Snowboarding’s next big thing moves beyond the ice age.

By Joe La Puma; Photograph by RAYON RICHARDS Despite winter temps that average in the mid-20s, Michigan isn’t exactly an incubator for pro snowboarders. The reasons are pretty simple: small mountains and precious little snow (tons of ice, though). But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and when a rider is able to overcome the elements, the rest of the world becomes his powder-filled oyster. “It helped, actually,” says 19-year-old Burton pro Danny Davis, of learning to ride on a grimy, gravel-filled pit near his hometown of Highland. “When I started traveling where the jumps are groomed perfectly, I was like, ’This is insane.’”

At the age of 16, Davis left Michigan to attend Vermont’s prestigious Stratton Mountain School, and in March 2005, he entered the U.S. Open as an unknown 17-year-old. After a fifth-place halfpipe finish and a Rookie of the Year award there, he had a huge 2006, winning the Nippon Open and the U.S. Grand Prix. “I definitely wasn’t a standout the first time I did a pro contest,” he says, “but I learned what it takes to do that circuit.”

After being the last rider cut from the ’06 Olympic team, Davis has his sights set on the 2010 Games in Vancouver-sort of. “It’s a great contest and I’d be really excited to go for my country, but in all reality it’s just another snowboard contest,” he says. “I’m not going to get all my hopes and dreams set on one contest.” Until then, snowboarding’s resident hippie will kick back, blast his beloved Bob Dylan tunes, and do what he loves. “People go to work day in and day out, but I enjoy getting up to go shred every day,” he says. “It’s a dream come true.” Thanks for rubbing it in.

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