<p>If you ask me, this week’s guest Axel Pauporte is one of the most influential snowboarders of the 1990s and 2000s.</p><p>Even if you don’t know his name, you’re living in a snowboarding culture that he helped shape. Especially if you’re a European snowboarder. </p><p>To qualify this rather bold claim, it helps to remember how singular an outlier Axel truly was. </p><p>Back in the early 90s, professional snowboarders from mainland Europe were a genuine rarity. Professional snowboarders from flat Northern European countries such as the Netherlands, the UK or Belgium, where Axel was brought up? Legitimate trailblazing pioneers.</p><p>All of which makes Axel’s career path especially legendary. Here was a rider who started snowboarding late - and on dry slope to boot.</p><p>And who, by the end of a storied twenty-year career, was universally regarded as one of snowboarding’s greatest ever freeriders, and had demonstrated that European riders could lead the way in a proving ground like Alaska alongside peers such as Travis Rice, Jonaven Moore and Jeremy Jones. </p><p>And the story of how Axel made this happen is as unlikely as it is instructive. This isn’t your standard pro snowboarder origin story. </p><p>Here we have an outsider, both literally and figuratively, who was driven by a potent emotional combination: his own insecurities, a Stakhanovite work ethic, and a ferocious desire to use snowboarding a way of finding a sense of belonging. </p><p>In Axel’s case, that ultimately led him to AK, and the pursuit of risks that today make him pause and wonder, as we discussed. </p><p>As you might be gathering, this is a very honest conversation that covers belonging, identity, and the psychology and selfishness of risk; as well as the reckoning that comes to us all once the body and mind begins to fade, and other priorities take precedence.</p><p>Big thanks to Axel and my friend Dave Mailman for the help with this one. </p><p>--</p><p>This week’s codes to use for some big old savings: </p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYS</strong> for HUGE savings on ski and snowboard hire with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.intersportrent.com/en?partid=f0c73f77b60e4c86bd0cd6299682d3ff">Intersport</a> this winter.</p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10</strong> for 10% off any order from <a target="_blank" href="https://finisterre.com/">Finisterre</a> </p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYSXDB</strong> for 15% off anything from <a target="_blank" href="https://dbjourney.com/en-gb">Db</a></p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYS2025</strong> for 15% off any <a target="_blank" href="https://www.albioncycling.com/">Albion</a> purchase</p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYS</strong> for a whopping 20% off anything from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.goodrays.com/">Goodrays</a>.</p><p><strong>LOOKINGSIDEWAYS</strong> for 15% off any <a target="_blank" href="https://uk.stance.com/">Stance</a> order</p><p>--</p><p>To find out more about what I do, <a target="_blank" href="https://lookingsideways.substack.com/s/hkc-discount-club">you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here</a>. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe</a>