Television personality and AZfoothills.com columnist Nadine Toren is scouring the area, finding savvy Valley features, bringing readers “on the scene.”  Every day she’ll introduce you to celebrities, athletes, and give you an inside look into local events and hot spots.  She'll touch on topical issues, and keep AZ fans posted on all the big talkers around town.

It was 1986 when Brian Harper first hit the slopes.

The now 42 year old considers himself one of Arizona’s original snowboarders, because this former pro-boarder took to the sport at a time when many thought it was just a fad.

He was born and raised in Flagstaff, but until 18-years-old, Harper never had the chance to test-drive “shredding the gnarr.”

Instead, he spent his spare time skateboarding; that’s because even though Flagstaff saw a seasonal winter wonderland, his high school did not offer winter sports at the time.

However, Harper could not resist being drawn to the snow, so once out of school, he traveled a chair-lift for the very first time, and easily picked up the sport at Flagstaff’s Arizona Snowbowl.

“You could skateboard in the winter, that’s how I looked at it. Everything was so new; we were basically the snowboarding pioneers of Arizona,” said Brian Harper, owner of California Ramp Works.

Our Arizona pioneer now runs California Ramp Works, the exclusive ramp-builder for the Summer X-Games.

But before Harper took to tools, he mastered snowboarding.

“In the spring of ‘87, I went to Breckenridge, Colorado and actually won the World Amateur Half-Pipe Championship,” said Harper.

That was only the beginning.

The champ continued to win numerous competitions as he traveled the world, courtesy of his Sims’ sponsorship. Harper’s forte was rocking the half-pipe, snowboarding slopes only pros would often frequent.

“It was completely the American dream to travel with a group of friends that all did the same thing as you, and actually get paid for it. Plus, we got to see the world. It was awesome.”

Harper lived his dream for more than ten years, but like many young, fresh up-and-coming stars, he says it went by too fast.