We know that all of our Athletes are out making the most of every situation they are faced with. We take a lot of pride and fulfillment in seeing an Athlete that we have supported return to the sports they love most following a life-changing injury. Part of being a High Fives Athlete is finding new ways to follow your dreams.
Tyler Turner lost both his legs below the knee in an unfortunate skydiving accident three years ago. He was then in a spot that nobody can plan to be. Tyler had to decide that this wasn’t the end of his life. He was still going to do the things he wanted to. He put all his effort into his rehabilitation to return to the sports that he loved most.
After some hard work, Tyler began to regain more independence. He was at a point where he could live his life again with prosthetics. But something was missing.
He needed to show the world that he was back and that he could still shred.
He did this in a big way! Shortly after his accident, he was able to get back in and then out of a plane for some skydiving. He also began to surf, ride bikes, and snowboard again!
Most recently, he set his sights on Snowboarding and the dreams of competing on the biggest stage for an Athlete, the Paralympics!
Tyler spent the summer honing in his fitness and balance. Once winter hit, he put all of his attention and focus into snowboarding
Tyler was invited to compete in his first world cup in Italy within his first year of competing with the Canadian Para Snowboarding team. Tyler kept his expectations low and was planning on using the event as a learning experience, but of course, he had it in the back of his mind that he would like to place as high as possible.
We are very proud to say that all of Tyler’s hard work ended up paying off.
The event in Italy had two separate races over two days. On the first day, Tyler qualified in first place but, after a mistake in the semi-finals, finished 7th.
This fueled the fire; seeing that he was ready to compete against the best para snowboarders gave him confidence in his abilities. Tyler made a new plan for day 2- Avoid mistakes, focus on each moment, make it to the finals and have some fun in the process.
Being comfortable with the course paid off, and Tyler went straight to the one-run qualification, where he took the third qualification spot. The rest of the race was a lot of pressure management and race strategy. Tyler set smaller goals for each race. The first was to make it into the top four. Once he completed that, it was all fun. He had exceeded expectations. Everything from there on out was a bonus.
That attitude paid off huge and Tyler Turner ended up walking away with first place in his debut World Cup event.
To keep up with Tyler and his adventures, be sure to follow him on Instagram here.
I can’t thank High Fives enough for supporting me in my pursuit of the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing. They have made it possible to train at the highest possible level and achieve a first place finish in the final event of the season, the para snowboard World Cup.
Getting to travel to the World Cup of para snowboarding was an incredible opportunity to test myself against the best in the world. After a season of training and no competition due to covid it was awesome to see where I matched up. I was lucky enough everything to line up on day two of competition and take home a first place finish
High Fives Athlete # 313, Tyler Turner
Keith Gabel claims back to back gold!
High Fives had two incredible Athletes representing us for this world cup. Para Snowboard superstar Keith Gabel was also there competing. Keith is a veteran on the scene and was able to win both of his races in the SB-LL2 category.
Follow Keith on Instagram here
Congrats Keith and Tyler, High Fives is incredibly proud of you!
