He might look like anyone else in the tram line, but once the doors open at the top of Rendezvous Mountain, with 4,000 feet of vert below, good luck keeping up. Lance Pitman was one of the world’s top pro snowboarders of the 1990s and early 2000s, then founder of Illuminati Snowboards. He continually pushed himself through huge jumps, sketchy lines and avalanches, trying to prove he was as physically capable as anyone else, and not afraid of death. But his asthma caught up with him. “A childhood friend…suggested we do yoga. That night I slept through the night for the first time in months,” said Pitman. His consciousness began to shift. “I realized I was struggling, stressing and becoming unhealthy, trying to maintain the ‘snowboard guy’ I had created. Through yoga, ayahuasca journeys, holotropic breath work and a lot of introspection, I chose to follow my gut, my heart and let go into ‘failure’ — closing the snowboard company.”
These days Lance helps people through their own journeys of awareness, through breathing, yoga and introspection. He’s also passing his shred wisdom to the next generation, as Head Snowboard Coach for the Jackson Hole Freeride Team. Or you might see him playing the handpan drum during savasana at Yoga Off Little in Driggs, Idaho.
Lance is not a pro, not an industry impresario, not a guru. He’s just a guy who has a ton of fun on a snowboard and a ton of love for his yoga mat. And he will take you as deep as you want to go down the rabbit hole.
