Hey kids, it’s time for another Countdown To Raceday blog, this time from Kimberley, Canada. I have raced here for the first time last year and it has since then become my definitely favorite venue on the NorAm circuit, maybe even World circuit. Another reason why I love it so much is the fact that it’s a speed week, consisting of 4 downhill training runs over the span of 2 days, followed by 2 downhill races and 2 Super-G races. While the course is not especially difficult, it is neither especially easy and the speeds of top sitskiers easily reach 90 kilometers per hour. Flying down the hill with that kind of speed, scaring yourself $h!tless every time is an insane amount of fun – at least for anybody as crazy as we are.

I joined the NSCD team in Winter Park for what were meant to be 4 Super-G training days – my first and only ones this season – but the nature doesn’t read coaching plans, so 2 of the trainings got cancelled as Winter Park was getting 10-15 centimeters of powder every day. We left Winter Park on Sunday, driving the van down to Denver. My bad luck that keeps hitting me on the head all season struck again and I have been the first casualty of a stomach virus, that got many of us glued to toilet seats for that night. I was basically ready to stay in Denver, not knowing whether I can travel for that long without another stomach virus incident, but the boys convinced me to come with them anyway. Corey’s pills saved most of my problems and off we flew to Spokane (Washington), rented a car and a cargo van and drove to Kimberley, Canada. It was a fun ride that overrode the feelings of being tired from the travels.

The first day definitely didn’t go as planned for me as my ski bindings kept releasing on a hole in the course that formed up at Gate 2. Twice, I had to get help from the course workers to put my ski back in and get me back on course. I didn’t feel very good as I was constantly pulling off some rookie mistakes, like keeping the ski flat instead of on edge between gates, which makes it feel slightly out of control all the time. Also, since my recorded times included the time it took to get me back to the binding, I had no idea how I’m ranked in the pack.

Sadly, the 2nd day wasn’t any better. My ski released again by the hole at Gate 2 and frustrated to the point of quitting, I was ready to skip training run number 4 altogether. As Scott convinced me to give it another try, we turned the stiffness of the sitski shock up to help with the issue. Also, NSCD program director Eric asked Scott to change my skis with the skis of a teammate. I was skeptical about the idea, as my binding was releasing when pinned (meaning, there was a plastic block in the back to prevent the release), and the new binding wasn’t pinned at all. But as an athlete, I tend to listen to the coaches even when I don’t fully agree with them, so I went with it. Gate 2 came again, my line was good this time around, but the back of my binding released again and I landed the ski and broke it. As the Australian coach Steve was picking me up, he looked at me and said: “Man, you’re having zero fun, huh?” I had to say, despite looking forward to Kimberley all year long, this was frustrating beyond belief.

After the day was over I spoke with the coaches, and we have come to an agreement that it is better for me to skip the downhill races, go freeski and concentrate on both Super-G races. It was a difficult decision for me, but it has proved to be a good one. I got up a little later then usual and freeskied some Super-G turns, keeping my focus on leveling the shoulders, good upper and lower body separation and keeping the vision down the hill. It was a great day, and I felt really good about figuring out something new about my skiing once again.

2 Super-G races tomorrow. We will try to attach metal wings to the side of the footplate, just to be 200% sure the footplate stays in the binding. Let’s hope my bad luck will be sound asleep this time around…

Long time ago, before I became a semi-professional adaptive ski racer – meaning I train full time halfway across the globe & make zero money doing it – I decided on one thing: when it stops being fun, I’m done with ski racing or any other sport for that matter. It may seem like something a quitter would say, but for me it holds a very important truth: you should get out of a sport before it ruins the image you have made about it through the years of dedication and hard work.

The reality of it is – it may come as a shock to you – that I have flirted with retirement many many times this season. The reason for it is my life has changed a lot this summer. For many years, skiing was often the highlight of my life (especially after high school, when my academic achievements went south) and the only thing keeping me on the verge of sanity and away from some serious depression issues that I had. But this summer changed it all or to be exact, N. changed it all. Ski racing lost a spot or two on the “Most Important Things Of My Life” scale. All my ideas about getting out of Slovenia and finding a way to be a full time ski bum for life in Winter Park suddenly disappeared. My lifetime dreams of creating a family – currently just a “2-person-and-a-dog” family, but a family nevertheless – that I have left behind in some dark corner of my brain until Mrs. Right shows up, have suddenly reappeared. And what is more, N. was pursuing it with the same passion and enthusiasm as me. The logical consequence – I wanted out. Now!

There were many reasons why not call it just yet. For the first time in my life, both my personal and athlete part of my life were perfect. I have just started working with Kurt Smitz, a coach I have always had the most respect for. I spent a lot of money on a new sitski, the best so far. N. often reminded me of how much skiing means to me and is a part of me. “Just read what you wrote about it on your website” she said. And then there was the scary part – the question: “What if I’m pulling the plug on the edge of glory – just a season or two away from what I hoped to achieve as a ski racer?”.

There was however a problem – all the reasons were about other people and other things. While my body could still take the physical pressure, my mind was out of the game. Growing up, I was never the competitive guy and what is even more important, that never changed. For me, skiing is the sport that puts me out of the wheelchair and makes me able to compete with the able-bodied athletes, test my own limits and boundaries. While I have always loved to train, but racing was usually pure disappointment. Every time for every race, I had to build up my self-esteem to pull off the best I can and then the single glance at the clock shattered it completely. And then, I had to forget about it and do it again the next day.

Spending the time with me in Europe, Kurt realized how far away from being in the game mentally I was. There were moments when I was torn between the mindset of a professional athlete, willing to do anything to get better and the family man in me. And that is never a fair fight, because for me family is above anything and everything. I guess I should have seen it coming, but Kurt did – much more clearly then I did at least. We sat down for coffee and talked about it. We shook hands and we remain in good relations. More importantly, we remain friends we were when we started planing the Team Jakič Assault at Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics.

As so many times in my life, I see the amazing clarity of the situation when the world around me starts to shatter. I realized how much fun I have skiing and how for me, skiing was never ski racing. Skiing is not a sport, it is a way of life and in my life, I want to be a skier. I want to ski the perfectly groomed slopes early in the morning. I want to train in the gates until I can achieve that one perfect run. I want to race downhill and Super-G, even if I’m not good at it, just because it is fun. But I also want to see how fast a sitski can go. I want to ski in deep powder with my friends. I want to hang around the snowboard park and try hitting jumps with a sitski. I want to race sitskiers cross, just to see how it feels. I want to get up late and show up at the ski resort well after the opening hour. I want to just go ski for 2 runs instead of 10.

So, from now on I plan on skiing like Bode Miller – even if my bib number is extremely high, even if the clock says I ski like $h!t – and sadly it often does exactly that – I will ski for myself. I will not ski for points, I will not ski for medals, I will not ski for trying to beat the best. I will ski because it is fun and it is all coming to an end. Maybe my last season is in 2014, maybe it’s this one. Maybe this is my last Winter Park tour, training and racing as a part of NSCD. As of tomorrow, points and rankings can kiss my sexy Paralympic butt (don’t laugh – ask N., she’ll tell you it’s true), because having fun is all it’s in it for me.

One day – maybe soon, maybe not – I plan on waving ski racing goodbye with a raised up head and with a smile on my face. And after I roll out of ski racing, I will be the skier I always was and always wanted to be.

It has been a busy end of January. Between family time, college time, business meetings, coffee meetings, sitski presentation at a primary school where my nephew-to-be goes to school and Slovene sitski camp organisation, there was hardly time for blogging at Team Jakič. Let’s review what was going on, one topic at the time.

When I got back from Sestriere, my sitski settings were finally feeling perfect. Me and Kurt were on the first step of the season and I was eager to get to the next one. But I had to pay my annual dues first – I got sick for the first time this season and had to cancel the EuropaCup races in Abtenau. Kurt flew back over the pond and I spent some time with N. who got sick after I did. We were feeling like a family, a feeling I often miss being away.

I found some time for college in the last week. It wasn’t enough of course, but every minute I manage to squeeze into my schedule during ski season is a small victory for me. I also found new motivation for studying, since my mom and N. are exceptionally happy when my college work is taking place. I’ll be thinking about that a lot this summer, when important exams come my way and I’ll have to sit on my ass for weeks and grind my way through the college literature.

Since me and N. are more and more serious about our relationship, I’m also trying to find a way to make some money and plan for the future. I’m kick-starting my web design business once again as it has mostly been used for my own projects lately. I started working with some great people and it feels fun again.

I also started serious planning on “Project X”, an extreme sitskiing project we will do in cooperation with Slovenia Ski Federation in March. I cannot yet share any details on it, but I will be able to tell you all about it in the next 2 weeks or so. At first, Project X was supposed to be a working title name for it, but it has grown on me lately and I decided I will keep it. I made some brief conversations with Luka Stanovnik, a friend from high school, who has since made a very successful movie making career as the CEO of a small, but very creative company called Bright Visuals and they will take over the filming of the little piece around Project X and some other extreme sitskiing things I plan on doing. I’m also talking to my friend Rok Grilec – Buc, also known as the “Slovene Rich Eisen” as he is the lead expert commentator for NFL, NCAA football and a sports journalist, who long time ago expressed the wish to tell my story. We will probably be co-directing the piece together. Working with your friends is always even more fun then working with some random enthusiastic people.

I also managed to pull off one of the biggest single Paralympic sport presentations on a primary school in Ljubljana. N.’s sister and my sister-in-law-to-be Artea has 2 of her 3 children enrolled there and it was a big wish of my youngest nephew-to-be, Filip, who is currently 7 years old, for me to come and give a presentation about sitskiing to his class. As we were planning the presentation, it dawned on me, that it is also the school where my aunt’s husband’s dad is the headmaster. It is a crazy small World sometimes or at least a crazy small country. Anyway, Filip’s class of 19 kids first became 2 classes of 19, but on the day of the presentation another class decided to join in, so a group of 60 kids total at the end. Thank God I brought my whole pack of my newly printed Team Jakič autograph cards, so every kid got one to take home with him. A couple of days later, I also received a really cool envelope with drawings the kids in Filip’s class made, which really made my day! Thanks again kids, you were great!

Organizing Slovene sitski camp was crazy this year. We couldn’t find anybody to lend some sitskis for the people doing their first steps into the world of sitskiing. Therefore we had to cut it down to sitskiers with their own equipment, which was a bit of a blow. There aren’t many sitskiers in Slovenia and every sitskier counts for us. In the end we decided to cut the classes and do more of a “skiing together, having fun” event. It ended with a mini race, which I won for the 3rd year in a row, which was expected of me, but nevertheless good for my confidence level, which ran pretty low lately. Also, technique-wise it wasn’t perfect, but it was solid. About damn time!

We were supposed to have another race on the same slope, Slovene National Championships in giant slalom, 2 days later, but extremely bad weather forecast made the organizers change the date. It was a bummer really, because I may have to skip Nationals for the first time ever, but it is the nature of the outdoor sports and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You cannot fight nature and its forces.

And here we are – over the Pond again. I start my journey again, from Ljubljana through Frankfurt (Germany) and Chicago (Illinois, USA) to my final destination, Denver and then to Winter Park. The mood upon departure is much different then it was beginning of the season, where I couldn’t really decide whether leaving was a good idea or not, having just gotten into a brand new relationship with N. Not only it was good that I did go, but our bond has gotten much stronger through the experience and I’m curious what my USA stay will bring us this time. Also, it will be fun to race in Kimberley again and after that in Park City, where I have managed to pull out a silver medal finish last year. 30 days will pass by pretty fast this time and before I know, I’ll be back.

But until then, we have some unfinished business left to do …

Those girls and guys who have ever done it,know what I’m talking about: dating a ski racer,that’s a unique beast. Personal holidays, national holidays, anniversaries that might mean everything to you (and sometimes us as well) are there to be forgotten when our head should be “in the game”. We’re constantly away or traveling somewhere. When we’re home,we just came to repack (again). When you see us, it’s mostly Skype or some other form of video chat. You say: “Take care of yourself” and all you’ll get is: “I’ll try.” – at least that’s what N. gets every time – try, but never promise, because you can’t control everything in ski racing.

Yet, when we have the head in the relationship game, buckle up! It will mostly be the ride of your life and hopefully the last ride down the “singles lane” you’ll ever take. Yes, we’re funny, happy, down to Earth, shut up and grind kind of hard working party loving people. Did I mention sexy? Well, we’re that too – most people at least.

What is the reason I will never know: the way we were brought up, the way we lived and still live, the experiences we have taught the hard way – I through my stroke and N. through her car accident, the way I constantly try to push the limits of my body, my life on a very literal edge of my skis or my extraordinary talent for inflicting injury upon my body … Whatever it may be, our relationship has been going fast ever since we started dating. “When you date a ski racer, everything goes fast!” I always say, but the speed of this one surprises me still.

By no means it is a schedule of what you would call a normal relationship. In 6 months we have been together, we have talked about and done things people don’t do after 6 years, maybe even never. We have gotten to know each other better then most people through hours and hours of phone calls, e-mails and Skype calls. We have told each other things that we only let a few closest in our families know. We laughed together and if there was a reason to cry together,we would. We have made split-second life-changing decisions. We have dreamed together, given interviews, done photoshoots – not for our own promotion, but to tell people they can dream too, no matter what.

Often when people see us, they wonder: “What’s the rush? Where are these two going so fast?” I don’t know what N. would say to that, but I know what I would. I have learned the hard way, life takes one blink of an eye to change, Viktor taught me that when he died at 19. One mistake and you’re gone. Ask the family and friends of Sarah Burke, 29-year old freeskier, X-Games winner and Olympic Champion, who died in Park City, Utah this week. Ask the family and friends of any freeskier, climber, ski racer, race car driver, scuba diver, rescue swimmer… You never know what will happen tomorrow, so take your chances today and don’t ever regret you didn’t.

The last 6 months, I have been going as fast as I have ever gone and it feels great. It is like my life is doing its own downhill race. But just like in downhill, not only do you have to be fast, but you also have to be doing everything right and it is even more so in life and relationships. We make sure we do every single thing right, because this is not ski racing, there is no next season and there is no next time.

In the last 6 months, I feel like I’m skiing 100 miles per hour heading into a big and gnarly jump I can’t see the bottom of. But I’m 100% certain the direction we’re taking is the right one. And that’s all I need to know.

There should be a Race Report from Sestriere here,but once again there is nothing to really blog about. In my 5 race starts, I have finished my races DFL (Dead F*cking Last) twice, DNF’d (Did Not Finish) twice and had an OK 2nd run at the IPCAS race. In my 5 days of ski racing, we have changed the sitski settings more then I can remember and have now found what seems like a favorable setup of the seat and shock for tech. Freeskiing looks good – better then ever even, but when I see gates… Well, let’s just say old dogs don’t learn new tricks very easily.

Sestriere was supposed to be a stepping stone for us, one brick in the process of building a pretty neat house in time for late February and early March races. The cards seem to run some pretty rough odds for us this year. We had to cancel training again as I was feeling sick and during the day, things just got worse, so instead of going to the races in Abtenau, Austria this weekend, I’ll be at home, sitting on my ass, watching Women’s World Cup from Kranjska Gora and Men’s World Cup Downhill from Kitzbühel, trying to get healthy.

Also, I somehow managed to run my right foot over with my wheelchair and I now have a pretty gnarly feeling something is broken. You see, being in a wheelchair, you don’t really take your feet as something worth anything really, but I guess if what I feel is true and this takes me off skis for some time… Jesus, would that piss me off.

Well, things in my personal life are running well and you can’t really ask for much more then that now, can you? Hopefully it is, just like I think it is, all done as a part of a bigger plan, higher purpose and yin-yang balance of the Universe.

The dream is still there, but the patience is slowly wearing thin. Building up your self-esteem and concentration, just to hit one letdown after the other, is not my favorite part of this sport.

And here I was, trying to be all Zen about this $h!t…

Another set of races are coming up in our Team Jakič calendar, this time on European soil. We will be traveling to Sestriere, Italy by car tomorow for a set of 5 races – 2 EuropaCup giant slaloms followed by 2 EuropaCup slaloms and another IPCAS Level 1 giant slalom. This will make my 2nd time racing in Sestriere, the 1st being 2006 Winter Paralympic Games and the 2nd being last year’s IPC Alpine World Championships. The organizers have decided not to use the Paralympic hill in Borghatta this time, but the Olympic slalom hill closer to the main village, which I also know very well as we trained there for 2 weeks with Croatian Paralympic Ski Team during the 2006 Paralympics. The pitch has consistency to it and racing there should be fun.

My coach Kurt has flown in from Denver on the 5th of January and we took off to Flattach, village at the foot of Mölltal Glacier straight from J.P. Airport for 3 days training with Croatian Paralympic Ski Team. The first day, the nature wasn’t too good to us and while the glacier was closed, we decided to try the nearby ski area of Innerkrems. No luck there either as the snow was even deeper there then in Flattach and the chairlift was closed due to high winds. We grabbed some coffee and returned to the hotel. The second day, the plan was to go to Mölltal Glacier and freeski, but once again high winds denied us access. Instead, we have picked to go ski at Lienz, a Women’s World Cup venue and this time we have made the right call. We had a good day freeskiing with constantly getting in and out of the sitski for numerous adjustments. At the end of the day, we have gotten a pretty good grasp of things and I could feel confidence returning to my skiing, a feeling I have been missing a lot in the last couple of weeks. Day 3, we have returned to Lienz yet again for another freeski session. Things came together once again and my turn looks better then it did, going into the season on my old sitski.

I have no idea what to expect in Sestriere, since I haven’t raced EuropaCup for so long, that I have lost touch with the competition roster a little. My goal is to go there and show the skiing I have shown freeskiing these past couple of days in Lienz and make good preparation for the next 3 race starts in Abtenau, Austria next week.

I feel good about my skiing so far. Let’s see what the clock says about that.

His name was Viktor Johans, 19-year old friend of mine from Sweden and 4 years ago exactly, he passed away in a car accident. But in 2 weeks we have spent together, he influenced my life probably more then anybody.

When we met, he was a cool 18-year old soccer goalkeeper, who could fly planes, enjoyed driving his Volvo (fast) and had the World at his fingertips. I was 17, relatively unsure of myself, a pretty new ski racer and a one time Paralympian. I applied for the student exchange hoping somebody would take a chance and pick me despite all the complications a disability brings. And along came Viktor and throughout 2 weeks and a decent amount of e-mails on top of that we had a blast. I have loads of photos from that time, but it is 2 that are stuck in my head forever. One photo is of Viktor while driving in his Volvo. I even remember where it was taken – at the traffic light near a shopping mall close to his high school. We went there to buy my first hockey chest protector, that I used to protect my body at slalom. The other photo is even better. It is a photo of me, Viktor, my best friend at the time Luka and Viktor’s best friend Marcus at the Stockholm Zoo and there is a sign pointing straight at us, that read: “Scandinavian Animals”. I still laugh at that photo, though not as happily as I used to.

I didn’t see Viktor again after the exchange. We talked from time to time, briefly. The first year the Sollefteå race got cancelled and we didn’t get to meet. The next year he told me, he’ll meet my there but we never arranged the meeting. I’m still sorry I haven’t called again to re-check. The next year, I was about to check my e-mail quick before going to bed, and there it was, a letter forwarded to me by my English teacher, from Viktor’s student exchange mentor. It read something like this: “We are sad to inform you, one of the students that participated in the exchange, Viktor Johans, died in a car accident on January 5th, coming home from New Years skiing trip to Åre.” I stared at the screen for probably 15 minutes. Then I went out and smoked half a pack of cigarettes. My hands couldn’t stop shaking ad I could barely hold a glass of water in my hand. I cried for hours. I thought I was going to vomit.

2 years later I traveled to Sweden and visited Viktor’s parents. We talked for hours and before we left, we all drove to Viktor’s grave. I still think it was the saddest moment in my life, seeing a mother of your 19-year old friend explain to you, why she picked this exact grave. I cried all the way back to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. Parents should never have to bury their children.

Because of what happened to Viktor, my life is different. I promised to myself I will never drink and drive, despite the fact that alcohol didn’t have anything to do with Viktor’s death. Whenever I have one of those days, when I’m cranky and late and all I want to do is push the throttle of my car as hard as I can, I always think of Viktor and slow down. “You have people who love you back home. You have a girlfirend. It’s not worth it. Don’t do this to them.” is what passes through my brain every time. I like to think it is Viktor keeping me safe.

Barely a day goes by without me thinking of Viktor. I used to wear a big Mjölnir, Thor’s hammer on a silver chain, in his memory, but I am not allowed to ski race with it. A tattoo, 2 raven wings, dedicated to him is chosen and I will put it on my left shoulder blade  as soon as my ski season is over.

Today’s the day to remember. Viktor Johans, eternally 19 years old. Rest in peace dude.

I miss you a lot.

While most ski racers redefine “years” so that they start at the start of the ski season and end at the end of it, real New Year still plays a part in a ski racers training cycle.Especially if a racer usually skis pretty badly in December. Just like me.

As December has now come to a close, the time has come to stop resting and eating and get back on skis. While January seemed like month I’ll mostly be spending close to home, it apparently only seemed so on paper. In fact I’ll be in Europe all January long, but will barely be home. My coach Kurt is coming to Slovenia on Thursday and we’re leaving for Mölltaler Glacier in Austria straight away. We will be joining Croatian Paralympic Ski Team in attempt to get some good training on European snow. I will be paired with Dino Sokolović, a skier that specializes in tech events, being better then me in slalom and slightly behind me in giant slalom. After that we’ll travel straight to the EuropaCup races in Sestriere,Italy and a couple of days after that to another EuropaCup in Abtenau,Austria. Our annual Slovene sitski camp is coming up as well and I have to be in Kranjska Gora on 25th and 26th for that. Long story short, January will be brutal and there’s a lot of pressure as these races will decide how my season will go from there on.

So much is on my mind lately and I keep worrying more then I should. My personal life is soaring, my equipment is great (though it still requires some tweaking to get the most out of it), I have 100% belief in people I work with. However, my confidence is lower then it was last year and so is my physical shape. Clouds keep rolling in, over my head and I have no idea where they’re coming from. I just hope January gives us more answers then questions.

Happy 2012 to you and your family from Team Jakič. Here’s to new beginnings!

After returning from Winter Park about a week ago, it was time to return to skiing and normal training routines. So we did, just like every European skier, pack up our stuff in my car (nicknamed The Galmobile by my NSCD teammate Rob for which I will be thankful for all eternity) and roll.

Getting ready for it the day before I was silently reminded why I spend as much time skiing in the US. Firstly, you actually have to pack your sitski in a vehicle. Secondly, you actually have to drive for a couple of hours. Thirdly, you have to get up in the middle of the night and mostly not sleep or sleep like $h!t the night before. (Also, once again coming to a non-wheelchair-accessible environment pisses me off. It’s not like we want the World to start spinning the other way, just give me an accessible toilet!)

It was definitely not a day to remember as the only great thing about skiing on Katschberg was the company I was in, my father and my friend Nika joined me for the day in the Austrian Alps. The night before was way different from what I planned as my brain sometimes functions a lot like Google Translate when translating N. to Gal. Long story short, $h!t got altered in translation and I went to bed pretty cranky. 7 hours later, I woke up pretty much in the same mood. The ride to Katschberg was pleasant, but Murphy’s Law definitely played it hard on us as one after another mistakes and little accidents started to happen.

First, I barely fit through the gate leading to the chairlifts and fell twice trying to get through. Secondly, my shock on my sitski was way bouncy and every time I hit a little bump I bounced twice more, making my ski lose precious contact with snow all the time. The new edge setting still seemed to work pretty well, one of the rare highlights of the day. Nissin’s loading mechanism was also acting up on us, making it one of the rare things on the frame I truly continue to dislike.

The biggest mistake of them all: I changed my ski pants. It sounds stupid I know and before you start assuming, I do not believe in wearing the same clothing every time when competing. But when it comes to sitskiing, you have to race like you train and knowing how your pants will react to the forces while skiing is a very important part of it all. Needless to say, the pants behaved like they shouldn’t, and every time I bounced off a bump, my ass slid one way or another. This is exactly why I haven’t changed my ski pants in forever, well the last 4 years I guess.

I have no idea why today was such a terrible day for me. It probably had to come and its true meaning may show later along the way. Every defeat gives you a chance for improvement though and I shall continue to work hard to learn and improve. The rest lies in the future, we’ll just have to ski and see.

As an adaptive athlete, I often get questions about my belief and religion. As I come from a family of atheists, I have designed my own idea of religion and belief, but what I wanted to blog about today is an idea I have later integrated into my day.

I have once heard, that you shouldn’t ask God for anything, but you should be thankful for what you have. And what time is better for being thankful and reflecting upon all the beautiful things life brings us then X-mas holidays. If we set aside the shopping frenzy we all part take in at this time of year, it is one of the rare moments Worldwide when our crazy little blue planet sets aside everything and focuses on the small things we rarely have enough time for – friends and family.

So in the spirit of being thankful, I would like to mention a couple of things I am truly thankful for today. I am grateful that I have a beautiful relationship with a girl who loves me dearly and has brought with her another family to my life and maybe an idea of our own somewhere along the way. I am grateful for my own family, who supports me in everything I do and has made me what I am. I am grateful for my rockstar sister and all her little quirks. I am grateful for many many friends, more then I can name. I am grateful for a great team of coaches, fans and sponsors that allow me to develop my brand, Team Jakič, through adaptive sport and crazy projects. If you’re reading this, you are a part of a beautiful quilt I am able to call life.

I have learned the hard way myself, through N.’s story as well as the stories of many of my other adaptive teammates that nothing in life comes for granted. Therefore, I am grateful. Grateful to have woken up in the morning, grateful to be able to tell and show the people I love how much they mean to me and grateful to have numerous opportunities to make a lasting impression on the World.

To succeed in life, you have to be grateful for the opportunities you have first. I hope you all and all your families a merry and a peaceful X-mas holidays.