Cole Karow: Pushing towards perfection

Growing up in Wisconsin, Cole Karow would hike up the hill in front of his house and snowboard down. When he was 12-years-old he moved to Superior and took his first trip to Lookout Pass.

After renting a snowboard, Karow hit the slopes at Lookout and was immediately “hooked” on the sport.

“It was natural, it was definitely natural,” Karow said.

Soon after the first trip to Lookout, Karow bought a snowboard and began taking the bus to Lookout Pass to snowboard as much as possible.

Five years later, the 17-year-old Superior High School junior has elevated his skill in the sport – and has the hardware to prove it.

“I’ve been taking snowboarding seriously for about two-years,” Karow said. “My first real competition was last year, I did a big air competition at Lookout and took first and did slope style the next day and took second.”

Karow also entered the Volcom Peanut Butter Rail Jam in the open age division because the 16 and over division was filled. He made it to the finals but did not place.

That summer, Karow spent time snowboarding in Oregon with plans of once again competing in the rail jam this year and he said he benefitted from not having a long summer off the mountain.

“I just progressed and came back and it felt way better at the start of this year – I could tell,” Karow said.

With the support of the Mineral County Central Republican Committee, Karow was able to once again attend the Volcom Peanut Butter Rail Jam and the training paid off – he placed first in the 16 and over division and also won an award for best trick at the contest.

Karow also works for the park crew at Lookout Pass, maintaining and grooming the rails and other park features, and his experience working there is one of his favorites in snowboarding.

“They got a new terrain park manager and they took me under their wing,” Karow said. “Riding with older guys pushes me more because I feel like I can’t get away with not riding better than them.”

Working for Lookout has also given Karow the opportunity to work on a movie project with four of his coworkers that will be released next fall.

“We film every weekend,” Karow said of the two-year project. “We did a little bit this year and we are going to get some park footage.”

Getting the park footage involved an impromptu trip this week to Park City, Utah, where Karow and his coworkers will film “some urban stuff” and possibly ride Park City as well.

“We used to have a set-filmer but now we just take turns filming each other,” Karow said. “We encourage and push each other a lot. Then if you land something cool you volunteer to film the next set.”

Although Karow has his coworkers and fellow snowboarders on the slopes to help motivate them, he said motivating and pushing himself in snowboarding is completely different than when playing football for the Bobcats.

“It’s definitely a different motivation,” Karow said. “You have to get up and want to do it yourself. But I am in love with it so it’s so easy for me to get up and go and push myself to give it my best. You just have to want it.”

By winning the rail jam Karow qualified for a chance to compete in Mammoth, California at the championship in April. The cost of travel is not covered by the event, but once again the community was able to support Karow and make the trip possible.

“It’s going to be fun, the Lion’s Club helped me out after I went and spoke with them,” Karow said.

Karow currently has several sponsors including Edge of the World Boardshop in Missoula, Ashbury Eyewear and Vans. His sponsors do not pay him, but give him equipment and apparel to use while training and competing.

This summer Karow will once again head to Oregon and live out of a camper while further honing his skills in a sport that Karow hopes will ultimately turn into a career.

“The ultimate goal is doing something with it (snowboarding) right after high-school,” Karow said. “I don’t know exactly what that is. I might move down to Oregon or Utah or Northern California and pursue snowboarding there for a bit to get more exposure.”

For Karow, the initial “hook” of snowboarding is still in. He said he could talk about the sport “all day” and pushing himself to be better is something he craves.

“Trying and trying and trying to learn something new and land something and then finally landing it smooth and rolling away is probably the best feeling,” Karow said.