Sea & Snow with Taylor Godber
Taylor Godber epitomizes what it means to be an adventurer. Exploration is always a part of Taylor’s daily routine, whether this means snowboarding through the powdery backcountry of an untouched mountain, or surfing her way through Indonesia. Not only does Taylor show how she pushes her limits, but she teaches us that we - and no one else - create our own boundaries.
Photo by Robert Fiorella @robertfiorella / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
Name: Taylor Godber
Age: 28
Hometown: Whistler
Homebreak/Mountain: Tofino B.C. & Whistler B.C.
Photo by Ashley Barker @barkerfoto
How long have you been snowboarding for? When did you start tackling the unridden backcountry mountains?
I’ve been snowboarding since I was 15. I moved to Whistler on a whim due to a suggestion from a best friend in high school. The intention was to live there for a year and then go back to school or travel to the warmer side of the world. I’ve been in Whistler for 10 years now, the classic sweaty-subculture couldn’t be left.
The first couple of years we stuck to the park chair. Our park rat crew didn’t avoid the peaks, we just didn’t know any better. One of the more seasoned bartenders that I worked with at my night time job would give me flack for not riding more of the mountain. I in turn would consistently bug him in a little sister manner to let me ride with him and his friends. Finally he budged and in a straight-forward kind of way told me that I could come and shred, “as long as you can keep up.” That opportunity was a fork in the road for sure. I kept up, barely. But I kept up and as a result rode some zones that were new to me and was subject to ride way out of my comfort zone to keep up. I was hooked. Fast forward to 3 or 4 years later and everyone was always going on about how wicked their days were in the backcountry. How the snowmobiles they had, allowed them to access new terrain and endless pow. I had taken a step back from the park- contests were not my thing and was far more drawn to the adventure aspect of the backcountry. It only made the most sense to drop in and buy a sled. An old 1998 583 something, what I do remember was how crazy heavy it was and how much more challenging it was to maneuver in comparison to my current upgrade of a sled. I was also a rookie spending most of the day digging my 500 lb + sled out, this still happens from time to time. Next step I started begging friends to take me out with them. I got more hooked. The rest is history.
Photo by Erin Hogue @erinhogue / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
Many of our readers have never experienced anything like backcountry snowboarding. How would you describe the experience?
It’s magic. It’s like being on the moon. It’s quiet and peaceful. It’s humbling. It’s the best.
“How something can be both grounding, yet elevating, intoxicating yet soothing, wild yet serene, intensely primal yet patient, and cycling yet predictable within the shifts, and rhythms. Mountains keep us on edge yet wrap us in the sensation of safety all at once.”
Photo by Ashley Barker @barkerfoto / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
We also know that you love to surf! How do you balance your love for the snow and the ocean?
My grand master plan is to live in Whistler during the 5 snowy months of the year and in the remaining 7 months live somewhere where I can surf every day. It’s a present-day work in progress. The biggest challenge being how to pay the bills while abroad. I’ve come close a few times with a couple stints in Tofino B.C. where I could work and surf every day. I’ve also rocked a few 2 month stints to the Island of the Gods and neighboring islands of Indonesia- those sessions made possible by stacking cash before I left and teaching a bit of yoga. I love it there. Shorter more local trips are always on the radar such as: Tofino, Victoria, Oregon, and Washington.
What motivates you to keep pushing the limits despite the dangers and risks involved in your sport?
To experience life to the fullest. To explore, experience, and live out all the opportunities this world has to offer us is truly the most polite way to go about living. The desire to continually progress on a personal level is part of my life. It’s an addiction that I’m totally okay with. Risk and danger are an indefinite pull to be present. A trickle down effect to slowing down and just being here now. Enjoy the moment.
Or maybe its the norepinephrine or the dopamine that gets the released when you take big risks and huck yourself off of mountains. Maybe it’s that appeal of consistently entering a “flow state”. The people and community. The environment. Who knows exactly what the compilation of reasons might be. But what I can simply say is, it makes me happy.
Photo by Robert Fiorella @robertfiorella / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
“When doing what we most love transforms us into the best possible version of ourselves and that version hints at even greater future possibilities, the urge to explore those possibilities becomes feverish compulsion. Intrinsic motivation goes through the roof.”
Who or what inspires you?
Anyone who is passionate about what they do. People that have that sparkle, because they go after their dreams and live life to the fullest. And obviously, being in the mountains and being in the ocean.
Photo by Todd Easterbrook @toddeasterbrook / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
What brings you the most happiness in the world?
Woah! Thats a big one.
Everything.
Happiness is a state of mind. Anything that brings me the present moment could be slotted into here. Those moments of quiet or observing are the foundation for me to be here now. Places that create a sense of stillness even if they are turbulent: sitting in the ocean alone when the cold rain pours down and the wind is howling, the sound of laying a turn in when the air is crisp and the snow is light, walking in the woods while the sun beams slice through the dense umbrella of trees…. I guess being in nature.
Being surround by positive people, witnessing kind gestures, seeing someone light up when they talk about their true passions, friends and friends that are now family, laughing until you cry and can barely even make a sound, animals and their ability to only be kind souls, cooking, chocolate, travel, sunrises, colors, coffee, bare feet… and and and!
Photo by Nathaniel Atakora @nathanielatakor / @billabongwomens @billabong_snowboarding
To learn more about Taylor, you can visit her website! You can also follow all of Taylor’s adventures on instagram, twitter and with the hashtag #createtravelinspire. Also be sure to follow @billabongwomens & @billabong_snowboarding!