Casey Andringa, US Olympic Freestyle Skier, Joins The Herd Has Spoken

Enjoy the conversation between Casey and Brad 

Brad  
Casey Andringa Welcome to the herd has spoken.

Casey  
Thanks for having me. Super excited to be a part of it.

Brad  
Yeah, absolutely. So obviously, you know, by now listeners already know your story. You know, Olympian, successful Olympian, dealt with a ton of adversity. But I want to start with something that's, that's near and dear to your heart. And that is the fact that you're actually a drummer. So tell me, tell me about your band, and what the status of Salty is. 

Casey  
So I will just clarify up front. Salty is a band that my friend Andre, and I started solely because I was decent at the drums. And he's really good at guitar and singing. And a couple years ago, and four or five years ago, now, we really just wanted to play punk rock songs in front of our friends. And we wanted to force people to listen. And so we're like, we're going to start a band. And he was the lead guitarist and singer. And then they, we actually switch off one song and I am the guitarist and singer, and he's the drummer. Which because I play guitar just got easier to travel with a guitar than it is drums. So it was kind of just like a fun little hobby thing. We played three, quote unquote shows at this point. But when I say shows, I mean our friends backyards, at their college houses and stuff. It's it's kind of just a fun thing. I like to say I'm in a band. And so that's why it's all over my profile on the internet. But at the end of the day, it's really just me and my buddy, just like jamming as loud as we can on some instruments. So it's, you know, maybe calling it a full blown band is a stretch, but we like to roll with it. We'll roll with it. 

Brad  
What's the top song in the Salty repertoire? 

Casey  
Oh my gosh, I think it's got to be what's my what's my age again by blink 182?

Brad  
Yes, yes.

Casey  
Favorite, classic, classic punk band song very cool. 

Brad  
So Casey, I think you've probably a lot of folks who are listening aren't aren't super familiar with your story. And so you're you're us Olympian, you're part of the US Ski Team, part of the freestyle team doing moguls, which, which basically means get on the whole go down the hill, crazy fast, hitting moguls, if you're not a skier, huge bumps back and forth, getting your your butt kicked. And then you go into these huge aerial jumps, where you're, you're, you're twisting around, you're doing flips. It's pretty crazy. It's it's sort of the one of the events of the Olympics that everyone loves to watch. And if they know absolutely nothing about about skiing, but as we know, life is not a success, only journey. And and you know, you've experienced more than your fair share of adversity. And so you you were you were part of the Pyongyang Olympics in Korea in 18, which is awesome. But I want to go back nine months before the Olympics. And my understanding is that in May 2017, the US national team came out and with rankings, in terms of who is most likely to be on the Olympic team. And there's three tiers of athletes. And there's tier one, which is the top two skiers for the for US national team. And Casey was not part of tier one. And then there's tier two, which is number three and four in terms of the US Ski Teams rankings, in case he was not part of tier two. And then there's tier three, which is kind of everybody else. So there's seven other people who are ranked in terms of their likely likelihood to make the Olympic team and the seven guys, and you are not part of that seven, group, either. So what I want to go back to as may 2017, and what's going through your head at the moment where you see the rankings being released, and you're not in Tier One, you're not in tier two, and you're not in tier three.

Casey  
Yeah, so it was a pretty devastating blow. Because I came out of that season in 2017. With my best season ever, there's a thing called the North American tour, which is basically compete all over the US and Canada. And the winner gets automatically named for the US team. And in the history of the tour. Basically, if you're second place, or if you're a contender, you also would get named, or if you know, the UBC and World Cups the following year. And there's so many stats I can tell you about it like so it's a Grand Prix kind of tour. So when you get points at every event, and then at the end, you know, there's overall points, you get, like 100, if you win an event, and then you get down to zero if you get like 30th, or whatever. And at the end of the whole tour at eight events, I was one of two people in the history of the circuit to ever get seven out of eight podiums on the circuit. And I also finished with over 500 points, which I know it's a pretty meaningless number in this context. But anybody that had ever scored over 300 points, had gotten named to the team instantly. And so I finished that tour in late March. And I ended up second due to like, one event that I kind of blew. But I was super excited. All the UFC guys that I beat in the whole tour came out to me, they're like, Hey, you know, can't wait for you to be our teammate, like, you know, like, so excited. You obviously did it, you'd beat all of us. And so I was feeling pretty good about it. I was like, you know, the Olympics coming up, I'm finally on the team. This is also I'm 21 this point, I think. And you know, I've had friends quit and retire. And I've dedicated all I've ever dreamed about was being on the US team scheme for my country. The Olympics, were the obvious dream. But at this point, I just wanted to make the US team. And so in April, there's a April 11, or something they they call everybody that made the team. And I was waiting for my call, and I didn't get a call. And I was like, Alright, whatever it is, maybe it's not April 11. Maybe I was mistaken. And all of a sudden one of my friends text me, he's like, did you hear anything? And I was like, No, not yet. Like, that's us tomorrow. And he's like, Oh, no, we all got our calls. And I was just crushed like it was. Instantly I pictured moving to Costa Rica and started a new life. And I was like, game over, like, let me do something else. This is hurt me too many times. For sure.

Brad  
Do you remember exactly where you were? When did your buddy text you that?

Casey  
Yeah, I do. Actually, I was on a road trip with my brother that we had actually gone on to count. We'd done this big road trip to California to go surfing and climbing and stuff and just sleeping in our car. With the sole reason that he knew I was like, going to be stressing about it every day for a month. Right. And so we went to like, get our heads clear. And then we got a call, like, I think we were in Big Sur California and I found out I was just like, just absolutely devastated. And so we came back to Colorado and I was just, you know, just crushed. And at this point, I'd given so much time so much energy and physically I just like you know, destroyed my body trying to get here. And I told my dad, I was like, you know, I think I'm done. Like it's I can't go through this again. Like there's these politics involved. I feel like I've been getting the short end of the stick for, you know, five years now. I had friends. You know, it's getting bad when you tell friends that I've had for years, you know, childhood friends and family. And when I told them that I was still skiing. They were like, Oh, good for you. That's cool, man. Yeah, you could tell there was some pity there. They kind of felt bad for me still chasing this pipe dream. And so I came back to I came back to Colorado and I told my dad I was like I'm I'm done. I can't This is too much from Like it sucks,

Brad  
I'm over it. I'm just over it. Yeah, you got to think at some point, maybe the world's telling you something, because my understanding is that you had other years where you are rocking out as well, you know, when you're, and you tore one meniscus, right when you're having one of your best years to date at that point. And then two years later, the exact same thing happened, but on a different knee, right. And so, all that it happened to where I was, like, so close, you're like, close to the top of the mountain, and you fall, get to the top of Mount and fall. So not a not only like that season, but just like cumulatively, there's a lot of signs, they're like, Casey, man, this isn't gonna happen, right?

Casey  
Yeah. And I've tried to, you know, even since I try to be in tune with, you know, like, what, what the, what I feel inside, and what I feel like the world is trying to tell me and stuff. And there was two ways to look at it, you know, there was a way where the way I felt where it was, the universe is telling me to be done, and to move on and to do something else in my life. And to, you know, go to school, and just, like, focus on that. And then there's the other way of looking at it, which is, you know, it's the Rocky Balboa story. It's like the, it's the sports dream, that's that dream that you when you're a little kid, like that's the story you hear. And that's what you believe in for the next 10 years of your life. And so that's kind of what my dad told me when I came back to Boulder, and he let it marinate for like, a week. And I was like, I was done, I was over it. And he finally sat me down. And just, you know, basically told me, Casey, the Olympics are 10 months away, or nine months away. This has been your dream your entire life. You've got nine months to try and get there. Why not go for it? Why not? And I was like, Oh, he's the world's telling me to be done. Like I've had setback after setback. And he's, he just kept saying over and over again. He's like, he's like, why not go for it? And he Luckily, you know, I've My parents are so supportive of these dreams I've had. And so he, he basically, I was like, Yeah, but like, you know, like, I want to go to school and work and like, you know, make my own money and stuff. And he's like, don't worry about that. We'll help you do, you know, whatever you need to do, if you want to do this. And so that night, I went to sleep and I thought about it a whole bunch. And I realized that like if I was too close to the Olympics, and I knew that I was I knew I was one of the top guys in the US. But it just just because I wasn't labeled that by the US team. It was you know, that's what defeated me. And so he that basically told me is like, if you if you truly know that you are at the top, or you know, you could be at the top is it not worth it to go for it. And so the next day, I told him that I'm going for it. And so we started laying out a plan for the summer, and he asked me what my next steps were. And basically, because I wasn't sure where I was gonna live, where I was going to train what we're going to do, because every regional team you're part of has like different training programs and stuff, but I knew that if this was gonna work, I needed it to be more intensive, I needed to work harder, I needed to be better, I needed to be stronger than I have ever had in my entire life. And so I made a joke about we could just get a pot, we could just get a camper and live in the woods, because up in Steam Boat, there's some route National Forests really close to the training centers that we use up here. And I it was just a joke. And about two weeks later, he calls me up and he goes, Hey, Casey, so I just bought this 90s pop up camper, for you and your brother to live in. 

Brad  

Later known as, right, as the Viking.

Casey
Yeah, it was the Viking. And so yeah, two weeks later, I came home and he had this old 90s pop up camper with some tears and stuff. And my brother Jesse and I he also excuse moguls, we moved all of our belongings up into the woods into steamboat, early in the summer for like a couple weeks just to test it out. And then we went and trained on snow. And then this is where the story really gets good at the end of the summer.

Brad  
Well, I want to pause you for a second and go back because I think this is a crucial moment here where you you kind of of course have setback after setback. And you'd clearly thought about quitting. In fact, sounded like you you'd started the wheels in motion towards doing that. And and obviously your dad he's a great athlete, college hockey player as well sat you down and really encourage you to you to think about it. But what I'm curious and I think a lot of people Listening would really want to know is, what is it that gave you the strength to keep going? I mean, how did you? How did you find that? Where did it come from? Like, ultimately, what what was the? What was the? What was the thought process that gave? I guess you shared the thought process. But how did you find that strength because I feel like that's really hard to get up after you've gotten knocked down like that one more time.

Casey  
For sure, I think. Honestly, everybody has a dream growing up, you know, when you're a little kid, you might maybe want to be an astronaut, or the president or a race car driver or something. And from my earliest memory, all I wanted to do was be an Olympic skier. That was like, every single decision I've made in my life, barring, you know, some, like teenage punk decisions, or just like rebellion or whatever. But but the majority of my decisions in my entire life, were in the direction of wanting to represent my country, and, you know, ski for the USA on an international scale. And so, I think just knowing that he genuinely believed I could do it. And feeling that, on top of having this dream that was, you know, the only the really the only thing standing in the way of it, at that point was how hard I worked. You know, I had, he was going to help me out with the living situation. And, you know, I, I knew how to train, I knew what I needed to do. And so from there, it just became like, my own little, you know, we grew up watching the movie miracle, with the 1980 hockey team.

Brad  
That's my favorite movie, yeah brother.

Casey  
So one of my dad's good friends, Mark Johnson was on that team. So we grew up, like really close to that whole story. And so it kind of like, I just caught this glimpse of like, it can be done, you know, like, it's, these, these stories are out there, because they do happen, like, why not me? Yeah,

Brad  
I love it. Because there's almost a story of identity. I feel like baked in there were like, this is what you've dreamed of your whole life. This is what you've worked towards your whole life. It's like, no, this, this is kind of who I am. And, and I think this comes to bear, you know, certainly later in the story that we're going towards, but it's kind of like, it's almost like a go for broke moment here. Right? Because you got nine months to go to the Olympics. And and you're clearly behind. Right, right, wrong or indifferent. That's, that's where you are. And it's kind of like, well, let's, let's get after it. Next thing, you know, you and your brother in a camper, in steamboat training training around the clock. So yeah, what walk us through here, because it sounds like this is this is the part of the story that gets particularly crazy. You're saying?

Casey  
Yeah, so if that was actually a really good way to put it, it was definitely a gopher broke situation. And one another thing that kind of helped, you know, push me in this direction was I, I've had so many, you know, so many people older than me, and everybody always telling younger folks, like, oh, you'll regret it when you're older. You know, like, it's the old adage that, like, you only regret the chances that you didn't take kind of thing. And so I thought about it, and I realized that, you know, nine months away, the only thing that's gonna, like, I'm trying to think of it like really phrase, but like, the only way that I would leave this situation upset with myself, and I'd regret it for the rest of my life is if I didn't give it 150% of what I've given it before. Because like, I'd worked hard, you know, like I was, I was like, one of the top guys in the US. So I thought, but I always felt like it maybe there was something I was leaving on the table. And so I kind of that summer was when I finally decided this is what I'm doing. I'm going to eat, sleep, and just breathe, skiing and being better at just doing everything I can. And so that's when we moved our camper onto rabbit ears pass. And we were there for two plus months. Which you're not really supposed to be camping for that long. But we like moved our camper a couple 100 yards every two weeks or whatever to, you know, say that whatever.

Brad  
Whatever it takes, man.

Casey  
And so, yeah, and so you were up there we had literally no distractions. We had, you know, like we were eating crazy healthy, just a lot of tuna sandwiches. A lot of protein that we were cooking like chickpea And rice for dinner every single night. Yeah, we would, we had when we went up there in the summertime, it was super nice, beautiful, you'd be going to bed and you'd be like 50 degrees out and see the stars. And it ended up late September, early October, and we'd be going to bed, when it'd be like you freezing out, and then you'd wake up to six to eight inches of snow on the ground, all of our water was frozen. So just to boil water for oatmeal, we'd have to chip the water out of our ice jug and put ice chunks in this like pot to melt them just to boil the water. And you're you know, it's definitely I think a lot of people and even myself would be deterred by something like that. Because like, it's, it's not easy living up there. Like you're living in the woods, like you're waking up with frost on your eyelashes. And like you're the whole camper is, like if you touch the metal, your hand sticks to it on the inside, it's not insulated as a pop up camper. It's made out of Canvas, and it will get down to 10 degrees at night, six degrees at night. And but it like the harder it got, and the worse the weather got. It kind of felt like just more and more like this was our story. You know, it was instead of deterring us and making us want to go home, it made us push harder, because all of a sudden we had these like these obvious obstacles are like, no one else is gonna push through this like, right.

Brad  
You're like Rocky Balboa training in the winter in Russia? Yeah. 

Casey  
Exactly. And so thank God, I had him up there, because I probably wouldn't, I probably would have, you know, gone and gotten a hotel room a lot of those nights, but I had him to, you know, he would have made fun of me if I tried to do that. So, yeah, so from there, we would, we'd go and we jump in the morning on these plastic jumps where you, you know, send it off into a lake. And then we either go to the gym afterwards, which is also where we showered at the gym, we had a membership to, or we would go poach the high school football equipment, the track and field equipment. And we'd set up obstacle course or run sprints, or, you know, agility training, like anything. And so we're training like two to three times a day, honestly, seven days a week for probably three months. 

Brad  
At that moment, Casey, what are you training for? Right? So obviously, you know, Olympics are nine months away. There's this ranking system. But what are you trying to aspire to? Because you don't just go from, you know, the the rankings, you know, nine months, eight months before the Olympics to qualifying. Like, there's there's interim steps along the way, I would guess like, you guys focused on trying to try to prepare for something along the way, like, Where was your head in terms of what the next step was?

Casey  
Yeah, so very astute observation, you cannot go just from my position. There's this, there's this kind of iconic event called us selections that happens now has this January, it's happened in December, every time I've ever seen it. And essentially, it's an event, it's like a, it's like a placement exam, basically. And so at that event, they take the top two are top one or two guys, and one or two girls, and they get to ski a World Cup. And everybody else does, well get to the ski the North American circuit again, but already decided I was not going to ski that same North American circuit, I was going to go to school, if I so basically, going into it. Based on my current ranking, where I was sitting, the only way for me to win these World Cups based on who was going to be at this event was to win, not just one of the days of competing, but both of the days of competition. If I had gotten if I got second, then I was going to pack it up and go to school full time. And, and so that event was December 16 or 17th of 2017. And I remember vividly, every single night laying in bed and getting that nauseous feeling in your stomach of anxiety, that's what you would feel before a big test or, you know, any big event in your life. But my big event was still three months away, and I literally couldn't sleep some nights because I was so concerned about it. And because that's the other thing about mobile scanning is you don't get any mistakes. There's no there's no do overs. And so your your qualification round. If you mess up, you don't get a second round. And then you in your semifinals run, you have to qualify for the top six, and if you mess up, you don't get a third round. And then when you're in the top six. Normally you know if you mess up a little bit, maybe you get third, but I didn't have any room for air and so it was it was I had to ski six perfect runs back to back which I've never done before.

Brad  
So you just fast enough With this every night, you know, when when you and your brother were camping, that was all you were focused on these six runs. And you're in a position where you've put that pressure on yourself, which I think is really interesting, right? You've said, Hey, if I don't go 646 That's it. I'm out. I'm going back to school in and I'm interested to hear the thinking behind that, because, because it sounds like there might have been a path and I don't know, right? So keep keep me honest here. There might have been a path. If you went to like the US challenges and you, you could have like, dominated that and done well. But you're of the mindset of like, hey, I've already done that. It didn't work. In order for me to do this. I need to I need to get to the World Cup and place there. So it was this? Was this an added layer of pressure you think you might have subconsciously put on yourself? Or was there literally no way you could make the Olympics unless you went to the World Cup event?

Casey  
So there's some sort of discretionary, you can get named to the World Cup team based off discretion. If a coach if the coaches see you and think that you're like, you know, the guy, there has been times when that happens. But I had seen for about five years now, but that was not going to be the case for me. Yeah. And, and so I just I read like, my path was only to win that event. So that was the only way it was going to happen. And I wasn't, I also wasn't going into it thinking like, oh, how can I end up on the US team at the end of the ski season? I wasn't, I wasn't out there trying to extend my, you know, 10 year ski legacy on the US team. I was there to code for the next nine months. And then I was that was it. That was all I could see was the Olympics.

Brad  
Olympics. What do I do to get to get to the Olympics? That very cool. Very cool. And in the interest of time, right? Obviously, you went ahead. Yeah, absolutely crushed it. For these these six runs, it was exactly like, You're what you were hoping for you you you want it going away is my my understanding. And then, and then you get to these World Cup events. And within a span of four days, you get a fifth and a seventh place in the World Cup. So you've suddenly had, like, the most amazing run. And then my understanding is you get the call, right? Soon after that. You get the call that says, hey, Casey, I all the all those struggles that you've had, all those doubts that you've you've found a way to overcome all the training, all the all the surgeries you had to deal with, they're gonna pay off, and you're going to be part of the Olympic team. Where were you in in that moment? And what was the feeling like when when you heard the news?

Casey  
Yeah, that whole month is the craziest, it's still it's one of those things that I never fully was able to even process because it happened so fast. I went from this like, you know, no name kid, to doing well, the World Cups and I got to see my world cup, I could have died happy right there. Like I got to where the USA flag. I got to ski for my country at a World Cup. Because I knew how much of a long shot the Olympics was. At that point. I was like, you know, the Olympics would be great, but I'm here. This is all I wanted my whole life. Like I I got to the World Cup. I didn't even care what happened. I was like, I'm just gonna ski. I cried most days out of like, tears of joy. Like it was just the most emotional thing for me. And like, I was going up the chairlift and I was walking in the course for my first ever woke up around and I literally just started bawling just because like it was too much for me. And, and then I did well, and then fast forward 30 days and people a lot of people think that you get named to the Olympic team, six months in advance a year in advance. At least that's what I thought growing up. But the it was about I think it was like January 25 or something. And we're in Tremblant Quebec. And we had our last event and we had a team meeting and I'm sitting there like, I'm not even really on the team. I'm just kind of a guest. And they're announcing the the Olympic team candidates and they're like, yeah, so Bradley Wilson and number one guy, Troy Murphy, number two, kitchen drinking number three, Emerson Smith number four. And I was like, like, Yeah, maybe. I mean, that's like, I thought it was like candidates like potential. Like, I didn't think that was set in stone. So I walked away. And I was like, that's pretty crazy. And my coach from Vail, who was actually at the event came up. He's like, Casey, like, you realize you did it. And I was like, No, those are just, that's you that can change. And he's like, no, Casey, that's happening like you've done it. Like you are going to the Olympics. And like I just like I'm starting to break down right now. Just even talking about it. Just It's not even a feeling I can really explain. Because it was so much just setback and like, destroying my body and like, not going to school and like not, you know, I had friendships that fell by the wayside and like all this stuff and I put my family through the wringer like there was a point in time where my dad hated answering the phone during the day for me, because every time I called him it was like an injury or I was dying or like, something like that. And so I got to call them and just be like, workout the Olympics, it was just like, oh, man. 

Brad  
Do you think do you think you would have been able to get to that point, and be able to I appreciate it that much. And, and have such fantastic success if you hadn't gone through all those challenges, because I gotta imagine, there's a lot of people listening right now. And they're going through shit, right? It might it might not be, you know, five, five injuries, some some odd decisions, you know, relative to number of podiums that you've gotten, but the people are going through through hardship. And and I'm curious, do you think you'd have been able to go that far and push yourself that hard? If you hadn't gone through all those setbacks? I think it's really interesting to hear you say, like, I found a little bit more room to push in that summer of 2017.

Casey  
Yeah, no, absolutely. Not. I think hadn't happened. Any other way. Had I been named to the US team that year? I don't think it would have happened to me, I don't think that it just everything had to boil down to this one. One event, and I guess, you know, it's, it's different for everybody. And I there were people on the Olympic team over there who have great success, since they were young. And like, you know, they were ecstatic because they got to see the Olympics. But like, as far as I know, I'm the only one that cried on my run up the Olympic chair, like, it was just, it was I kind of walked away from it, realizing that, you know, the harder you have to fight, the better it's going to feel like it. There's, you know, if things if things come easily to you, then what's the point, you know, there's really no, like, it's, it's a struggle, and it's the pain and it's the part of my friends, but the shitty parts, like, it's, it's all of that and makes the end of the end game worth it. And like I realized I got in this crazy circumstance, and I, you know, came out ahead and it just as easily could have gone the other way. It really like it was, you know, friggin one in a million that it worked out that way. But I think the only reason it happened is because I was at a point where I knew that I'd truly done everything that I possibly could everything in my power, that no matter how I went, if I fall in my first round at the US elections, and had to gone to school, I would have walked away and said, I did everything in my power, like there's, you know, that's all you can do. All you ever can do is just work as hard as you can control what you personally do and how you spend your time. And then the rest is just kind of up to fate in the world or, you know, whatever you personally believe in.

Brad  
So, there's a lot of noise out there. There's a lot of distraction. And somehow you've been able to put it all aside and concentrate on what's important. And how do you do that? Right. I mean, back then, right now, there's a lot going on, you know, as a, as a world class athlete, again, training who would win the national team in the midst of a pandemic, where we've already had, you know, Olympic cycle delayed a year, obviously, you know, it's not impacting the Winter Olympics, the best of my knowledge, but I there's a lot going on, and how, how are you able to put all that stuff to the side and be able to concentrate? 

Casey  
Yeah, I mean, I would be just straight up lying to you if I said that I was able to do that. Perfect. It's been, honestly, the pandemic I've been extremely, extremely lucky that, you know, my family members and I that have had COVID have made it out unscathed. And I can't really talk about or, you know, I can't attest to how the US team handles it because like I said, I haven't really been with the US team for the past eight months.

Brad  
That's because Andre is correct, Casey, because you've been dealing with some injuries.

Casey  
Oh, yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Because of because of more injuries. Um, but, uh, I think Yeah, for me pandemic on top of my freshly shattered wrist and recovering from my, my knee surgery that I had a year and a half ago, I definitely have not been good at pushing the distractions and the noise away. And I got to like, it's kind of my my story round to, you know, who knows how this one's gonna end up. But I was really, really struggling because, you know, I couldn't see my friends, I couldn't train at the US team. I couldn't, I was stuck at home, I turned 25. And I had to move home to nurse my hand that was stuck in an external fixator with a metal bar just holding my bones in place within the dream. And yeah, and I was, I was really sad. And I was like, I was pretty depressed. And that's another point where I was 100% sure I was done. I was, I was done as of October this year. And then, you know, I got lucky and had some good physical therapist for both my knee and my wrist. And I've taken some classes. And I got back into I went I did a bunch of coaching. So I was able to get back into the community and feel the skiing love and you know, like, all that again, and and then now I'm here at my first US team training camp sitting in steamboat and skied my first actual, like mobile run today in almost 18 months.

Brad  
So what an event what a day, right? It's definitely Yeah, cause to cause to celebrate for sure. And I love what you said in there. Because I've found that one of the best ways to get out of a challenging situation for anybody, when you're in a funk, when you're down is it happens to everybody, right? Like, here you are, you know, finished fifth place in the Olympics. On the US Ski Team, they look like you're gonna have shitty days, you're gonna have downtime, like we all do. And what I think's really cool is one of the things that you did to get yourself out of that is you started to give back to other people. And it's like, yeah, as a teacher, like, obviously, you've got a fantastic set of skills, where there's a lot of people who could benefit from hearing your advice. And you went, and you did that. And that was part of what lifted you out of the funk. And I've, I've heard some folks in, in the cities, and this might seem a little bit weird and kind of transactional, just from from a dollars perspective. But I know when people have like, really having a hard time, they've actually walked around the city and found people who were struggling, you know, homeless are really hard up and gave him you know, five bucks or a sob. Yeah, whatever the case is. And like, when when you give back to people, like the crazy thing is you wind up gaining so much more than you possibly even could give to someone else. And I think that's a really cool thing that whether you stumbled into it or not, like, you found a great way to be able to kind of lift yourself up throughout, throughout this challenging times.

Casey  
Oh, undoubtedly, yeah. And it's, it's been a, I was very lucky to have such a unique circumstance where I was able to work with these kids who were so passionate about this thing that I happen to know a lot about. And so while I got to, you know, help them get better and help them pursue their goals. They were also also helping me, not just, you know, relearn the basics and relearn, you know, like, all the technical little bits and stuff, but they also helped me like relearn, you know why we're all out there. You know, these kids are 15 years old. They don't, they don't have it's not as convoluted when you're 15. There's out there because they love ski and mobiles with their friends right now.

Brad  
Right here.

Casey  
So to be around that is just really cool. When I was like, Wow, it's it's really what it's about, you know, no one's getting rich off mobile skiing. Like, if you're doing it for the money, you better quit now. Yeah, I guess it's just so cool to be out there and be like, wow, it's really just about the community and, you know, being able to give back and just how much fun you have. And it really helped kind of reshaped my mindset about everything. Literally, this is only going back like 30 days. Very fresh. 

Brad  
I love it. I love it. Well, I want to I want to definitely talk about your Olympic experience, because we haven't had a chance to get in to get into that yet. But I think you bring up a great point here. As I look at the end of the day, you're your 25 year old athlete, and you're you're you've got a lot of stress on your right. But you find some really cool, you know, crazy ways to have fun in addition to, to, you know, you're giving back and teaching but you know, my my understanding is, you know, there's little Little tradition with Riley Campbell and all the folks at the you know, ski and snowboard club Vail, where before big events you're playing with crystals, you got matchboxes rolling up your arm and your and your helmet. But but really more broadly, like, how do you balance having fun, while like competing in a sport that's very serious in a lot of ways and requires, like 100% commitment.

Casey  
Yeah, I mean it. Honestly, if you my answer has changed over the past couple years. Like during the Olympics, I realized the only way that I've ever skied, the only way I've ever done well is when I'm just out there having a great time. And it works great for me, because I was the underdog. You know, when you're the underdog, it's easy to live that life. And so but now, you know, I'm a veteran on the US team and going into this next Olympics like I've, you know, I've, I'm the guy that kind of knows the ropes and there's expectations and stuff. And so I hope to find that that same mindset of realizing why I'm there. I think that's I think that's really what it boils down to, you know, is, obviously, I'd like to win a medal. But at the end of the day, like if it wasn't fun, if it wasn't a great time, I probably wouldn't be doing it. Because, you know, there's downsides. And I feel like the upsides outweigh the downsides when you get there. And so yeah, I, I hope that I can recreate that mindset moving forward and just kind of do it for the love of what I'm doing. And I get to ski with my brother now who's also on the US team. And that's like, super special.

Brad  
Yeah, what a great family story to like, your dad's the one that kind of pulled you to keep you going. Your brother obviously was the one you're your training partner throughout. And now he's a teammate with you, I mean, to have that sort of family engagement and like, a rock of a family. I mean, that's, that's such a huge blessing. And obviously, you know, that's, that's a tremendous part of your success. Is your is your family and then being there for you. Like for so many years making so many sacrifices? 

Casey  
Oh, for sure. And also, if my sister might listen to this, my sister, she also skied models and that she is a fantastic artists to you. So she wasn't crazy supportive? 

Brad  
I love it. Yeah, I've got I've got two sisters they've helped me helped shape me in, in so many ways. And I think that's, that's super, super important to call out for sure. So yeah, I think one of the things that you said that really struck a chord with me, and I think this is probably a part of your, your success here is sort of like, Look, you're gonna have big moments, and in big moments are gonna are gonna happen, but you can't necessarily control what's going to happen in that moment. But, man, it's freeing, and it's liberating. If you know, in your heart of hearts, like the you've done everything you could to be prepared for that moment. Because then it's kind of like, okay, I've done everything I can. I'm just gonna let it rip. I'm gonna have I'm gonna have a ton of fun. And I almost feel like what I heard you say, I don't want to put words in your mouth here, Casey. But is that is that because you because you work so hard, that allowed you to like, be free, in those most critical moments, to just have fun and do your thing? I mean, is that part of the recipe of success is like, knowing you've given everything you couldn't, you couldn't do anything more. So it's almost like freeing in that moment?

Casey  
Oh, 100% You said it better than I ever have, actually. So I might steal that. But yeah, there's, you know, cuz you can, you can only control so much, especially in a competitive environment, or just in life, you can only control a few, select few things. And so when you get to a big moment, and when you get to one of those, you know, impasses just knowing that you've done everything you can, and it's one thing to say that you've done everything you can and then there's it's another thing to feel that, like you said in your heart of hearts where, you know, there's no doubt in your mind, like you're gonna go to bed The next day, and you're not even gonna, you're not gonna lose any sleep over it because you are content with exactly you've worked. There's nothing else you could have done. And at that point, there's nothing else you can do. You know, like, it's no matter what it is, I mean, my van it's a 22nd Mobile run. And once you push out of the gate, you don't think you just you're just at the bottom before you even remember what happened. And so it's it's almost like it's not even up to you at that point, you know?

Brad  
Yeah, absolutely.

Casey  
Yeah, but yeah, it's kind of like it's out of your hands. 

Brad  
I love it. I love it. Well, look, we're we're, we're quite a ways in here we've sort of buried the lede, because we haven't even really talked about your Olympic experience. So I want to, I want to get a chance to talk about that. Because my understanding is, is you just totally pull an audible in the Olympics. And you just went after a stunt, which is that you've never done before, which is insane, right? Like, no one does this, like biggest moment of your life, you've prepared for 20 years at this point, and all of a sudden, you're doing a CT 1080. And you throw in his truck driver grabbed like, what what was going through your mind when you decided to pull in like a stunt? Because, I mean, look, for those that aren't listening, like, this is just not the way it's done. You don't do something that you haven't really not time and time and time again. And in the Olympics, like this is, this is like, next level boldness?

Casey  
Yeah, I've actually had a lot of people come up to me and like, shake me like, what were you thinking? Um, but in mobile skiing, the only tricks that you compete are tricks that you've been training for a year, two years, five years, those are the only tricks that you ever actually are throwing. But in the Olympics, I somehow made it into the super final round, after five rounds of competing, it was me and five other guys. And every run, I'd gotten down there with Riley Campbell, who's actually in my hotel room right now, he's the US team coach at this point. And I would get down to him be like, we would just start laughing at how hilarious it was that we were at the Olympics, because you know, a year before that, we had been skin nonsense events. And so I get that I qualify and super final, I'm just blown away. And I pull up to him. And I was like, Riley, do I do the trucker? And, because he you know, I, I trust that guy with my life, you know, whatever he tells me, for my whole ski career, if he told me to, you know, ski on my hands and knees like I would get Yeah, I mean, if he thinks it'll work, like, I just trust Him, inherently. And so this was the first time I get down there. And I asked him what triggers to do, and he, he said, you're gonna have to make the call on this one. And I was blown away, because normally, you know, we consult the magic eight ball pen, or we have crystals in our hands, just to lighten the mood or whatever. And he told me, he didn't know. And so there's this trick that I had been training all summer with my brother and steamboat. And I'd made this joke when I was training it, that if I was ever in the super final to the Olympics, I would throw this trick. And at that point, in me, I might as well have been saying, When I'm the President of the United States, you know, like it was just like a, something you say. And I've done it on snow a couple of times. I've done it once in preparation for the Olympics, but I'd never put it together in a full run before. And this is where this is where it gets kind of serendipitous, because this guy, Jonny Moseley, who won the gold medal in the 98 Olympics. And then in 2002, he did this new trick called General, that he should have won, he stomped it is crazy off axis spinny thing. And he got fourth, and it was this horrible injustice. And we're all pissed about it. But that's what got me into mobile scheme. Anyways, so Jonny Moseley is now commentating at the Olympics, for my super final run. And I don't know what trick I should do. So I'm on the chairlift, it's 11, a night pitch blackout, all I can see is like the golden course illuminated next to me. And I was just going over back and forth my head, you know, because I knew that if I did my normal run that I'd been doing, the best I could do is third place. It was if everything went perfectly, I would get third place. And I was going, I was going up the list and I was picturing, you know how I got to this moment. And like, all the things that had to transpire to line up the stars had to align perfectly. And I like went all the way back and I was like, why am I here? And I realized this because I saw Jonny Moseley when I was eight years old. So this crazy trick, even though he knew it probably wasn't going to score that well. And so I just I realized, like, eight year old me watching at home, like yeah, you don't, you don't ski at the Olympics to win third place. You're at the Olympics. Like you, you ski to win a gold medal. That's what you do.

Brad  
Let me pause you there because this is powerful, Casey. I mean, you're sitting here, riding the chairlift up for your final run at the Olympics in the super finals. And, and you're making a decision that all about helping the next generation of skiers just like Jonny Moseley helped you, and you're just you're thinking about like, Hey, I gotta do this. Like, I got to pay it forward. I got to make sure that I'm doing the craziest the most bold thing ever, like you said, so that my ceiling isn't finishing third, but but if it's being able to go after the gold.

Casey  
Yeah, I mean, I, I liked the way you put it, it's and I maybe it was doing it for the kids at home, but it was, you know, I just I just don't think I could have now I was talking about you want to you don't want to lose sleep at night over your passes and stuff you want to know you did everything you could. I like I realized that if I did my run I'd been doing which was a good run, like I, I would have ended up for third or fourth. And like, if you get a medal, you make a bunch of money, you get a medal, you could stand on the podium. Pretty cool. But I just realized that if I, if I didn't at least try to wait, that I would lie awake at night for the rest of my life, wondering what would have happened if I had gone for it. And also, like, the only reason I was even there was because I watched Jonny Moseley go for, right, even though he knew the odds were against him. And I just like that's, that wasn't my story. You know, my story wasn't? I've never been Mr. Consistency, who gets, you know, third places and gets on the podium? I, I'm a go for broke kind of person, I guess.

Brad  
Yeah, my understanding is that it paned out.

Brad  
Now, it doesn't, it doesn't but what I see is a track record for us, you really seem to, you know, be at your best in the most critical of moments. And, and that I think speaks to your training and your your preparedness. And my understanding is you've kind of developed through a lot of your challenges, right, some of them medical related. So some of them, like sort of just a mentality is one of the things that you like to say to yourself and to others was like, Are you afraid, right? I mean, what is that kind of a personification of you trying to just go after it? Or is that a different line of thinking here?

Casey  
Yeah, it's to me the are you afraid, slogan that kind of like in, you know, represented my whole Olympic run was it was felt for you to succeed. Because at the end of the day, it's always way easier to call quick, deca and play in the NFL, but I hurt my knee or like, right now, I could have done that. But like this others it, it just it lended itself more to like me is and so are you afraid it's scary? Like it's scary to, to go for it and risk failing? Because if you go for it, and you really go for it, and you don't succeed, the infj like, that's what you that's what you have is that you just are like, Oh, no, it was an injury. I wasn't tired. It was just I just, I didn't do it. And that's, I that's kind of what I realized is you have to embrace that, you know, you have to ask you like, Are you afraid to succeed? 

Brad  
I love it. I love it. Well, just a few last questions here in the interest of time before before we let you go. So so for for everyone out there. What's next for Casey Andringa.

Casey  
Yeah, so I said I skipped my first couple mobile runs today. And basically, I am just on a slow, a slow burn uphill to hopefully skiing full speed competition runs by the end of the season. I'm not going to compete this season. I'm doing some school right now. But the goal is to go into the summer the healthiest and strongest I've ever been. So I can start the start that Olympic grind all over again. And hopefully get there with my brother.

Brad  
I love it. I love it. The family family theme resonates again. So switching gears quickly here. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Casey  
My biggest pet peeve is my body hurting hands down. It's a I've learned that everything in life is awesome until your body hurts.

Brad  
Your body is definitely the greatest tool that you'll ever have. So it's it's tough to fully appreciate but having a few nicks and dings definitely makes you appreciate it. Love it. So I bought body pains biggest pet peeve. You've obviously been through a lot. What is the greatest piece of advice that you've received along the way Casey?

Casey  
Okay, so let's think about this a lot today. The greatest two pieces of advice first piece of advice is our entire lives and who we are is just a collection. of our small little habit, every habit you have day to day, no matter how, how good or bad just adds up to create who you are as a person. So if you can, if you can create good habits for yourself, then you can get where you're going. And then the next piece of advice is to just keep moving forward. Like, chick, it's really hard sometimes. And, you know, it's, it's really easy to see, when you're past it, you know, hindsight, you can see it really well that, you know, like, when you're at your lowest, then you can grind and you can, you know, make it out. And that's like, that's your story. But when you're down there, it does not feel like that. And it's really easy to get stuck. And so no matter how small the steps are, no matter no matter what direction you're going, it doesn't matter. Just keep moving forward.

Brad  
I love it. And I think that's a great story for skiing. But probably you'll even agree with this. More importantly, like that's just a great lesson for life in general. Because it's hard to stay. There's a good sort of Alpha and Omega moment here. It's like life is not a success, only a journey. And you've got to be comfortable with the the pain, the challenge and continue to go through it. Well, you've clearly done that. Casey, we're all going to be cheering for you here part of the MuskOx Herd and we appreciate everything that you've done. It's awesome to have you represent Team USA, we appreciate it. We know there's a ton of hard work that goes into it. And it's just awesome to see you and the whole team, you know, out there reppin the Red, White and Blue having it having a good time and, and doing it. So, you know. Thanks. Thanks for joining. Thanks for sharing your story. And like I said, we certainly appreciate you, you being part of the MuskOx Herd.

Casey  
Thanks so much for having me. This was awesome.

Brad  
Right on. All right. Thanks. Thanks again, Casey.