I met Gaon’s family in Mammoth Lakes. At the time, Tristam was 13, and I was one of only two Koreans around. We had just joined the Mammoth team after our stint in Hawaii in pursuit of halfpipe, but I didn’t really know anything about snowboarding. What began as simple chats with Gaon’s mom in the cafeteria while we watched over the halfpipe gradually grew into something much more — they began mentoring Tristam.