Photo: Travis Rice
During the live stream of the latest World Surfing League contest at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, an unlikely individual made a guest appearance. Travis Rice, snowboarder extraordinaire and Paul Revere of the backcountry revolution, showed up on a boat in the channel during the event. And on top of the contradiction that is a pro snowboarder attending a surf contest at literally “the end of the road,” Travis divulged even more improbable info — the Jackson Hole native revealed that he had made his way to the far-off Pacific island of Tahiti by way of sailing.
Now it’s nothing new for athletes, particularly of the action sports world, to dabble in other sports out of their specific department. But a sailing journey that far and through such notoriously difficult waters is taking that to the extreme. And for Travis, it was just another day in the office. Upon further inspection he’s had the sailing bug for quite some time. Back in 2013, with the help of his sponsor Red Bull, Travis took to the bay of San Francisco for some high performance sailboat racing. His opponent? None other than fellow Red Bull rider and action sports boundary-buster Jamie O’Brien.
Decked out with their own Carbon AC 45 wing masted catamarans, sails bearing their names and all, Travis and Jamie hit the bay for a series of races. These boats are the real deal – the apex of 10,000 years of sailing technology. Video footage from the day looked like a real white-knuckle experience with the boats slanting at ungodly angles and the foils sticking out of the water like pointy horns. As dogged competitors, of course Travis and Jamie made a wager.
“We had a bet that if I lost, I would be his property caretaker for a few days on the North Shore, raking the lawn, cleaning up the house, presenting iced teas and snacks when he and his boys were out of the water,” Travis wrote on his website. “His house is probably a shit show.”
But alas, Travis and his team bested JOB: “Now instead, he’s gotta shovel kickers in the Jackson back-country.”
With marginal experience prior to the Red Bull race, Travis has continued his fascination with wind-powered crafts, as evidenced by his social media accounts. His feed is like an exotic travel magazine filled with backcountry snow porn, surfing perfect waves and his sailing adventures. The dude lives the life – after becoming one of the most influential snowboarders of all time he’s branched out to dominate other sports. And his latest post continues to show his sailing prowess with an exotic sunset behind a towering silhouette of a mast, captioned: “Red skies in the morning- sailors take warningl”
