Birk Ruud

Birk Ruud, also our founder, is one of the most successful male athletes in freeski history. With 2x Olympic gold, 3x X Games gold, and 17 World Cup wins, he shares why he believes he's had this success for the past 10 years:

Write it down

"Being a competitive athlete for over 10 years, I've learned a lot about myself along the way. If I had to share one secret behind my achievements, it's simple: I write down my dreams, and they become goals. I wrote my first goals when I was 13, inspired by my father telling me to try this method. That first winter went by, and when I looked back at the list, I'd achieved every single one.

What I learned since then is that if you write down goals and don't achieve some of them, it doesn't mean you've failed. It only means that either it wasn't right for you at the time, or maybe it isn't what you truly want.

What actually matters

Without all the experience of what it feels like to win when that's all you want, and without going through a period of chasing materialistic things that don't actually make you happy, I wouldn't have arrived at where I am now. I'm not saying you should skip that part; you can't just skip it. You have to go through it. After experiencing it all, I've come to realize what actually matters: how I can sustain this, as well as I can, for as long as I can. I need to keep my mind in the progression of getting better, because that's where the real happiness lies: in the journey of becoming better, not in the results. But that's only easy to say once you've already had all the results.

Control what you can

There's a lot of work behind a career like this, but I think my latest mindset is something strong and different: for every competition or goal, my focus is only on what I can control: my skiing. So whether I win or come last, as long as I do my very best and land the tricks and runs I set out to do, I'm happy. That means trying to stay untouched by the emotions that come with winning or losing.

Another decade

When I get there, my motivation comes from the process itself: becoming the best athlete I can be. That's the only thing that matters. I think that's what will keep me motivated, and successful, for another decade."

The rest of the crew

Birk rides with the BUSI crew, skiers and snowboarders who ride, test and wear the gear all winter.