Mt. Shasta native makes debut at Beijing Winter Olympics

MT. SHASTA, Calif—A Mt. Shasta native will compete for the gold Monday, in his Olympic debut. Robby Burns is on team USA’s snowboarding team and will take his first runs Monday night. We shared his story with you, a few weeks ago.

“I can remember from the time I was a little kid telling my parents I wanna get really good at this and go to the Olympics someday,” said Burns.

31-year-old Mt. Shasta man, Robby Burns is living his Olympic dream in Beijing this week. But his love for alpine snowboarding began many years ago, here, on the slopes of Mt. Shasta. Through decades of hard work and dedication, he’s finally earned a spot on snowboarding’s biggest stage.

“You keep chunking away at it for two decades and working hard, persevering and now at 31 years old and it a dream come true, it’s crazy I’m still in a little bit of shock,” said Burns.

But snowboarding isn’t all Burns does, he’s also a Shasta Trinity National Forest firefighter. He’s also on the forest’s interagency hotshot crew. Joesph Bogdan, the superintendent of Shasta Lake IHC worked alongside him for three years.

“We’ve had a couple of folks that come through the crew with unique stories of professional baseball players, a lottery winner but a first for an Olympic athlete,” said Bogdan.

The job is perfect for his schedule, in the summer, he’s battling wildfires. And when fire season is over, he has all the time he needs to carve Mt. Shasta’s slopes.

“His personality exuberances when he’s in that team environment, something about Robby when he’s with the group he fits in well and he is a great asset to the team,” said Bogdan.

Burns will compete Monday night alongside 31 of the best athletes in the world in the Parallel Giant Slalom event. One thing is certain, his support system and Mt. Shasta community will be cheering him on as he goes for the gold!

“We’re really excited, the whole town is excited, there are watch parties going on all over town it’s just the buzz around town,” said Jim Mullins, General Manager of Mt. Shasta Ski Park.