{"id":806490,"date":"2020-04-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=381868"},"modified":"2020-04-17T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T15:00:00","slug":"gerard-family-reflects-on-brotherly-love-that-cultivated-reds-gold-medal-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/gerard-family-reflects-on-brotherly-love-that-cultivated-reds-gold-medal-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerard family reflects on brotherly love that cultivated Red\u2019s gold-medal talent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peak Performers winners from left: Red Gerard, snowboarding; Jon Kreamelmeyer, Nordic skiing; Trygve Berge, Alpine skiing; and Keri Herman; freestyle skiing.<\/strong>
Allison Seymour \/ aseymour@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

SILVERTHORNE \u2014 When Red Gerard and family moved to Summit County a dozen years ago, the then 7-year-old had no idea the snowboarding opportunity he was in for. As the family vehicle pulled along the southern inlet to Dillon Reservoir, near Summit High School, Red looked up at the telephone lines and the hill underneath.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I asked my brothers if that was the ski resort because I was so used to small hills back home in Ohio,\u201d Red said. \u201cI was not used to the stuff that we were going to go snowboard on. I slowly learned just how big the mountains were, bombing the whole hill and sliding onto my butt. I probably did that for a week straight before I learned how to link turns and stuff like that, and I was having so much fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dozen short years later, Red has followed in the snowboard tracks of his brothers and other friends here in Summit County to become one of the world\u2019s favorite snowboarders. An Olympic gold medalist and Burton US Open and Dew Tour champion before the age of 20, Red has put together a resume right up there with the greatest names in the county\u2019s hallowed snowboard history. Over the past quarter century, Summit County has arguably been the snowboard capital of the world, with legendary riders from Justin Reiter to Todd Richards to Chad Otterstrom, and many more, calling Breckenridge home.<\/p>\n

Red was selected as the snowboard winner of the Summit Daily\u2019s Peak Performers project \u2014 which honors the Mount Rushmore of the county\u2019s ski and snowboard history<\/a> \u2014 on the strength of his gold-medal success in contests and his backcountry filming paired with his giving back to the community. Earlier this year, Red and the Gerard family cut the ribbon on the Red\u2019s Backyard free hike-to rail park at Copper Mountain Resort. Inspired by the actual backyard parks Red and his brothers always have sculpted at their homes \u2014 from vacation cabins in rural New York to Blue River, Frisco and ultimately Silverthorne \u2014 Red\u2019s Backyard is meant to provide kids with the kind of low-cost opportunity to snowboard with friends that Red always had growing up. But Red and his family said the ultimate idea is so much more: to reimagine snowboarding opportunities for kids across the country.<\/p>\n

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