TPM Episode 382: Zach Miller, Paralympian, World Champion Snowboarder
The Powell Movement
Mike Powell
4.9 • 860 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2024
⏱️ 79 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Zach Miller is different than any World Champion I've had on the podcast. While he appears to be able-bodied, Zach has Cerebral Palsy, a neurological disorder that affects his mobility, posture, and balance. Zach found snowboarding through a hospital program, and that changed his life. Today, Zach is a Paralympian who travels the world to snowboard. On the podcast, we talk about CP and everything that goes along with it, including fatigue, challenges, and bullying. We also talk about competing against adaptive athletes while he looks able-bodied and the challenges that created. And, of course, we discuss money or complete lack thereof it, the Paralympics, and a whole lot more. It's a different and important episode that everyone should hear.
Zach Miller Show Notes:
5:00: Russell Wilson and God, Cerebral Palsy, he's different than most adaptive athletes, growing up like he's normal, and getting bullied.
21:30: Stanley: Get up 60% off at Stanley1913.com
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24:30: Finding sports through his doctors, quitting skiing for snowboarding, Beijing Paralympic story, did he pick the wrong sport, US Paralympic Soccer Team, and being told he's too functional to compete against para-athletes.
42:45: Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: Over 60 years of getting you out there.
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45:45: Kidney's shut down, does CP affect his learning, stigma, and challenges that will happen at the Paralympics in Paris
57:00: Getting shamed for making jokes, the disappointment of not making the team in 2018, nothings paid for and there is no prize money, almost being forced to quit, and finally making the Paralympic Team in 2022
69:00: Inappropriate Questions
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have a seat on your porcelain throne. |
| 0:02.3 | It's time to talk some shit on the Powell Movement. |
| 0:13.5 | Welcome to the Powell Movement. |
| 0:16.9 | I'm your host Mike Powell, and while my ski season is over, |
| 0:20.1 | this week has been crazy seeing all my friends in California score deep powder days. |
| 0:25.5 | I mean, this season started out looking so bad, and I know all the dealers and the retailers felt that from what I hear. |
| 0:32.6 | Everyone was down numbers-wise, and product closeouts started in early January, it seemed like. But the snow |
| 0:38.7 | didn't really start falling like we usually see it until mid-February. You can blame it on El Nino, |
| 0:44.1 | you can blame it on climate change. I'm no scientist, I'm just a podcaster, so I really don't |
| 0:49.2 | know why it played out like that. And I don't know where I'm going with this, other than to say |
| 0:53.4 | I'm jealous. Not just |
| 0:55.1 | of the powder days that everybody's had in May? At all the days my friends have gotten this season. |
| 1:00.4 | I skied a lot less this year than I have in a long time. While that's a bummer, I've had way more |
| 1:05.5 | important shit that I've had to tend to. My saving grace has been the 20 or so days I've had on |
| 1:10.1 | snow and this podcast, because these |
| 1:12.6 | days I get a lot of joy just talking about snow since I can't be on it as much. Hopefully that |
| 1:17.8 | changes soon, but you know what they say, family first. I will say to all of you out there who |
| 1:23.8 | have a mountain that's still open with plenty of snow, try and get out there one more time before you call it a year. While I called my ski season, the podcast goes on, and I don't |
| 1:32.8 | take breaks, and that's why I'm the longest, continuous weekly podcast in snow. The one thing I |
| 1:38.5 | haven't had that every other podcast seems to have is merch, but that's about to change. While I think my podcast is arguably |
| 1:45.5 | the best in the business, I know my new t-shirt is going to be the best-looking podcast t-shirt |
| 1:49.9 | ever created in snow. I made a limited run of shirts with art from one of my favorite artist, |
... |
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