Tuck Grahm, the skier from Steamboat, Colorado, shares his dream, the achievement of a profound desire, living freely from skiing. Tuck reviews his ski trajectory and the infinite possibilities for the ones who are ready to put their energy, patience and dedication to it.
The past six years I have been living my dream. I cannot imagine a better way to go through life than being surrounded by your friends in some of the most beautiful places in the world.
Tuck Graham
Although this was not the case sometime before hand. I had made a big decision at the age of 18, to not take a full ride scholarship to any university I could get into. To some it was a mistake that only a arrogant 18 year old could make and one that would have taken me down a road that to this day, I had questioned myself for years if I made the right decision.
The three years following high school, I was competing on the Freeride World Qualifier circuit in the states, competing with the best kids in the country. I landed a few good results along the way and started to network and getting some gear and exposure. At that time I was also working as a Night Janitor at the resort in town, working from 3pm till the early morning hours. Which gave me the opportunity to ski all day. Now this was not the glamorous life I had dreamed of when I made the decision to ski. Between scrubbing toilets, wiping vomit, cleaning up after late night college parties and returning home in the early hours of morning. I was in some way still living my dream life, skiing all day everyday.
Tuck Graham
This was giving me an opportunity to really be the best skier possible. I was in an environment that would help me train and work on all things skiing related and for 150 plus days. In line at the Gondola at 7am and skiing till 3pm most days, building jumps, touring around the side country and ripping groomers for 3 years and it was amazing. I didn’t have my head buried in a book, studying for finals, or worrying about my social status at school. Though I did start to feel a little depressed as I did think that maybe I made the wrong decision.
My friends were going out with girls, attending parties filled with unknown kids, an unlimited amount of alcohol and living a life that was new and exciting. While working towards a degree that would hopefully land them a great job right out of school. I missed out on that and that hit me, I envied the life they lived. While I was still in my hometown chasing after a dream of being a professional skier. I would stay up for a few days straight thinking that I fucked up and made the wrong decision and started to regret it. I drove myself a little crazy brainstorming what I could do to make sure I was going to be successful in my mind. As I didn’t want to be a ski bum, I wanted to be more and the best.
Tuck Graham
This was also when social media had started to become a big thing and was something that if you weren’t on it, you weren’t cool. I had started to take content more seriously, working on the quality, getting out local photographers, branding myself and making myself known in the community, that this is me and this is what I do. I reached out to brands and was honest with what I wanted to do and why I would be a good asset to them. I started to feel more alive and normal again. I was taking ideas in my head and bringing them to life with some cool people around me who wanted to be apart of it and help me. Things started to come together, I was becoming more known around the industry and started to make connections that changed everything. And I owe a lot of this to social media in a way as it pushed me to be creative.
Tuck Graham
I focused solely on producing content and really bringing out all my talents. By downloading a free app with over 700 million monthly users and not having to invest in contest entry fees, hotels, and travel for a single run. I was able to reach people all across the world, ski the lines I wanted, build the jumps I wanted and marketing it how I wanted people to see me. It was eye opening and gave me the drive to go out and ski for something more and an opportunity to be more than a ski bum. Maybe I could help show kids that school is not for everyone, that its not guaranteed to make you happy or successful. Rather doing whatever is necessary to live your dreams.
Tuck Graham
We live in a world nowadays where you can work from your computer anywhere in the world. Weather it be posting photos on instagram, writing codes or giving helpful advice to maybe some of you that have visited the Blackcrows website and chatted with me. It opened up doors for me to be able to give more time to my dream, less time at an 9-5 job.
It takes time and patience and the reassurance that everything is going to work out in ways you would never imagine. I never would’ve thought that I would be staying with one of my idols, Julien Regnier and having the best latte of my life in his home. I have been living my dream and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.
