While many enjoy snowboarding as a pastime, the sport plays a major role in the life of junior Robbie Roethler.

Roethler said he began snowboarding when he was 7-years old. He has since improved, moving on to compete in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado and California.

“There’s around 100 participants in a competition, so it gets really competitive,” he said. “A lot of the time it’s in an age group, but this year I’m doing open so I’ll probably be against even more.”

Roethler attributed his success in events to his ability to perform under pressure.

“I have it pretty easy with competitions because if I land tricks I can usually land them consistently,” Roethler said. “All I have to do is relax.”

Roethler recently received some attention online. He said videos filmed by senior Donovan Hyuck were sent in to Snowboarder Magazine and posted. He also posted his video Dec. 12 on “People’s Court,” an online competition where viewers can vote for the snowboarding video they think deserves to win and won by four votes.

“I’m on People’s Court, and I have a video that’s up against another one,” Roethler said. “All my friends have been voting for me and giving me the support I need.”

Roethler’s videos not only attracted the attention of his peers, but that of a sponsor. The sponsor approached him the same day he posted his video on “People’s Court.”

“I just landed a sponsor with East Coast Lifestyle, a clothing line from Nova Scotia,” Roethler said. “My friend I met at Windells (a snowboarding camp) reposted my edit and his friend who owns this company messaged me on Facebook and asked if I was looking for a sponsor.”

To reach his current skill level, Roethler put in a lot of time and effort during the years.

Roethler said he trains year-round with coaches in order to prepare for his competitions. During the offseason, he said he finds other ways to practice away from the snow.

“A lot of times I’ll go to a gymnastics place and get trampoline training in. It really helps with jumps and getting air control,” he said. “I also do snowboarding in the summer at a snowboarding camp called Windells.”

While he has come far in his career, Roethler said he still has goals he would like to reach in the future.

“My biggest goal is to go pro, that’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid,” Roethler said. “Other than that I’d like to land a nice board sponsor because boards can get pretty expensive, especially when I break at least one every season.”

Roethler said his favorite part of snowboarding is the independent nature of the sport.

“My favorite part about snowboarding is being able to do whatever you want,” he said. “You don’t really have to be a part of a team, you really just do whatever you want to do, get better at whatever you want to get better at.”