Have you heard the name Mike Jankowski? If not, you should. ‘Janks’ is the secret behind 18 U.S. snowboarding and freeskiing Olympic medals, has been the head coach of U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing for the past four years, and before that, was a coach of the U.S. Snowboarding halfpipe team for eight years. Not a bad resume.
Currently in Saas Fee, Switzerland for training camps, Janks was recently down under in New Zealand, coaching riders at Winter Games NZ—the first FIS World Cup events of the season. While there, Queenstown.com grabbed him for a quick interview, asking him five questions about his leadership skills, grassroots development and what he thinks freeskiing and snowboarding’s future looks like.
