Words Colin Wiseman I t’s 36 degrees and raining heavily on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. Highway 267 to Northstar has been closed all night. The lifts at Squaw Valley are on wind hold. The road to Mt. Rose is under several feet of snow. Almost two feet has fallen in the high country over the past 24 hours, close to 80 inches in the past week, along with 100 mph winds. It’s an early Feb-ruary morning, and Tahoe hasn’t seen a winter like this in a decade. “Tim coming out of the ‘barrel’ in the Squaw Valley, CA mini-pipe, circa 2016. It took a few tries to get the shot we were looking for with an assist from Levi Luggen on the deck above, but Tim didn’t mind. I think the smile on his face says it all.” Photo: Colin Wiseman Tim Eddy sits at the kitchen table in a ’90s-appointed three-story con-do in King’s Beach, CA tapping out a beat with his fingers and sipping coffee with his wife Hannah. They’re kind of a package. They both rip on a snowboard, both laugh a lot, both eat healthy and try to lead sus-tainable lives. Hannah does art. They like to build things. Along with the Eddys are K2 teammates Johnny Brady Jr., Kael Martin and Kyle Miller. It’s a relaxed-but-motivated group that has fit well into the Eddy program for the last five days. The trip began with a soggy rhythm section in the front yard at the “Chillderness”—Tim and Hannah’s small off-grid home in the hills above Truckee, which they recently sold—then progressed to storm sessions in the Mt. Rose backcountry, mini-golf off I-80 near Boreal, and West Shore laps. The weather’s been tricky, but we’ve been out the door early every morning. Making the most of what the mountains have on offer is standard for Tim. He’s just happy to be riding whatever, whenever. Over the past decade I’ve seen him send Chilean handrails, Japanese pillows, hand-dug transitions and sunbaked cat-tracks with genuine stoke. He’s never trying to one-up anyone. He’s just a talented snowboarder doing whatever seems fun in any given moment. One might wonder if Tim has been cultivating a daft image over the years. He’s been known to toss a backflip most anywhere, and maybe do it wearing a red one piece and a jester hat. The 30-year-old’s less-than-serious approach is the antithesis of traditional sports. But it’s not an act. Tim’s motivations run deeper than any career as-pirations. Yeah, he’s a goal-oriented dude. The ongoing betterment of the Chillderness, he and Hannah’s veggie-oil-powered camper rig, and their forthcoming Split The Difference book are evidence they follow through on big (and small) notions. It’s all part of a conscious pursuit of a positive mental state. “Maybe we should go up to Boreal? It’s super-windy there too, but it looks like they’ve got a lift open,” Tim says. It’s hard to argue with the eternal optimist. But first, we begin to talk story as the rain hammers down. TIM EDDY 073
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 15.2: Page 73
