flying upside down over a 100-foot jump," Vedder said.
Competing as an individual athlete against the world's top 100 snowboarders every weekend means facing frequent setbacks. Vedder has learned to embrace the challenge.
"You're going to have bad days. You're not going to win. You're going to have way more losses than you are going to have wins. So like, understand that, but just know that like, when you have those wins, you're climbing 10 steps up the ladder," Vedder said.
His advice extends beyond sports to all aspects of life.
"Everyone always wants to talk about sports, but business, life, relationships, if you commit to it fully, it's all going to work out exactly how you want it to work out," Vedder said.
As he prepares for the crucial qualifiers, Vedder credits his parents as his biggest supporters.
"The amount of sacrifice they've made for me and to believe, again, believing in this dream of where we're from, a spot with no mountains and no one's really done it in our area, their support is unmatched for sure," Vedder said.
With his sights set on Italy 2026, Vedder remains confident in his abilities.
"I'm ready to just go out there and perform my best. Like, I perform my best when I'm just level-headed and feeling good. I'm dangerous right now," Vedder said.
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