‘Adapt and destroy’: Canadian Para snowboarder Tyler Turner hardwired to push boundaries

Most Paralympic athletes live relatively normal lives when they’re not competing.

Tyler Turner isn’t most athletes.

The decorated Para snowboarder spent the summer following his second straight world title competing on The Amazing Race Canada — a fitting adventure for someone who skydives, BASE jumps and makes a living as a parachuting instructor in the off-season.

For Turner, who finds peace in extreme sports, the high-stakes chaos of a snowboard cross final is the kind of setting where he feels most at ease.

“My heart rate when I jump out of an airplane is lower than when I'm driving on the highway. I find serenity in it; it’s my meditation,” Turner told CBC Sports.

The self-described “adrenaline enthusiast” from Campbell River, B.C., enters Milano-Cortina with a target on his back as the reigning champion and gold-medal favourite, but Turner is uniquely equipped to handle the pressure and stay focused on his main goal: to have fun.

And when Turner is having fun, the other racers are in trouble.

"My friends call me the 'fun hog,' that's my nickname — if I'm out having fun, then I'm dangerous. So I need to find the best way to just be snowboarding,” Turner said.

It’s been a winning formula for the 37-year-old double-amputee, who has continued to soar since becoming Canada’s first-ever Paralympic gold medallist in snowboard cross four years ago at his debut Games.

Competing in the men's SB-LL1 (lower limb) classification, Turner has been nothing short of dominant in the years since Beijing, completing a three-peat with his second and third world titles, along with three straight snowboard cross Crystal Globes as the overall World Cup leader.

Turner’s most recent world-championship triumph came on home snow last year at the Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna, B.C. He was named the top male winter Para athlete for 2025 by the International Paralympic Committee following his standout season.

The trailblazing Turner was also named a co-captain of the entire Canadian Paralympic Team in Milano-Cortina.

Turner’s success is part of a mission to redefine what is considered possible, an intrinsic need to push boundaries that has always been a core part of his mental makeup.

“I love finding out what's possible and where the line is. If I hit that line, I try and figure out if there's a way we can move it a little bit,” Turner said. “It's innate in me; I was born with this desire to push the limits. It's become a pursuit of what's possible as a human, not just as a double amputee.