Cool thing about living in the high country, some of the biggest snowboarding events in the business are only a snowballz throw away. The Safety Third Compound is close enough to Aspen to sneak into the X Games occasionally. I have been interested in helmet use and head injuries for years so I made it a point to look for anything related to head safety here at X. I still think its strange, no helmet company or any health-related industry saw the X games as a target demo. Maybe I just don’t know this audience but my Douglas Copeland given label is “Generation X”. A helmet might not be a big up sell if you have to worry about a snowmobile landing on your chest.
While I was wandering around the X Games midway, snowboarder Jake Pates was scoring a silver medal in the Superpipe Session. Jake was pulling off a trick called a “Gator Roll”, a hands down 540 on the wall that isn’t legal in most competitions. He was also blasting out of the pipe with air and hangtime like no other rider. The event this evening is new to the X Games, and Jake will be on the podium for the esteemed X Games Silver medal. His first X Game Medal is out of the way and after seeing him ride, it’s up to him if he wants another one.
Jake is on the US Olympic Snowboarding Team and competed in Pyeongchang in 2018. He has won some of the most prestigious events in snowboarding at only 22 years old. Today, he and his dad Chris are hanging out at the Safety Third compound to talk me into becoming a professional snowboarder and some stuff about brains.
Jake started Happy Healthy Brain Foundation in order to pass on concussion recovery technology to his peers and other head injury victims. Jake is passionate and knowledgeable about this endeavor, he is truly wise beyond his years. He doesn’t have time for me to go down memory lane about snowboarding just a little faster than the chasing dinosaurs.
I first got on a snowboard in 1984 and have been riding most of my life. My life has been immersed in board sports. I’m not trying to gush or fanboy out about Jake, cool kid, very smart, well mannered, a fine young man. My snowboarding experience has me sitting across the table from a US Olympic snowboarder talking about brain injuries. Mind blowing…
There isn’t much discussion about the joy of shredding, but more on catching an edge. Snowboarders and skateboarders tend to hit their heads often, due to the nature of the stance. Chris and I are close in age and probably have a bit more in common than his 22-year-old kid. Something Jake and I do share is the ears-to-shoulders cringe just hearing the words “high side”. If you fall forward you might be able to keep the money maker from bouncing off the snow. Catch a heel side edge or high side backwards, and destination…back of the head.
The 3 of us have been around snowboarding most of our lives and we got together today to discuss brains. The Pates have brought over two cool brain tools complete with flashing lights and cool sounds. I’m stoked to learn the tricks that helped them balance their shredding lifestyles and hear about the benefits of WAVI and Braintap.
The WAVI is a brain assessment tool that can measure brain energy and can be used to map brain stimulation before and after head trauma. So Jake hooks me up to the WAVI and come to find out it I’ve hit the back of my head a few times. Electrodes are attached to the scalp to measure electrical activity (if any, in my case). It shows the struggling parts of my brain as well as the parts I may use to communicate telepathically (someday). I have some reactionary tests as well as brain energy tests. Pretty cool to find out I have the brain energy of a 26-year-old until I realize maybe that’s why I never grew up?
This WAVI map of my brain will give us a baseline of where I am today, in a couple weeks we map after using the Braintap device. The Braintap is a headset that uses visual stimulation and binaural sound to help balance brain activity. Light and sound are combined in the headset to increase brain blood flow and aid in sleep, mood, cognition, stress and recovery from TBI’s. These guys mention better sleep and deep relaxation after using Braintap so I signed the waiver. The Braintap comes with hundreds of stimulations or downloads via the application used with the headset. Right now, I’m using a test group download and, like exercise, we need to give it a minute to see any brain tapping. After using Braintap, I’m hoping to be shred like Jake this winter. That could be a cool side effect.
The world’s a crazy place. I never thought I would be given the opportunity to meet such a cool father/son duo with respect to my brain. A duo that’s part of a bigger team to keep Jake blasting air bigger than you can in your dreams! Seriously, I’m going to throw up the links like a beauty queen on a cruise ship. Go watch Jake, check out his site Happy Healthy Brain Foundation. His information and work could benefit so many people, not just in snowboarding but all sports. For anyone who has hit their head.
www.happyhealthybrainfoundation.org
Comeback to find out about my results using Braintap and Wavi. Speaking Mandarin could be a rad side effect…I’m taking this seriously I swear. Sleep, rest, relaxation, focus all that is the benefit I seek but if start bending spoons with my mind, watch out.
Safety Third
