If you have ever been to Teppan Village, a sweet Japanese restaurant in Whistler, then you have probably seen Geoff Brown in action - Teppan-yaki action that is. He has been a fixture there for years, and not unlike his snowboarding, shows no sign of slowing down. A self-proclaimed workoholic, Geoff takes a blue-collar approach to his riding. He'll get out there and keep at it until he has accomplished what he set out to do.

After snowboarding for "so long that the years are all blending together," Geoff will still get 150-plus days on his board if the injury gods allow it. After fast tracking through university in his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick, he chased his little brother out to Whistler and nine years later still calls the resort town home. Despite a few hurdles along the way, his passion for riding is just as strong as it was when he first set foot on the west coast and he's not done yet.

Were there any specific moments or milestones in your snowboarding career that stoked the fire surrounding your passion for the shred?
Meeting up with all the Crapneto guys was a big milestone for me. Having a crew that really loved snowboarding as much as I did and got up every morning, went riding every single day, rain or shine, really helped me get into the routine of riding every day no matter what and realizing that's how you get better. The next milestone was getting involved with Sandbox and learning how to get up and go sledding every day looking for the perfect jump or heading out to find the perfect rails. I think those are the two aspects of my career that really got me to where I am now.

You kind of dropped off the map for a little while a couple years ago, what went on there?
I had a knee injury a few years back during Shine On. I tend to keep my injuries to myself, and that kind of ruined my season and morale. For two years the doctors were telling me I had arthritis and that I wouldn't be able to snowboard the same way ever again. I was super bummed; I could still ride, but not hard. My knee felt like it wasn't lubricated...it wasn't moving properly. I ended up losing my formal sponsors like Ripzone and K2 and couldn't film with Sandbox for a lot of political reasons and stuff like that.

From there I went to see a bunch of specialists, got an MRI on my knee and they couldn't find anything. Eventually I went to see this voodoo doctor...well, that's what I liked to call him anyway (laughing). He's not actually a doctor, he is a physiotherapist. I call him a voodoo doctor because he's like a magician...actually, he's more of a magic doctor (laughing). I saw him a little bit over a year ago and he said "Oh, I've seen this before." He was feeling around my knee and then said that I had chipped off a piece of cartilage and it had been floating around in there for two years. Within two sessions he stretched everything out and then turned to me and said, "this might hurt a little bit," at which point he manipulated and reefed on my knee, and I felt something pop from the back of my knee all the way to the front. I was sweating from the pain it was so intense. Paolo (that's his name), confidently told me how he was only one of two guys in the world that could do what he did or otherwise I would have had to get surgery. Sure enough, within two weeks I was back to 100% and it's been perfect ever since. He fixed my knee in two weeks when doctors couldn't do it in two years. I bought him a bottle of scotch to say thanks.

Where are you at now in terms of a film crew?
I was complaining a little bit there about my injuries, but I had a great season last year, stayed healthy and filmed with the Family Tree guys: Ryan Kenny, Nick Roy, Paul Lalonde and almost always with Vanessa Chan behind the lens. It definitely brought back my drive and love for snowboarding. My knee problems weighed on my motivation and work ethic a little bit so being healthy last year really helped. We put together a few webisodes we were proud of and came out with a short film called Your Weekend is my Everyday. We also made it into ‘Intersection' which was a big deal for me.  It was in the Telus festival and got some good reviews and feedback, which was awesome. I also got to go on the Sandbox heli shoot last summer which was super fun and reminded me what it feels like to be a part of something special and unique. Sandbox started supporting me through their helmets again and I've been doing a few webisodes and stuff like that. This season I'm going to try and build my sponsors back up and hopefully film a video part.

Family Tree's Your Weekend Is My Everyday

At the risk of sounding like an asshole - but let's be honest, I am an asshole - you have always been a ‘slow and easy wins the race' kind of guy. You've always been there and had some modest success but nothing major. What is it that keeps you grinding it out year in and year out?
First off, I don't think that makes you sound like an asshole, I take that as a compliment. I'm a hard working person, I'm not the extra crazy, talented person that lands everything first try, I have to work hard and I kind of like it that way. As for what drives me, I think it's that feeling when you've worked for 6 or 7 hours to get one trick that you've been thinking about for a couple days or even months. When you've put in a huge amount of work for one moment, that one moment just lasts forever. What drives me is that feeling of accomplishment that I get from working hard.

(keep clicking to see what's next for Mr. Brown, and the secrets to his longevity)