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Tyler Turner’s Ongoing Journey: From A Life-Altering Skydive to Snowboarding Champion

Paralympic snowboarder Tyler Turner may be new to the international circuit, but he is already making a substantial impact. At the 2022 World Para Snow Sports Championships, he dominated the snowboard cross event and joined forces for victory with Alex Massie in the team event, taking home two Gold medals. He also won the bronze in the banked slalom event. An amazing feat, considering this was the athlete’s first World Championship appearance. Since then, Tyler has been excelling at the snowboard cross and making a name for himself as an elite competitor, winning again at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. His story is one that not only inspires para-snowboarders but is likely to captivate anyone drawn to the power of determination and the thrill of pursuing one's passions.


Winning Gold in the men's snowboard cross SB-LL1 events final at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China the 2022 Beijing Paralympics (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Winning Gold in the men's snowboard cross SB-LL1 events final at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China the 2022 Beijing Paralympics (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Tyler Turner is from Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, he relocated to Vancouver Island in 2005 to embrace an outdoor and adventurous lifestyle. An avid sportsman and thrill-seeker, Tyler was a professional skydiver, snowboard instructor and surfer. Sky diving, which was once a sporadic adventure with his friends on holiday, became his whole career. “I love it." He stated, "It keeps me excited because, over time, skydiving can become a desk job, just like any other. But getting the excitement of, you know, students and people having their first experience, or people progressing. I love that”.


During what should have been a routine skydive on September 4, 2017, Tyler lost both of his legs below the knee in a life-changing accident. He was recording a fellow tandem skydive, filming a first-time skydiver from 10,000 feet, when everything became a blur, and Tyler could not open his parachute correctly. Tyler stated that he had “no memory of about a minute before my accident. So, we don’t actually know exactly what happened”. At the time of the crash, Tyler was completing a ‘high-performance landing’ which he claimed involved a higher risk. The accident left Tyler with a traumatic brain injury and a broken back, amongst various other broken bones from the stomach down, resulting in the amputation of both his legs over the following year and a half. Tyler was initially in the hospital for five months before moving to a care home for the duration of his recovery. Tyler stated that “it’s been eight years of recovery… it hasn’t really stopped”. After approximately two years, Tyler expressed that he was able to start on with his life, figuring out how to get back to the activities he wanted to do. He admitted that the process is “ongoing…. I think it will be ongoing for the rest of my life”.

Despite a vast amount of time spent in recovery and care homes, Tyler’s excitement to get back into the sports world never dimmed. He described his vigour to recover as “immediate”, explaining that while he didn’t have any memory for the first few weeks after his accident, his friends and family continually reminded him that right away, he was talking about how he was going to skydive again. Tyler stated, “That was just what I was figuring out, right from day one, because if I don’t pursue that, then I might as well just be dead anyways”.

 

“Might as well just be dead anyway”.

While he received continuous support from his friends and family during his recovery, he disclosed that people thought he was “crazy” for wanting to skydive again. He elaborated, “If I had just given up the desire to do it again, I probably would have just given up on life because that’s what kept me pushing and skydiving sure, it almost killed me, but it’s also what kept me alive”. Returning to snowboarding was imperative for Tyler however, it would be years before he felt comfortable on the board. He divulged that if he couldn’t at least be at a level that made him happy, he “didn’t want to do it.” He talked in detail about his gradual journey back onto the slope, taking a very patient return to snowboarding so as not to rush and essentially disappoint himself. Following his recovery, it took approximately two and a half years for him to return to the sport that had once been a pinnacle part of his life.


“To try again, in that first year, I just rode my snowboard ten feet. That was my goal in year one. I strapped in with forearm crutches and just slid a few feet and called that a success for year one and year two” stated Tyler. His trajectory changed in his second year of snowboarding when he went to a Nakiska Ski resort just outside Calgary, attempting a small run with some of his closest friends. “I didn’t want to make a big thing. I didn’t want a whole bunch of people. I just wanted it to be small, quiet and under the radar. I didn’t want the pressure in case it didn’t work. And yeah, we got it done.” He described this experience as “extremely painful” but felt then that he had proved he was capable of snowboarding again and potentially regaining his ability to compete at a high level. Tyler’s all-or-nothing approach would eventually see him reach a snowboarding ability arguably more impressive than before his accident.

Picture by 2022 Getty Images
Picture by 2022 Getty Images

Through an old friend, Tyler found himself acquainted with the Paralympic Team after showing promise at a training camp. Since then, Tyler’s career has spiralled, and he has proven his ability to compete with some of the world’s best.  Most recently, Tyler competed at the World Championships, held at Big White Resort, Canada on home soil. Tyler admitted that this last season had been “tough” and competing in a competition of this scale in front of a home crowd had a significant impact on the champion. He empathised, “It definitely got to me. I didn’t sleep the night before the race. I’ve never done that. I only slept about an hour and a half and just before the race I was freaking out and I’ve never had that.” Despite the justified pressures, Tyler persevered to claim victory, dominating the Snowboard Cross final from start to finish to take home the gold medal. Understandably, the feeling was one of huge relief. “It was so much weight off my shoulders. It was a lot of stress. The most stress I've ever felt. Yeah, it was incredible” explained Tyler.


Tyler Turner at the Big White Resort - World Para Snowboarding Championship 2025.
Tyler Turner at the Big White Resort - World Para Snowboarding Championship 2025.

Speaking of the future, Tyler is aiming for continued success in the upcoming Winter Paralympics which will take place in 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Tyler expressed that competing in World Cup events is “great for sponsors and all that but the focus is on the ultimate prize in the games. I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that… I’m only going to use it to get to where I want to go”. For most, the prospect of competing at a Paralympic Games - let alone securing multiple gold medals - would seem inconceivable following an accident of such magnitude. However, it is clear that Tyler never entertained anything less than returning to sport at the highest level.


Tyler’s ambition extended far beyond merely completing a run on a snowboard; he was resolute in his aim to excel, to triumph over the finest athletes in the world. Through remarkable perseverance and skill, Tyler not only returned to compete but has firmly established himself as a dominant force on the international stage. It will be exciting to see how this athlete can continue to improve, surprise and succeed in both his Snowboarding career and his personal endeavours.

 

Turner is the first bilateral leg amputee to wingsuit fly. (Submitted by Tyler Turner)
Turner is the first bilateral leg amputee to wingsuit fly. (Submitted by Tyler Turner)

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