Any child dreams of being a professional athlete, standing at the top of their sport and getting paid to do so.

And not long ago, Brandon Reis, a Peterborough native, had those same aspirations, envisioning the life of a professional snowboarder.

Now, he’s at the top of his sport, literally, as he practices among the picturesque summits of Aspen, Colo., awaiting the pinnacle of slopestyle competition — the Winter X Games.

With a simple e-mail last week, Reis, a pro for three years, went from being an alternate to one of 16 riders competing for supremacy in the snowboard slopestyle event beginning Friday at 10 a.m. (MST).

“As of right now, I look at the X Games as the slopestyle Olympics,” said Reis, who is building a reputation in the event, in which snowboarders perform tricks and big-air jumps to earn points from judges.

The elimination round will air between noon-3 p.m. on ESPN 2 on Friday. If Reis finishes in the top eight, he will advance to the finals on Sunday, which will be on ESPN, which airs coverage of the X Games from noon-5:30 p.m.

“This is something I’ve been dreaming about since before I could really snowboard,” Reis said of the invitation.

After being stranded in Washington and forced to stay in a hotel, Reis was not having the best of days. Then he checked his e-mail account and had a bunch of messages informing him that he had been moved from the alternate list into the real thing.

Reis’s perception on his day changed quite quickly.

“I was just loving life after that e-mail,” said Reis.

So on Tuesday, one day after filming for a video in Minnesota, Reis traveled to Aspen for the first time to test out the course at Buttermilk Mountain and get a feel for what he wants to do once he got to the top of his run.

Reis has wanted to participate in the X Games for as long as he can remember, but the reality of it had yet to hit.

Instead of watching the X Games at home, Reis will be there, soaking in every bit of the experience.

“It’s going to be a really big event, but I’ve actually been competing with all the guys in the Dew Tour this season,” Reis said.

While being at a big competition won’t be anything new for Reis, being at the X Games will.

“I’m hoping being in the X Games, if I do well, will help me out a lot,” he said. “Everyone watches it.”

Reis has really started to make a name for himself amongst the snowboarding circle. In the inaugural season of the Dew Tour, Reis finished sixth overall in the three race series and in year two, Reis is going back to the finals.

Reis will compete in the Toyota Championships at Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt. on Feb. 4-7. Currently he sits in sixth place overall after two events with 120 points, 70 out of first.

“It feels slow, but I think about the last three years and it’s changed a lot,” said Reis.
But despite the high accolades and good prize money, as well as sponsorships, the life of a professional athlete isn’t as glamorous as what one may think.

“People think it’s such an easy life,” said Reis. “But you do a lot of traveling. It can get hectic at times.”

Reis rents a house in Kings Beach, Calif., for the winter, yet to this point he said he has probably spent a total of what seems like a week there.

A lot of time is spent in airports and on airplanes, staying in hotels and living out of a suitcase. But Reis wouldn’t change it one bit. Even with the lack of down time, Reis is getting paid to do what he loves.

“It’s just bouncing all around the United States,” Reis said of his winter. “There’s the fun in it, but it definitely wears you out.”

Like any professional sport, Reis understands there are inherent risks — it just comes with the territory.

The snowboarding community is still reeling from the recent injury to one of its stars, Kevin Pearce, who remains hospitalized with severe a head injury sustained during a halfpipe practice run on New Year’s Eve in Park City, Utah.

“It’s really scary seeing what has happened to people in the last couple months,” said Reis.

But Reis said he can’t think about what might happen because then there is no way to reach his full potential.

“I think it’s just our mindset,” he said. “We do scary things, but it’s how we think.”

Over his time, Reis has built up quite a list of sponsors. He rides for Flow Snowboarding, Celtek, Boa Technology, 525 East, Eastern Border and Oakley, making it so he doesn’t have to buy all the expensive equipment associated needed to compete.

And if it wasn’t for his parents footing the bill when he was younger, Reis admits he probably wouldn’t be in this position. Attending snowboarding camps, the cost of gear and lift tickets were all things that he wouldn’t have been able to afford when he started snowboarding at the age of 10.

“If your parents are willing to do a lot for you, don’t take it for granted,” Reis said. “If it wasn’t for them...I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

The excitement is high for Reis heading into Friday, but once he gets to the top of the mountain, it will be just another run — one he hopes to nail.

This story appears on Page 23 of the Jan. 28 Ledger-Transcript.