Before i ever hit a park jump, i watched Ski Movie 3, the Front Line. More specifically, i watched CR Johnson and Tanner Hall, nearly exclusively. I'd get home from school, and immediately plug in that old VCR and rewind The Front Line first to CR's part, then fast forward to Tanner's. Invincible, by Capone-n-Noreaga, was the first hip hop song i truly fell in love with, followed shortly by Madness by Deltron 3030. When i listened to them, i was watching CR and Tanners parts all over again. This was 2002. I was in fourth grade, less than 5 feet tall, and had never hit a rail. By 2003 i had hit my first rail, done my first 360, and listened to the Wu-Tang Clan. More importantly, i had found a true passion...freestyle skiing. Images of CR in the backcountry captivated me and kept me entertained throughout the fifth, sixth and seventh grade. Cork 7 to bio 10 BC booter line. Bio 12s. Tanners gorilla style. "Gorilla style" became my favorite term for a while. When i learned that CR was from North Lake Tahoe, a new goal was set before me. I was gonna rep South Lake just as hard as CR rep'd North Lake. I wanted to be the next CR Johnson. I wanted to be the next Tanner Hall. 

Flash forward 5 years. I was still skiing, still trying to emulate the stars of Ski Movie 3. By this time, however, i was skiing for 4frnt, Electric, and through Jimbo with Electric, Spyder. I was invited to my first Team Summit, a yearly gathering of the Spyder Team in Boulder, Co. This was my first encounter with CR Johnson. I had followed his career ruthlessly. The previous year was the season of his accident, and he was still in a cloudy state of mind when i met him. I never knew CR before his accident, but even in his injured mindset he was Completely Righteous. CR was the first person i have ever been starstruck by, and this feeling of being in the presence of a true master, a sensei...it never left, throughout all of the following years.

The next few years i ran into CR regularly, whether it was at Team Summits or early season skiing at Northstar. I had the honor of watching him battle and defeat his injury, with a relentless and vicious attitude that only protrudes from those who have real passion; life passion. In a complete parallel to CR's recovery was my mother's. In 2008, she had a seizure while working and discovered that she had a large brain tumor. On november 18 she went into open brain surgery. 

The next few years, until very recently,  were a collossal battle for my mother. Of any form of motivation that helped her, though, the inspiration that she got from CR and his odyssey, the same odyssey that my mom was now going through, was by far the largest. She was always asking me what CR did, how he did it, and if she could. I would say yes, mom, be like CR, you'll make it through this eventually, with the same passion as CR. I'd go on long walks with her late at night and converse mainly of CR and their correlation, the common goal that they both shared. If you have not been around a traumatic brain, you will not know of the struggle one faces- but you really do re-learn everything, just as CR said. I watched my mother draw from CR's legacy in order to persevere for the next years, watched her re-learn nearly everything, watched her recover in the same way as CR. Eventually, as i promised my mom i would, i introduced her to CR. She wanted to meet him, honor him, do what she felt she had to do in order to thank him. I think the day she met CR will always remain one of the most moving days of her life. Neither she nor I ever told CR what he had done, though...it was not something either of us had the courage to explain to him. 

This power that he gave my mom, even though he physically did nothing to help her, remained an underlier for my relationship with CR. And this was HIM, he was a motivater, an idol. He was righteous, in every form of the word. When spending a day with CR, if you listened, you gained a huge amount of spiritual guidance. Over the summer, at COC, CR coached one or two campers a week- and completely turned their life around. He would turn the shyest camper into an outgoing kid, and teach them how to ski while doing it. These campers followed CR in every way...how could they not? He changed lives without knowing it, thinking of it, or intending to. I will always look at myself as one of these campers, from that first day i saw Ski Movie 3...there has been no influence like him. 

Mad love, CR. You have changed lives, including my own, and we are still following you brother, always.