Life as a 22-Year-Old North Vancouver’s Evan Bichon works towards the 2022 Olympics BRIDGET STRINGER-HOLDEN Associate News Editor JANELLE MOMOTANI Illustrator
You’re going into the jump really fast, and your jacket is flapping in the wind. Past a certain point, you can only see the jump, and the landing is nowhere in view. That’s the last point you’ll be able to pull off if you don’t think you’ll make it. Evan Bichon, a 22-year-old Snowboard Cross athlete, is currently competing in a World Cup event in Austria, where he hopes to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Having just returned from another World Cup in Italy, his results will be combined and used toward the overall World Cup rankings, which also count towards the 2022 Winter Olympic qualifications.
complicated how it all works,” he said. “But, pretty much, through competitions—if you do well—there’s a possibility to earn more spots for your country in each World Cup.” The North Vancouver transplant got his start at five years old on a hill in Mackenzie, BC. Bichon describes snowboarding on local mountains as a very different experience than competitions. “It’s a feeling of freedom like nothing else really matters when you’re riding because you’re just having fun,” he said. When he was eight years old, his mother helped found a local snowboarding club with Bill Laing, a passionate local coach, and through that, he was introduced to competitions.
“It’s pure adrenaline when I’m doing Snowboard Cross,” said Bichon. “It’s a lot of adrenaline because any second you could crash.” In Competing has allowed Bichon a chance to travel the world. Since Snowboard Cross, unlike other types of snowboarding, there’s four 2014, he’s been to over 20 countries for snowboarding competitions. people racing at a time. It consists of a track made up of rolls to gain “I’d never travelled before, outside of snowboarding,” he said. “I've speed, big turns to take a direction change, large jumps and other seen the world because of it, and I just want to reach the highest point obstacles that encourage passing opportunities. in the sport I can if possible before I finish. So I’m making one more push towards the Olympics.” The annual World Cup Tour is one of the highest levels of professional Snowboard Cross—the only two events above it are COVID-19 has produced challenges for the sport, including the World Championships and the Olympics. The World Cup acts the cancellation of regional competitions, provincialas a qualification event for the World Championships, held every two level events and North American Cup years, and as qualifying events for the Olympics, held every four years. events. “The only people in my sport who’ve Doing well on the World Cup Tour will earn spots for your country been able to in the World Championships. Bichon earned two spots for the World compete so Cup Tour—one personal spot and another from his results from far this last season, where he earned a country spot for Canada. “It’s kind of
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