Courtesy: Colby Graham/Instagram

By Ethan Ready

Locally Abroad

Graham taking local connections abroad ahead of World Cup run

Dec 30, 2020 | 5:19 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Just a few days after arriving at the Crosspark Reiteralm in Austria, 19-year-old Colby Graham heard word that the International Ski Federation had cancelled the Snowboard Cross World Cup he had travelled there to compete in January 14th to 16th.

The Prince George boarder admits it was a tough, but quick pill to swallow.

“We came off the hill and we heard about it. Everyone in our cabin was kind of down in the dumps, it kind of sucks. But a couple of hours go by and you feel ‘you know what, screw it’. You have to just keep going and stay focused,” explained Graham. “Tomorrow is another training day, so we’ll get another good training in and if there are no more races, then at least we’re still snowboarding.”

Born and raised in Prince George, the World Cup snowboarder has seen quick development over the years, having been a part of the provincial team and winning silver at the Canada Games in Red Deer, Alta. – using that success to crack into the North American Cup series. But Graham has remained true to his roots through it all.

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“I try to stay local as best as I can, especially with sponsors and work,” says Graham. “I try to not sway outside of the community. I want to be a local home-grown boy.”

And that sort of commitment was especially important to Graham in a year like 2020.

“In previous years before, I’ve always tried to stay as local as I can. But just the fact that in the media it was emphasized to stay local, support local, and buy from local businesses. It helped a lot personally for my outreach for new sponsors.”

Looking forward, he admits it’s tough to set long-term goals for himself due to the uncertainty surrounding the sport and its events, but he’s focusing on just embracing the experience.

“Honestly, just waking up every day and going to snowboard. This year, it’s been hard to set long-term goals. I’ve just been taking it day-by-day.”

And while he’s putting in the time on the glaciers of Austria, Graham has Beijing in the crosshairs of his radar hoping to crack to Canadian Olympic team for 2022, it’s safe to assume if he does end up achieving that, the City of Prince George will be right there with him.