An Ice-Crystal in the Rough

Photo by Ian Ospina

A 19-year-old pizza-cook from Clear Creek County plans to use his love, history, commitment and dedication for snowboarding to set himself apart from the masses of aspiring snowboarders that inhabit Colorado. He hopes to become a professional snowboarder as a career.

Trickin' it Out

Leo Voisard sets his goals high for his future as a snowboarder. He said that his goal is to progress the sport further than it has ever gone. “I also want to become pro to prove all the haters wrong because I’ve been told so many times I was never gonna make it,” he said.

Voisard loves to ride in Loveland Ski Area’s park. He rides rails, spins off of jumps and forces the other visitors of the resort to eat his snow as he travels past them at borderline-alarming speeds. His favorite trick to nail is a double under flip 1080, which he can now land with grace and ease.

           

Learning a new trick poses a great risk, which is something that Voisard has learned in the past. He has suffered several injuries as a result of snowboarding. He said that the worst injury that he has gotten was a ruptured spleen and kidney. He has also broken his nose and received reconstructive surgery on his face. This is why, he said, snowboarding is a sport only for the truly dedicated and brave people who are willing to risk their health to do what they love to do. He said that you can’t learn how to do a trick until you know how not to do the trick. He learned this the hard way.

Snowboarding as a Lifestyle

Snowboarding is more than just a hobby for Voisard. It is also a refuge from the world. “I like the freedom of it to go anywhere you want and do anything you want. It’s also an escape from reality for me. When I’m on my snowboard nothing else matters,” he said.

Leo Voisard by Jon Paciaroni

Voisard has lived in Clear Creek for his entire life, and started pursuing snowboarding at the age of four. As a young child, he watched snowboarding videos with his family. He said that from the moment he first saw one, he knew that he wanted to “grow up to be a snowboarder.” Now, in his 15^th winter as a “shredder,” he has managed to gain sponsorship from two companies. He has been sponsored by Tranzaxion Snowboards for two years and by Kalvery Clothing for one.

                       

Voisard said that he snowboards at Loveland Ski Area more often than any other ski resort because it is the closest to home, but his favorite resort is Keystone. He recently competed in a park competition called “Tall T’s and Tacos” on March 26, 2011 at Loveland.

           
Leo: Off the Slopes

As much as Voisard would like to snowboard for a living, he is still working his way to the top. Between “shred sessions,” he works at Beau Jo’s Pizza, a popular restaurant in Idaho Springs that attracts many tourists during the winter months. He has been employed as a cook for three years. Voisard’s charismatic and social attitude makes the casual restaurant a great place for him to work. He said that he loves his co-workers and enjoys interacting with them. However, he hates closing time because there is so much work to do.

           

On the rare occasion that Voisard finds free time, he maintains a strong social life among his fellow snowboarders. He said that even though he has a reputation as a heartbreaker and flirt, he has found a girl who he is willing to fight for and dedicate himself to. “She’s a shredder too,” he said with a quirky grin.