Greater Heights with Snowmobile Freestyler, Colten Moore

Colten Moore’s big brother, Caleb, died after crashing in a Snowmobile Freestyle run at X Games Aspen 2013. Now, as Colten, 26, preps to defend Freestyle gold, he sits down to reflect on all that has passed.

- Alyssa Roenigk

A lot has been written about you and your family since Caleb’s death, and now your autobiography, Catching the Sky, comes out in January. When it was your turn to hold the pen, what did you want to say?

Most people ask me, “Really? Your parents support you through this, even after what happened?” That’s one of the most important things in my life. It means a lot that my family has been behind me 100 percent. Another thing I wanted to get through was how important my brother was to me. Without him, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I’m at today. I was always trying to keep up with him. He was fearless. He taught me and led the way. We were best friends.

In the past, keeping up with and beating Caleb was your motivation. What is your motivation to keep riding today?

Now I ride because I love it. My motivation is to push the sport and keep the sport alive. I also ride for my brother and to carry on his legacy. He taught me everything I know. Why would I throw that away?

What have you learned about yourself over the past three years?

I took for granted all the stuff Caleb did, from getting us into ride shows to teaching me to ride.If I broke something, he would fix it. He kept up with our taxes, our books, talked to our sponsors and our manager. I was that kid who was like, “I don’t want to grow up. I want to be a kid forever.”I used to be really shy, and I’ve broken out of my shell and learned to talk to people, to take care of business. Without him, I’ve had to grow up a lot.

How do you want your brother to be remembered?