In February of 2025 the powsurf and snowskate community lost one of its finest. Nathan Ginn was a huge proponent and voice in powsurfing, snowskating and riversurfing. He was ALWAYS down to help others learn and enjoy the activities he love most. Nathan taught countless people how to powsurf and I was fortunate to get emails and messages from so many people who Nathan had helped over the years. He was selfless and genuine; truly a “one of a kind” person on this earth. Nathan would help anyone in need without hesitation and stoke them up every step of the way. Nathan’s smile was something special.. turning any frown around and his positive attitude would set any grump straight. Nathan passed away in a large avalanche on Berthoud Pass, a place were he had ridden his powsurfers and snowskates for decades. It was perhaps his favorite place on earth, that held countless precious memories. I was lucky to share some time with Nathan in a few of his favorite zones over the years as well as some other special places in and around Colorado. These were days that I will never forget.
There were a couple of great news stories written about Nathan’s passing that I’d like to share. These speak to what an incredible individual Nathan was. This one by a good friend of his and another person that he had turned on to powsurfing. Another one that David wrote for the Inertia Blog. This news story. And this news video that was the most informed of all the news stories that I had seen that tragic week.
Nathan Ginn was a great friend and a huge fan of Grassroots Powsurf. I’d like to share a few moments and intersting things about Nathan that stick out in my mind and will live in my heart forever.
Nathan Ginn reached out to me via email 11 years ago (2014), out of the blue. He had just discovered powsurfing, immediately fell in love with it, and he simply wanted to lend a hand spreading the joy. He knew Grassroots Powsurf was the real deal.. and he’d been following closely for years. He knew Grassroots was the original powsurf company and were the ones driving the boat; creating the powsurfing world. He wanted do be our “Colorado Representative” so he could show people how to do this and help our tiny business grow into something bigger. Of course I was happy to have some help.. being spread so thin I would accept help from nearly anyone.. but there was something special about Nathan’s enthusiasm for what Grassroots Powsurf was all about and his stoke for powsurfing itself.
We met in Denver one morning before the SIA tradeshow.. I was in town for 3 days for the event and Nathan and his wife Carrie met me for a quick breakfast before the tradeshow mayhem began. It was clear from day one that Nathan was the kind of person I wanted to be around & would gladly have help represent my small company. I snuck Nathan & Carrie into the Tradeshow where Grassroots Powsurf had piggy-backed with one of my friend’s companies to show our products to the snowboard industry.. because obviously we could never afford memberships, booths or anything near what any snowboard or ski company can afford. Nathan checked the place out, seeing hundreds of snowboard industry brands, but despite being an avid snowboarder for many years, he didn’t seem too intersted in all the snowboard stuff, and really only seemed interested in our little makeshift powsurf booth; and he really wanted to help Grassroots Powsurf grow.
Within a couple of weeks Nathan got the board he had asked for.. he’d saved his tax refund for exactly this. Then a couple of weeks later he sent me this video of him and his daughter Olina powsurfing.. it was clear that his stoke for powsurfing was real and that he clearly knew how to have a good time sharing the stoke.
Nathan took off on his 140 Powder Skate, immediately blasting ollies and linking turns with ease. An obvious natural. He had his kids, his step children on board and his wife Carrie making turns right off the bat. I was instantly impressed with his drive and skills.. as well as his connection to the community. Nathan was always telling me about any other powsurfers he had met in the area who also had Grassroots Powsurfers. Only a week or so had passed when he sent me another video of him and his family and friends powsurfing and having the best times.
Within a couple of weeks Nathan had ordered 3 more boards.. 120 Slasher, 140 Barracuda and a 140 Slasher Xtra Narrow.. an instant quiver for him and the whole family! When a guy living on a teachers salary drops in that hard you instantly know he is “one of us”. I got Nathan all set up with the boards he had ordered and then packed the box full of a bunch of soft goods, stickers, dvds and other goodies that he could give away to people and stoke out the community with. Nathan’s “ambassadorship” for Grassroots Powdersurfing was full speed ahead from there.
Nathan’s influence on powsurfing was unmatched in his area. He worked weekdays as an art teacher for young kids and in his free time he would take out anyone who was interested in learning. Such a self-less person and infectious with his stoke for life and for sliding on snow. He introduced so many new people to powsurfing and snowskating; and when word got back to me about these peoples experience they all had so much good to say about Nathan and his character.
Within a couple of years Nathan had amassed quite the quiver of Grassroots Powsurfers. He had a big variety for people to try out and see what would fit their style best and he had me make a few custom graphics that were dear to his heart. The Snow Warrior, pictured here, was a painting Nathan had made, inspired by our Ullr graphic.
In February of 2017 Nathan took his wife Carrie out for a moonlight powsurf session. It was February 11th, Nathan’s Birthday, so naturally he wanted to go powsurfing! That night he donated one of his boards to the Peter Rabbit Cabin, a small cabin/warming hut that is frequented by the locals. One more way he could let his light shine in the community and share the love of powsurfing.
Every year I met up with Nathan for a powsurf session or a day of snowskating. It was always so much fun no matter what the conditions had in store for us. One of my favorite memories was that when we met up he ALWAYS had a burrito for me. Nathan grew up in New Mexico and green chillies are a big deal there.. so he always had a killer bean burrito for me and it almost always had some mind blowing green chillies to flavor it up! The photo below means a lot to me.. three amigos in Nathan’s van, on the way to an epic day of powsurfing. Matt Quam, Jeremy Jensen & Nathan Ginn. Thanks Quam for snapping this pic! Big LOVE!
I was getting so many messages from people in the front range area who had met Nathan and they all had such great things to say. He was helping them learn to powsurf and sharing his quiver with them.. so I really wanted to gift him a fresh new board to show my appreciation. To my surprise, he basically refused the board!
Nathan’s friend Zac and his wife had just given birth to a new baby and Nathan wanted to give him a keiki 99cm child’s powsurfer instead of diapers, or some other typical baby shower gift. So when I emailed Nathan to tell him I was gifting him a new board and that I appreciated his efforts so much.. this was his response:
“Sharing your boards is just as rad as getting myself some powder. Seeing people grinning ear to ear is priceless! I am super stoked on the variety of boards I have! In my opinion, the 3D Powder Slut is the epitome of elegance in Powdersurfing. It seems faster than side cut boards. It floats, it slices when needed and it provides surfy turns! I love getting people on the Slut after trying the demo Slasher because they can really tell a difference. On bottomless days, the Powder Skate Twin is my Flying Carpet!
Everytime with Nathan was the best time, wether we were snowskating on pure ice when I’d visit Colorado and it was too early in the season to powsurf, or maybe we were getting faceshots all day long with the boys. The stoke was the same either way when Nathan was in the crew.
We shared many amazing days together and I was able to throw together this edit riding with Nathan Ginn, Matt Quam, Douglas Fletcher and myself. These guys have been instrumental in the spread of powsurfing in Colorado’s front range. I can’t thank them enough.. and everytime I watch this video I get chills. Forever grateful we got to share this day together.
A couple weeks before Nathan passed away I reached out to him about attending a powsurf event held in Crested Butte and asked if he could make it. It was a few extra hours out of the way for both of us but I was so hyped when he said both he and Carrie could make it! The Levitate with Levi was a first for both of us and we got to share a few runs together and enjoy the day. Zac also made it! (Zac was Nathan’s friend mentioned earlier who he gifted the child’s powsurfer too) So it was great to hang with “the family”. Nathan couln’t help but show me his recent “Art Project”. Zac’s splitsurfer had taken a huge hit to the nose on some rocks and Nathan had an idea on how to repair it. Nathan had been fighting with what he described as some kind of “mud bees” that were infesting his yard. He captured a bunch of them in epoxy and fixed the nose of Zac’s splitsurf beautifully! He was so excited to show me this and it really touched my heart.. it was clearly not an easy repair to make. It gave that board a whole new life and meaning to Zac.
It was just another selfless act that held special meaning.. and these were the kinds of things that Nathan did for everyone around him. If you were fortunate enough to know Nathan, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Immediately following the Levitate With Levi fundraiser event was the annual “Unbound at Howelson Hill” snowskate and powsurf event. An event that I looked forward to meeting Nathan at every year. This year was one of the best with sunny skies, fresh snow and a great course that our friend Lucas works so hard to make every year. This would be last session I would enjoy with Nathan before an avalanche took him from us. It was the most fun I’ve had snowskating since I had my hips replaced 3 years ago. Feeling a bit more athletic as my hips heal and get stronger, riding a new snowskate that I got from Paul Elkins that aboslutely ripped for riding the bowls and street course (Check out DRAW snowskates!!) and no doubt from feeding off Nathans infectious energy and Carrie’s laughter and stoke. I’m eternally grateful for that “one last session” we got to share. Snowskating all day and tandem bomb dropping on the powsurfers in the powder behind the tents… these would be my last memories with Nathan, but he will live on in my mind, heart and soul for as long as I live. Thanks again Nathan. Love you brother.
Thanks for shooting this clip Nathan! Always Down!
Nathan’s family reached out to me and wanted me to post a clip from his last day powsurfing. They wanted all of his friends and loved ones to know that Nathan passed away doing what he loved. It was difficult to watch in many ways but hearing the stoke in his voice, seeing the smile on his face and watching all his familiar “Nathanisms” brought tears to the eyes but also a sense of calm. I hope that others who know him find peace in this as well.
Nathan Ginn was a lot of things to a lot of people. An amazing friend, father, brother, husband, teacher and role model. One of the things that stood out the most about Nathan was his contaigious smile. Somehow he found a way to be happy about nearly everything in this world. If there was a bright side, he would show it to you and leave you smiling almost as big as he did. We are all so fortunate to have spent time with Nathan Ginn. May we all keep him fresh in our minds and hearts as we strive to “be like Nathan” and “Ride Like Nathan”.
Jeremy Jensen
Grassroots Powdersurfing
Grassroots Powdersurfing
Grassroots Powdersurfing
Grassroots Powdersurfing