For Shaun White, this fall is shaping up to be quite similar to the many others that have come before it. Earlier this month, the three-time Olympic halfpipe champion who is now retired was on a glacier in Switzerland taking turns down the halfpipe, attempting to determine what works, what has potential, and what needs a total makeover. Even though there are not any major competitions scheduled for the upcoming season, he is preparing for winter.
He is evaluating his snowboards, but this time, rather than focusing on what he needs to win, he is considering what other people might enjoy riding rather than what he must ride to win. The 36-year-first old’s full season in retirement also marks the beginning of his first full year as a full-fledged business owner. This year also marks the beginning of the player’s first complete season in retirement.
Beginning on Monday, the brand that he debuted with a limited availability during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics earlier this year will be available to the general public in its entirety. Whitespace is the name of this concept. It is launching with a limited line of snowboards and outerwear, and White, in an effort to be as strategic in the market as he was on the mountain, isn’t in any hurry to place his company in direct competition with some of the behemoths in those industries. The company is launching with a limited line of snowboards and outerwear.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press from Saas-Fee, Switzerland, White said, “I have this vision in my head, looking at a chairlift and seeing my name” on the bottom of a snowboard. “And it’s knowing that my product is being loved by somebody else,” the entrepreneur continued.
Iconoclast that he is, White went against the norms of snowboarding by making it cool to ride for money and medals. White adds that he wants his brand to stand out on the mountain in the same manner that he did. He suggests giving the products he sells a more personal touch as one method for accomplishing this goal.
“Recently, quite a few pallets filled with boards were delivered to my mother’s residence, “White remarked. “We are proceeding with it. However, we are not making a significant gamble here. To begin, we are going to do something along the lines of three snowboards, three pairs of jeans, and three jackets. When you consider the lineup, you’ll see that we’re focusing on the most important aspects.
“If I were going on a trip, what would I pack?” is a thought that keeps running through my head. A whirlwind has characterised the eight months that have passed since Shaun White’s emotionally charged fall from the halfpipe in the mountains outside of Beijing. Following the recommendation of his girlfriend, the actress Nina Dobrev, he compiled a list of activities that he had never completed but had always wanted to try.
It began with a trip to the Super Bowl and continued with a visit to the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, trips to Cannes and Monaco, and an opportunity to meet Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, a game-changing superstar in his sport who is about the same age as White.
All of this was documented on his Instagram feed. When White was asked what the most memorable event of his retirement to this point has been, he spoke about a journey to Avignon, France, to visit with Dobrev’s family. This trip was during the early stages of White’s retirement.
We spent some time with her mother. We explored the city on our bicycles “White remarked. “The food was delicious. We’re just chilling by the river right now. Getting ready to head to the swap meet. We’re going to the farmer’s market today. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a matter of making time to see the family of another person and simply spending time with them. It is using that currency, which is time, on some things that I had been putting off for such a long time. Regrets about calling it quits? White hasn’t experienced very many up to this point in time.
He can’t help but reflect on his final run at the Olympics and his last day of skiing whenever the opportunity presents itself. It had been four years since he had won his third gold medal in South Korea, and he was attempting to perform the same run that had won him the medal.
However, he failed and ended up finishing fourth. Given the progress that had been achieved in his sport between 2018 and 2022, it is quite unlikely that he would have been awarded gold even if he had completed that run successfully. At the conclusion of that unforgettable competition, Shaun White took the time to savour every moment, staying around for approximately an hour after the last run to give a tearful and passionate farewell to his life as a competitive snowboarder.
He stated that it was too soon to declare that everything was in good shape. “There are times when I’m just like ‘Ohhhh,'” she said. After spending so many years focusing on a single endeavour and devising a strategy to compete at the highest level, how could you not? However, he regards his new business, which includes a line of snowboards and outfits, as merely an additional method of competition.
“The question is, how can I push not just myself but also the brand to perform to the level that the situation calls for? Not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of performance. What do you think is going to happen?” White stated. “There are so many other ways to still have that fun of the strategy and creativeness and coming up with the next thing to do,” the author says. “There are so many different ways to still get that enjoyment of the strategy.”
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