You know that all the guys are out there filming every single day with their crews and helpers and everything, and you’re sitting at home with no money and a fractured hip wondering how you’re going to pull this off. In between Christmas and New Year’s, I got a call from Katherine from X Games and they asked me if I wanted to pull out because they have a TV show to make and I didn’t have any shots yet. I thought I was going to do a rehab part and it would be like, first girl to be invited to X Games and she falls and hurts herself, and then she’s doing rehab and maybe getting one more shot in there. I had a big limp and was on crutches and they asked me if I wanted to pull out. Me and my friends were laughing, and I was like, “I’m never pulling out.” It became this joke. How long did you have to film once you started riding again? Three weeks. Your part got a good response from people that didn’t even know you had gotten hurt. I was so scared. I don’t usually think about what people think. I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish it. I had never felt that pressure before. I felt like, because I was the only girl that had been invited, I wanted to make women look good, not like, “Oh she fell, broke her hip, and she can’t snowboard.” I didn’t want to look like a kook. I’m glad I finished it. X Games came out, then you ended up going to Ms. Superpark and It’s Tits. I watched you go from being a rail rider to learning how to ride everything else by hiking more than anyone else in the world. You learn stuff when you hike. I love hiking and I’ll just keep doing it till I get the trick. Hiking pays off. You still work a full-time job? I work as a server at the Pony, a restaurant in Pemberton. Do you make any money off snowboarding? Barely. I could work two shifts a month at the Pony and that would be my snowboard salary. I’m not a pro snowboarder. But you should be, you’re better than everyone else. You’re an innovator, you’re beyond just some pro snowboarder. I don’t know how you do it financially, honestly. I worked a lot this summer, and this is the first year that I got help because X Games paid for the film trip. I’ve always been out of my own pocket. Usually I go into debt for filming. What are you thinking about this winter? Are you going to go psycho, just try to have fun, or both? I’m gonna do both. You look like you have fun going psycho. I need to keep learning, that’s what keeps me motivated. I just want to keep filming and keep progressing my snowboarding, whatever that looks like. I’m not good at having plans. I like to go with the flow, but I know I’ll keep snowboarding. People ask me about you a lot. There are some comments that are kind of shocking to me about what’s cool and what’s not cool for moms to do. For ex-ample, “How does she take those risks when she has a child? That’s so selfish.” People can have their opinion. I don’t judge other people for who they are and what they choose to do, that’s up to them. And I think that’s up to me, too. Snowboarding, and progressing women’s snowboarding, is a big motive of my life. I wouldn’t stop doing that because I’m a mom. I want to show Tao to follow his passion, whatever it is. I can’t live my life in fear. I just need to do what I need to do to be me. MARIA THOMSEN 067
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.2: Page 67
