Patrick Dew

Tell us about you! Why and how did you get into your sport?
My name is Patrick Dew and I am from Vernon B.C. I got into my sport when I was about 8 years old and it started as a good family activity. I guess my story starts out like a lot of others. As I got a little more comfortable on my skis my parents got a little more uncomfortable, thinking that I was going to injure myself (turns out they ended up being right more than once!). In an attempt to combat the inevitable injuries, they threw me into the Jumps and Bumps program at Silver Star and really the rest is history.

What's a fun fact about you?
Now this question has always been challenging for me to answer. For the last 5 or 6 years my entire life has been all about skiing. There really wasn't time for a second interest or passion. Now that I have retired I have taken on a few activities outside of skiing that I love. I started to get into mountain biking. I never thought I would enjoy biking uphill, but with the reward of the decent, it turns out that I really like the sport! Has to be one of the best ways to get your physical activity in. Other than that I purchased a side by side and put lots of hours in on that. I love the freedom of being able to explore the outdoors at a little faster pace. I spend a lot of time at work and having the option to get to my destination a little faster can be a nice treat. Not to mention it's a high adrenaline sport, which I definitely enjoy.

What are your goals and aspirations?
I always had the classic dream of making it to the Olympics and being the best athlete I could be. I worked hard for those dreams and do believe that I was the best athlete that I could have been. I did everything that I could to better myself in the sport and for me that is all the success I need.

As for now my plans have sort of switched gears. I have started a new career in sales and have been loving it. The face to face interactions have always been something I enjoyed. Being on a commission based career path, it pushes me to do my best every single day just like skiing did. So I guess my goals kind of carry over from my skiing career given that I am striving to be the best that I can be in my field of work.

What has been your biggest challenge throughout your career? How did you overcome it?
Biggest challenge. Hard one to say because there are a lot of obstacles in the world of an athlete. People may think that being an athlete is all natural born talent and that some people are just lucky enough to take advantage of it, but the truth is that the road to becoming a professional athlete is one of the most difficult journeys that a person can set sail on.

The biggest challenge I think for me was trying to stay focused on my ski career. It is very very easy to get blinded by other things in life, whether it be relationships or money or other aspirations. The way that I got around that was to fully indulge myself in my career. Focus on the sport and what I needed to do next to better myself as an athlete.

Injury is a part of life and sport - how did you deal with yours?
Injury is one of the worst parts of the sport hands down. You can do everything to prevent an injury and sometimes there is nothing you can do. The best thing I ever did for my injuries was listen to my physio. Some of the exercises may seem ridiculous at the time, but trust me, they know how to get you back on your feet as soon as possible better than anyone.

What gets you the most excited about Stoko?
A brand that is thinking outside the box. In my eyes Stoko is 1 of 1 in their market and there is no competition. Creating something that is comfortable and functional. I want to see these K1s become the helmet of knees, a requirement that you would never leave home without. Coming from a guy with past injuries and who knows way too many people in the same boat, I wish I had something like this when I started skiing. Who knows, I could have potentially avoided my knee injuries if I were wearing some K1s.

Do you have any pre-competition rituals?
Fun fact about me is that while I was an athlete I NEVER listened to music. I found that it was distracting and gave me more anxiety.

As for pre comp rituals I really didn't have much. However I would always make sure I ate a good dinner the night before. Made sure I got at LEAST 8 hours of sleep. And right before I hit the gate I would always do somewhere around five air squats to try and tighten up my nervous body. Other than that I would make sure to do my visualization and I was good to go.

Favourite snack before/after a sweat session?
Don't tell my trainers, but it's ice cream. shhh

Instagram