Dylan Bidez made the crossover from skier to snowboarder at age six after busting his skis the year before and telling his mom not to bother getting him new ones. With that decision behind him, Bidez has spent the rest of his early years proving that the switch was the right move.

Evolving alongside his older sister and teammate Clair, Dylan Bidez has drawn from his sister’s success, using her achievements as motivation to progress his own game. A successful season in the winter of 2005-06 – one where he made the finals of the Grand Prix stop in Breckenridge, finished 19th in the slopestyle competition at the Vail Session, was crowned the Sports Illustrated Next X champ AND made it to the semifinal round at the US Open (whew!) – landed Bidez an invitation to join the US Snowboard Team in June of ’06.

Since then, Bidez has struggled to stay consistent in big-name events. However, he returned to top form for 2009-10, claiming a pair of fourth-place finishes on the Winter Dew Tour and two top-ten showings on the Grand Prix series.

Wonder if he ever regrets dumping his skis?