John Collier is a self-proclaimed action-sports maniac.

When the 31-year-old St. Louis native isn’t working his day job as a digital marketing specialist, he’s usually outdoors — often hiking with his yellow lab, Brighton. But once winter hits, you can find him shredding the slopes at Hidden Valley Ski Resort.

Collier has blended his passion for snowboarding with his background in media production to create Snowboard St. Louis, a growing community of local riders.

What began as a couple of social media pages and a few pieces of merch has quickly evolved into a distinct, close-knit scene.

Terrain recently spoke with Collier to get the details.

How did you get into snowboarding?
I started skiing as a teenager, but when I turned 21, I made a promise to myself to switch to boarding. A buddy and I started buying used and new gear and learning the culture. We spent a lot of time watching movies, reading magazines, researching the latest releases, and becoming fully invested in everything snowboarding. It was an obsession. Every Friday night, we would buy a discounted ticket and stay at Hidden Valley until 3 a.m. Then we’d go to Denny’s or Steak ’n Shake after. It was a fun time.

Sounds like a blast. What happened next?
I ended up applying to Hidden Valley, thinking that it’s such a cool place, but that their social media should be way more hype. They took me on, and I spent about two seasons with them. It was like VIP access. I went from obsessing over this little gem of a resort to helping promote it and seeing the behind-the-scenes side of the snow industry.

John Collier, founder of Snowboard St. Louis. (Courtesy of John Collier)

How did Snowboard St. Louis start?
One night in 2019, I started building the social media pages. The season started, and awareness took off fast. That first year, we sold 80 Snowboard St. Louis coats. Snow patrol thought we were a gang. Even skiers were wearing them. It was so crazy to pull up to the parking lot and see our logo everywhere. We set up a tent in the parking lot, and every now and then, we cooked or had a bonfire. We brought the ski-town culture to St. Louis.

How did things evolve?
We took it from parking-lot hangouts to thinking about how we can really bring everyone together. One of our biggest successes has been traveling to other Midwest resorts over the past three or four years. We bring merchandise and spread the word about our community — and show people that, yes, there really is a snowboarding scene in St. Louis.

As our audience grew, I connected with Scott Parrent at The Bike Center [in Des Peres] to help bring a true board shop to St. Louis. It’s now known as Outpost Boardshop [inside The Bike Center] and features some of the best brands in the industry. Over the last year or two, we’ve also partnered with Hidden Valley to support events, launch Ski St. Louis to include our friends on skis, and continue building the snow sports community across all ages and genders.

What are your goals for Snowboard St. Louis?
The long-term goal is to make snowboarding accessible to everybody in St. Louis — every age, every demographic — because once you do it one time, you pretty much fall in love. It’s an escape. I’d almost call it therapy. If you’ve never experienced a flow state doing something you love, snowboarding will potentially let you feel that.

For more information, visit here or here.

Author: Sydney Willis is a contributor to Terrain.

Top image: John Collier carves down a hill. (Courtesy of John Collier)