Mental Health Awareness: How Maddy Schaffrick Retired a Decade ago to Come Back Stronger Than Ever

When Maddy Schaffrick retired from professional snowboarding at just 20 years old, it wasn’t because her body gave out — it was because her mind did. A rising star who had been competing internationally since age 14, Schaffrick walked away from the sport not with a medal, but with a quiet realization: she didn’t know who she was without snowboarding. Struggling with her mental health, she recalled, “I didn’t have the tools or the space to figure it out back then.” Nearly a decade later, after years spent healing, coaching, and rediscovering joy, Schaffrick returned not just to the halfpipe — but to herself.

By the time she was 20, Schaffrick had already lived what many would call a full career. A teenage prodigy from Steamboat Springs, Colo., she had traveled the world, competed in X Games and Dew Tours, and twice attempted to qualify for the Olympics. But in 2015, just seven years after making the U.S. national snowboard team at 14, she walked away — burned out, broken, and uncertain of who she was without her snowboard.

Having barely finished high school, she suddenly found herself back in her hometown with no degree, no plan, and a deep sense of disconnection.

“Back then, there was not as much talk about mental health,” she said. “There were definitely resources out there, but we weren’t told about them, and they didn’t feel readily available.”

She took a job as a plumber — “I wanted to work with my hands and learn something new” — and figured snowboarding was in the rearview mirror. But less than a year later, a free season pass changed everything.

It started with coaching a group of 7- to 9-year-olds at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

“I volunteered just to get a free pass,” Schaffrick laughed. “But it only took about a week of riding with those kids for me to remember why I loved snowboarding in the first place.”

Over time, that joy evolved into a career. She became head coach of the Winter Sports Club’s junior and senior snowboard programs, eventually working with athletes from 9 to 19 years old.

“Coaching brought me joy in a way that competing hadn’t for years,” she said. “I started to see competition in a new light, through their eyes. I realized it wasn’t about results — it was about connection.”

And in helping others reconnect with their passion, she unknowingly began rekindling her own.

In 2022, Schaffrick joined the U.S. halfpipe team as a coach. A fall training trip to Saas-Fee, Switzerland, planted a seed she hadn’t expected: the desire to return.

“I hadn’t been back to a World Cup in almost a decade, but something stirred in me. I realized I still had more to give — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.”

At 29, she began training again. Two years later, she’s now rejoined the U.S. Snowboard Pro Halfpipe team — not as a coach, but as a competitor.

Her first World Cup back in nine years, she landed a career-best third-place finish. Then, at the 2025 World Championships in Corvatsch, Switzerland, two weeks before her 31st birthday, she landed her first-ever 900 in competition — something she had been chasing for over 15 years. “Took me 30 years to do a 900 in comp,” she boasted on social media. “Finished 11th on finals day and it couldn’t have been a better celebration of one of the most fun, challenging, and self-affirming seasons of my life.”

The snowboarding world she returned to was radically different.

“People are taking themselves seriously now. They’re in the gym, they’re not partying as much, they’re eating well,” Schaffrick said.

And the changes were more than physical. “There’s more support for mental health now. More awareness. People are starting to check in with the younger athletes, especially when they’re away from their families.”

That shift made all the difference for Schaffrick. “I’m not the same person I was at 20. I’ve done so much work to learn who I am, and now snowboarding is just a way for me to see what I’m capable of.”

Returning to elite competition required more than just physical conditioning — it meant rewriting the story she had told herself for years.

“I dealt with a lot of regret and self-doubt," Shaffrick said. "For a long time, I believed I couldn’t accomplish my goals. That I didn’t have what it took.”

This time around, she’s choosing to write a new narrative. “I came back to reclaim my experience and do it differently.”

When self-doubt creeps in, she turns to a mental strategy she’s developed over years of therapy and growth.

“I zoom out, see the whole picture, and then zoom back in to find one thing I can focus on," she explained. "That helps me get grounded.”

She also doesn’t hesitate to take breaks when she needs them. “I took the entire month of February off last season, just to be home in Steamboat and recharge. That kind of decision would’ve felt impossible when I was younger.”

For Schaffrick, success isn’t about medals or rankings anymore. “Now, it’s about how I do what I do. It’s about how I show up, how I treat others, and how I speak to myself.”

That mindset shift has changed everything. “I don’t remember the podiums as much as I remember the moments where I landed a trick I’d been working on, or how I supported a teammate.”

Still, the dream of making the Olympics burns bright. Milano-Cortina in 2026 would be her third attempt, and her first Games if she qualifies.

“I started crying the last time someone asked me what it would mean to make the Olympics. I can't even put it into words. Just that I’d be so proud. That I believed in myself — and I was right to.”

Schaffrick’s journey has made her an outspoken advocate for mental health and athlete development.

“Elite athletes are still developing humans," she said. "We need to be supported as people first, athletes second.”

To anyone thinking about stepping away from their sport, she offers a message of hope.

“It’s okay to take a break," she began. "There’s so much more to you than your sport. And if the passion comes back, you’ll know. Just make sure you're surrounded by people who support you as a whole person, not just for what you can do on snow.”

What pulls her back to the board on the hard days? “I think about who I want to be. My strongest, kindest, most empowered self. That version of me is still inside, and I want to keep growing into her.”

“I love that snowboarding lets me find out what I’m capable of,” she added. “And I love the people. The weird, wonderful experiences. The family I’ve built through this sport.”

As the Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026 approach, Schaffrick isn’t just chasing a dream — she’s redefining it.

“This isn’t about proving anything to anyone else. It’s about rewriting my story, and doing it with joy.”