Reconnecting Roots with Liam Gill
As halfpipes have mostly disappeared from resorts across North America, launching out of an icy 22-foot wall has become somewhat of a lost art. Liam Gill is one of the few Canadians committed to keeping the discipline alive, and his journey has taken him across the globe. His successes in the pipe have created opportunities for him to advocate for snowboarding in the remote Indigenous communities of his Dene ancestors. This has been a dream of his since the start.
“When I was younger, I thought, when I make it big, I want to be able to use my success to give back and make sure other kids don’t have to be held back by financial barriers,” said Liam.
At 3 years old, Liam saw his dad, Lance, snowboarding and knew he wanted to do the same. In middle school, he frequented the icy slopes of Canada Olympic Park (COP) in his hometown of Calgary, AB, riding anything he could, becoming an ATV, moving seamlessly across jumps, rails and halfpipes. Liam struggled in school due to a language processing disorder. Snowboarding became a means of self-expression. “It was an outlet where I could prove to myself that I was good at something without talking, spelling or writing,” he said.
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