It might be summer to us but for Simon Dumont it’s already winter.
At 27-years-old, the Maine native has basically done it all in the world of skiing – X Games gold, Dew Tour gold, and sponsorships with Target and Red Bull. But one thing he hasn’t done – the Olympics.
Well that’s all about to change next year, as the Olympics committee officially added freestyle skiing to the roster and now the skier-extraordinaire is training non-stop to prepare for sport’s biggest stage. The event could be a swan song of types for Dumont, as this will likely be his only chance to represent his country and attempt to take home an Olympic medal.
We recently spoke with Dumont about the 2014 Sochi Olympics and if he’s feeling any pressure.
CraveOnline: Have long has skiing been a part of your life and how did it become part of your life?
Simon Dumont: I have been skiing since I was three-years-old and I mean I just lived really close to a mountain so it’s something I did for fun and never had any bigger aspirations other than just skiing at my local mountain. When I was 13-years-old, I went to Mammoth, California for my brother’s snowboard nationals and a lot of pro skiers, a production company called Pro Boards Productions and a guy from Oakley were there and they saw me when I was super young, gave me their cards, ended up sponsoring me and then told me about this X Games qualifier the next year. I ended up going to the X Games qualifier when I was 14 and ended up getting a spot in the X Games. The rest is history.
Crave: How does it feel to represent your country at the Sochi Olympics?
Dumont: It’s something very different for me. I’ve always been very independent. I’ve never had a coach, never really skied for anyone else besides myself and I’ve never really had to represent anyone beside myself. So, it’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders but at the same time I’m very prideful. I love our country and everything it represents. To go to the Olympics and take one home for more than just myself will be a dream come true.
Crave: Do you have any riders that you look up to or enjoy competing with?
Dumont: Yeah, I mean our community is very tight-knit. It’s different than a lot of other sports, you know with all these rivalries. We’re all rooting for each other, I mean Torin Yater-Wallace, who’s somebody who’s on the Target team with me, is someone I really like to watch and he’s a cool kid to hang out with and it’s just echoed by a lot of good relationships throughout the sport.
Crave: What are some of your favorite tricks to pull off?
Dumont: That’s a tough one. My entire halfpipe rail run and win [laughs]. That’s a pretty good trick.
I don’t know, it’s tough. It depends where I am, what I’m doing, how I’m feeling. I mean, I love skiing in powder in the back country, it’s a lot softer. And I love doing switch-fives, coming into a jump backwards, doing a 540-line forward. There’s a lot of tricks, it’s tough to really nail one down.
Crave: And how excited are you that freeskiing has been added to the Olympics lineup?
Dumont: Personally, I think it’s amazing. I mean, I’ve been doing this job for 13 years – half of my life. I feel like I’ve done every contest that freeskiing has to offer as of yet and I’ve done well at all of them. So, I mean, for the biggest venue there is, I think it’s a good way to solidify my legacy within freeskiing, it’s really huge for me.
Crave: With all the contests you’ve competed in, is there a special moment that stands out?
Dumont: Hmm. I guess, probably my first X Games win when I was 17. It was pretty big for me, just because I didn’t have any expectations. My entire career I’ve never really expected anything, or like thought this was going to happen and I was just doing what I loved and then just going out there and eventually winning without having that expectation was great and it kind of fueled me and made me realize the potential of what I really had here.
Crave: It’s still months away, but can you talk a little bit about your preparation?
Dumont: I’m in the process of coming back and getting strong from a broken ankle. It won’t be an issue, I’ve had a lot of injuries and it’s never hindered me or held me back at all, so I’m just trying to get as sharp as I can, that way when I get back on snow so I’m prepared to do what I got to do.
Crave: What are you most looking forward to out of the whole experience?
Dumont: I think the biggest thing I’m looking forward to from the Olympics is probably being out there for my last run and that I have a run I can land, putting it down, getting to the bottom and hopefully all my dreams and aspirations come true.
Crave: What’s your mindset right before a run?
Dumont: I’m not really thinking about anything besides what I need to do. I’m visualizing my run and preparing for exactly what I need to do. There’s no real ritual or anything, I just hope to lay down a big run.
Crave: Do you feel any pressure being on the biggest stage in the world?
Dumont: I mean, for sure. More pressure than that for me. I’m only looking at having one Olympics, I’m not looking to go to another one and I don’t know if I’ll compete much after the Olympics. There’s going to be a lot of pressure there but I feel like that’s when I ski my best and hopefully I can visually transfer that into something positive and get what I need out of the Olympics.
Ed is an MMA/Extreme Sports contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller, and subscribe at Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
Photo Credit: Getty
