Eagle snowboarder Jake Pates continues comeback, sneaks into Olympic halfpipe finals

Eagle snowboarder Jake Pates continued his inspiring comeback on Wednesday in Italy.

The 27-year-old — who stepped away from the sport due to physical and mental health struggles in 2020 — snuck into the Olympic halfpipe final. Pates scored 75.50 to finish as the 12th and final qualifier on Wednesday at the Snow Park in Livigno. All three Americans punched their tickets to Friday’s final.

“What an insane day. So proud of the homies,” Pates posted on Instagram. “I have so many people to thank for helping me along this incredible journey and I am so grateful to all of you for so much love and support!! We’re headed to finals baby.”

Australia’s five-time Olympian Scotty James topped the 25-athlete field with a 94.00 in his first run.

“It was a good day at the office for sure,” he told olympics.com. “I was really happy with it and a lot of really good learnings too I can take away for Friday. The halfpipe’s running amazing, it’s perfect.”

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Alessandro Barbieri (88.50) led the U.S. in fourth as Chase Josey posted a 76.50 to take 11th. Defending Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano sat in seventh after the qualification.

Pates made his first Olympic appearance in 2018, placing eighth in PyeongChang as a teenager. The journey back to the Games eight years later has been filled with trials and tribulations.

“It’s been nothing less than a rollercoaster for sure,” Pates told FOX Denver earlier this week. “I was really not in a great place mentally, physically.”

Pates said he tried to “keep the competition mindset going” in the couple seasons after his first Olympic appearance in 2018, but eventually “lost belief” in himself. He told FOX he was “internally struggling.”

“I’d had years of concussions leading up to that point, a lot of pressure from competitions, and I think some self doubt that kind of went unaddressed,” he said.

Pates stepped away from snowboarding in 2020.

“It wasn’t necessarily because of talent or lack of capability but it was just kind of more losing belief I think in myself that I could continue to progress,” he told FOX.

In fall of 2023, the itch started to come back. Pates said “supportive conversations” with close friends inside and outside the sport were key. He credited Hirano and his brother Kaishu for encouraging him to make a comeback. Pates said he and the Japanese stars grabbed sushi whenever the World Cup circuit came to Colorado.

“I remember them telling me every time, like, ‘dude what are you doing? Let’s get this going again. You need to compete again,'” Pates told FOX.

Pates placed 14th in a World Cup in Laax, Switzerland on Jan. 18, 2020. The next entry in his FIS profile is a 16th-place finish at Mammoth Mountain four years later. He won the NorAm Cup Premium a month and a half later. But he injured his ankle in November of 2024. As soon as he was healthy, Pates jetted out to Japan to live with the Hirano brothers. The pair hosted him for eight to nine weeks over the last six months in the Olympic build up, Pates said.

“I was kind of back and forth between Japan with them and Australia and Austria and Switzerland,” the Eagle snowboarder stated. “They really helped me get back on my feet. It makes me emotional just thinking about it because they really helped me change my life.”

Pates placed sixth at the Copper Mountain World Cup in December, officially inserting his name into the U.S. Olympic conversation. Now, he is set to represent the U.S. in the halfpipe finals on Friday at 11:30 a.m. MST.

“I was able to come out the other side with this burning passion for snowboarding again,” Pates told FOX. “I just want to leave people with this never give up statement. … You can lose hope and you can lose belief, but you can find it again.”