Next Level Skiing S8E6: McRae Williams is the Mindful Mountain Athlete
Next Level Skiing Podcast, S8 E6: McRae Williams is the Mindful Mountain Athlete
Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. McRae Williams navigated from a childhood on trampolines to aerials on his hometown water ramps at the Olympic Training Center in Park City to become one of the most explosive slopestyle skiers in the sport. He’s a World Cup world champion, two-time Olympian, and three-time X Games medalist who is channeling years of Olympic-level training into audacious filming performances in remote backcountry locations.
Photo: Tucker Adams
Listen in as the 35-year-old slopestyle pioneer explores his work as a mindful athlete with a keen focus on his mental game honed through passions for diverse mountain sports, from flyfishing, pow surfing, and mountain biking. Thanks for listening to Next Level Skiing.
TOPICS
3:00 Training on trampolines at the local gymnastic center at age 7
3:40 Moving from tramps to aerials at the Olympic Park water ramps
6:10 Qualifying for the Dew Tour in 2009
7:20 Coaching and teaching into a full-time pro skiing career
10:20 The foundation of air awareness learned on trampolines
11:40 Edge control in slopestyle
12:30 The emergence of double-cork spins in the Breckenridge pipe in the 2000s
15:20 Quintuple corks?
16:00 “Keep swinging and keep showing up, and eventually you’re going to have your day.”
16:40 “The snowball effect” of a big win like X Games gold
20:50 “The life-changing” season in 2017, into the Olympic qualification in 2018
22:50 The mental game of competing in high-progression freeskiing in your mid-20s
25:40 Cracking a helmet in a fall in the last competition for Olympic qualification
29:00 The beginning of the end
30:09 “Passion is the biggest thing.”
30:46 “I’m not ever retiring.”
34:12 The natural progression of the mental game, moving from slopestyle to big mountain
35:30 “The Mindful Athlete” by George Mumford
35:48 “Everything is mental.”
39:00 Beware of overstretching before skiing. Stretching and recovery
48:10 Powder surfing on a board, long board, and surfing
53:00 Meditation and flyfishing
55:26 Let the skiing do the talking
QUOTES
“I also found that throughout my years competing, it was funny like all the times I did super well, I always felt like I didn't deserve it, and then all the times that I didn't do well, I felt like I should have won.” - McRae
“You win some, you lose some. If you just keep swinging and keep showing up, eventually you’re going to have your day.” - McRae
“Finding passion in something, whatever that may be in life, is such a huge thing that will keep you motivated.” - McRae
“No matter what you do in your life outside of skiing, it’s just so important to have a good mentality and confidence and know how to use your thoughts and your mind to your advantage.” - McRae
RESOURCES
For more listening, check out our full collection of "Next Level Skiing" podcasts here.
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Next Level Skiing Recorded by Jason Blevins.
Jason Blevins is a Colorado journalist and co-founder of The Colorado Sun who has been writing about mountain towns -- and skiing -- for nearly 30 years. Every week Jason's Outsider newsletter from The Colorado Sun delivers news and insights into the changing American West, with articles covering the businesses, industries, policies, characters, and of course ski news, that shape communities and cultures on the evolving Western Slope of Colorado. Jason lives in Crested Butte with his wife and a dog named Gravy. Click over to coloradosun.com/outsider to learn more.
