Jessika Jenson of Rigby has never really had to go to work.

Well, she’s had some jobs at Kelly Canyon Ski Resort in Ririe. And she’s a part of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Contenders program that allows U.S. Olympians and Olympic hopefuls with demanding training schedules flexible employment.

But when it comes to the average, 9-to-5, everyday job? Jenson’s been able to skirt that.

“Snowboarding’s my job,” she said.

Jenson is in the midst of competing for a spot on the U.S. Winter Olympic snowboarding team. She first made the squad four years ago, placing 13th in the slopestyle competition in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The U.S. will send up to four women to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, to compete in both big air and slopestyle. There are 12 U.S. snowboarders, including Jenson, vying for those spots. Jenson sits in fourth place with two of five Olympic qualifying competitions left to go. The final qualifier is Jan. 17 to 20, and Jenson won’t know for sure if she’s made the Olympic team until two weeks prior to the Olympic Games beginning.

Jenson is straddling the line between confident and nervous as the competition leading up to the Olympics ramps up.

“It’s good to be a little bit nervous so you’re alert and aware,” she said. “We’re in a sport that progresses every single day, and we’re just trying to keep up with the latest tricks. I don’t know if anyone would say they’re 100 percent ready. You’ve just go to go in there knowing you’re putting in the hard work and you deserve to be there.”

Jenson has evolved as a snowboarder since competing in Sochi. She’s stronger, her bag of tricks has grown and she’s learned how to remain calm amongst the mental stresses and pressures that come with competing on some of snowboarding’s biggest stages.

“I think going into this Olympics, it’ll be nice to have the experience of knowing what the pressure’s going to be like and how to stay calm, confident and just live in the moment,” she said.

Jenson’s Olympic aspirations have their roots back in 2002 when the Winter Olympics were hosted in Salt Lake City. Jenson was 11. She remembers watching the women’s snowboard halftime competition on television and becoming inspired.

Jenson, who had taken up snowboarding when she was 10, would slice through the snow at Kelly Canyon. Her grandmother used to work at the resort, and her family would get free passes.

When Jenson was 16, she competed in a local rail jam at Grand Targhee in Alta, Wyoming. A coach out of Jackson Hole saw her riding and invited her to compete in the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Intermountain Series.

“I showed up there and I didn’t really have much experience hitting jumps, but I figured it out and did pretty well in my age group,” Jenson said.

Jenson ended up competing at nationals that same year, where she placed second. Suddenly, she realized she had the talent necessary to turn snowboarding into something more.

When Jenson was 18, she started riding professionally and competing in pro contests. When she was 20, she made the U.S. women’s snowboarding team. Two years after that, she made the Olympic squad.

It was an honor, Jenson said, to make her first Olympic team. She wants that feeling again.

“It was such a surreal experience the last time around,” she said. “I’d like to have another experience and be able to say I got to the Olympics twice and add another Olympic ring to the hand. I’ve invested a lot in these last four years, and I’ve been trying my best and working my hardest. I would just be another dream of mine to make the next Olympics and have another shot of getting a medal.”

It was a cold, blustery morning when 10-year-old Wade Kotter embarked on his first hunting expedition.

It was Oct. 14 at 3:30 a.m., and Wade and his dad, Kevin Kotter, had just left their home in Blackfoot. The temperatures were low. The snow was falling. When the pair arrived at their hunting spot nearly two hours later, the fierce, biting wind made it hard to maneuver.

But by noon, everything turned around. The wind had died down. The snow had ceased. The sun had come out.

And Wade — on his very first outing — had bagged his first buck.

“It started out to be the nastiest day you’d ever seen,” Kevin said. “And it turned out to be a beautiful day.”

Wade’s adventure began back in the summer when he went through an Idaho Fish and Game hunting education program that included a day course and two tests. On his own time, Wade practiced at the gun range and made sure to ask his dad, who has been hunting since he was 12 years old, plenty of questions.

By mid-October, Wade was ready. He and his dad were joined by his grandparents, Doug and Shelly Sayer, his uncle, Jim Warner, cousins Wyatt Warner and Kinley Wright, and his hunting guide and family friend, Toad.

Near Malta, the group traversed up a trail via four-wheelers into the backcountry. They initially were unsuccessful — stopping at a spot without seeing anything and stopping at another spot only to have a buck smell them and scurry away.

After hiking down a ridge, they spotted a group of aspen trees in the distance. It didn’t take long for a light brown, four-point buck to burst from the trees and come darting toward them.

“My dad yells, ‘Buck!’” Wade said. “And this buck just comes running out of the bottom.”

“He came straight toward us,” Kevin said. “He was pretty much on a full run. He turned and went broadside to us and ran for another 200 yards, and the whole time Wade was just very focused and determined. He was looking through his scope, never panicked. … The deer was just getting ready to crest the ridgeline, and he would’ve been gone, but he stopped for a split second. And Wade was just on him just like that. It really was pretty amazing.”

Wade took the shot, and the buck dropped.

After the group took photos, they gutted and skinned Wade’s kill, loaded it onto a four-wheeler and took it back down the mountain. The harvested meat is in the trusted hands of Del Monte Meats in Pocatello, and Wade already has a spot picked out on his bedroom wall to hang the mount.

“I had so many things going through my mind,” Wade said. “I’m like, ‘This is awesome. I got my first buck. I can’t wait to get my meat back.’”

With Wade’s kill, he achieved something that was tough to do this past hunting season. According to Jennifer Jackson, regional conservation educator for Idaho Fish and Game, data collected from check stations in the southeast region indicated a hunter success rate of about 12 percent in 2017. The last four years saw hunter success rates around 20 percent, with 2016 showing a 23 percent hunter success rate.

A harsh winter with more snowfall than past winters was a major factor in hunters being less successful this past hunting season.

“We’ve had four winters in a row that were mild,” Jackson said. “We had high fawn survival, and our adults did really well. Last year saw significant impact to our fawns.”

Whether this upcoming winter impacts hunting in 2018 or not, Wade is excited to get back out there next season.

“I’m really thankful for my grandma and grandpa, Doug and Shelly,” he said. “They’re the ones who bought my tag and got this hunt for me. … I wouldn’t be doing this right now if they hadn’t done that for me.”

Russell Davies lives for the next massive waterfall, the next epic dirt jump, the next summited climb.

The next rush of adrenaline.

“When you’re on the river or in the backcountry on trails or on a wall, you’re not like, ‘I have bills to pay,’ or, ‘I have girlfriend issues,’” Davies said. “All those things are gone. You’re not thinking about anything other than bombing down this new decline or new waterfall.”

Extreme sports — conquering extraordinary feats and pushing yourself to the brink — is therapeutic for Davies and so many other veterans like him.

It’s why he took up kayaking after returning home from the hellish chaos of war. It’s why he continues to push himself toward the next big thing. And it’s why his nonprofit, Professional Transformation Sports Development — with its newly minted 501©(3) status — aims to guide other veterans struggling with PTSD toward a more active and fulfilling lifestyle.

On Veterans Day at Pebble Creek Ski Area, East Fork Bikes and Panda Poles is hosting the premiere of the ski film, “Drop Everything.”

Premiering before that film is a short promotional documentary about Davies’ story, his nonprofit and how it helps veterans. Tickets are available at the door for $10 or at both East Fork Bikes and The Sand Trap in Pocatello for $8. Gates open at 5 p.m., and the event begins at 7 p.m.

Davies hopes the film, which will also be available online following its Saturday showing, inspires veterans stuck trying to acclimate back to everyday life.

“It’s nontraditional medicine,” Davies said. “It allows your brain to process things way better — the things you were holding back. It helps you realize you can achieve anything you put your mind to.”

Davies was born and raised in Pocatello and attended Highland High School. In 2006, with his life at a crossroads, he decided to join the military.

Davies was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, where he was deployed into combat zones in both Iraq and Afghanistan. At one point during a routine patrol, an IED detonated underneath Davies’ vehicle. Davies managed to survive the ordeal, but not without being wounded, and he received the Purple Heart medal.

Davies returned to Pocatello in 2011, and he had a difficult time adjusting to the relative calm of civilian life.

“I think everybody suffers with PTSD in some form,” he said. “The events that we go through as soldiers, especially infantry as frontline fighters, you’re going to encounter some pretty chaotic situations. … I was getting into fights and staying up late, and I quickly realized that was a pretty unhealthy lifestyle. Something needed to change.”

Davies saw a video of kayakers taking on extreme river obstacles and maneuvering down massive waterfalls. He eventually got in contact with an elite kayaking team out of Washington, where he quickly honed his kayaking skills, became sponsored and began getting paid to travel the globe and kayak the world’s most extreme areas.

“I kind of let go and turned the page and moved forward with my life,” he said. “Then one of my good friends I grew up with in Pocatello — we joined the military together and he got out — he unfortunately took his own life. And that kind of made me take a step back and say, ‘What’s going on?’”

Davies began to think about the positive impact kayaking and other sports such as skiing, rock climbing and mountain biking were having on his well-being. That’s when he began raising awareness about how his new, adventurous lifestyle was benefiting him, and he began encouraging other veterans to do the same.

Eventually, that goal to raise awareness turned into a nonprofit.

“Through outdoor sports, there are therapeutic aspects that go beyond anything we can explain for mental clarity and mental health,” Davies said. “This is my way of giving back and helping others find exactly what I found.”

Professional Transformation Sports Development brings veterans to Pocatello to partake in a two-week instruction course where they ski, snowboard, rock climb, mountain bike and kayak. The veterans are paired up with certified instructors. Everything — from lodging to food to equipment — is paid for. And when the program is finished, the veterans keep their equipment.

“We teach them how to do whatever sport they plan on learning,” Davies said. “Our ultimate goal is to reduce the overwhelming number of suicides in today’s men and women coming out of the military.”

Professional Transformation Sports Development doesn’t just bring veterans to Pocatello. The nonprofit’s website, ptsdveteranathletes.com, serves as a social networking platform where veterans who share the same outdoor passions can connect, plan expeditions and grow with each other. Folks interested in learning more about connecting or planning a trip to Pocatello for a two-week program, Davies said, are encouraged to register via the website. Davies also encourages those who wish to help further Davies’ cause to donate, also via the website.

Launching a kayak over a waterfall, backflipping over a ski jump and tearing down a mountain bike trail has helped Davies find his path. He hopes to extend that same opportunity to his veteran brothers and sisters.

“The heart-pounding adrenaline is part of what I love about it,” Davies said. “A lot of other veterans will relate to that.”

The late Nate Richardson was a man who had enough love in his heart to cover the world.

So when many, many people from all walks of life show up to the upcoming Nate Richardson Celebration of Life, it will come as little surprise. While not everyone at the event will know each other, they will have one very important thing in common: Nate made an impact on their lives in one way or another.

“He was a best friend to everybody,” said Nate’s fiancee, Cassandra Sorensen.

Added Nate’s sister, ChayAnne Crew, “He was. He didn’t know a stranger.”

The Nate Richardson Celebration of Life is Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Pocatello Trap Club at 1950 Boeing Ave. in Pocatello. The event is family friendly, and there will be raffles, trap shooting competitions for prizes, a children’s bounce house and food provided by the Sand Trap.

There’s no charge for the event itself, but there are fees to enter the trap shooting competitions. The featured trap shooting competition is $25 per ticket, and the top prize is a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun donated by ON Semiconductor. Folks have a chance to win another Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun via raffle. Entrance fees for the smaller trap shooting competitions will be in the $5 range.

Proceeds from the Nate Richardson Celebration of Life will go toward three separate causes: Idaho Fish and Game’s youth program, the Crime Victims Compensation Program and a scholarship for Idaho State University’s welding program.

“The benefit is about what Nate loved,” Cassandra said. “… The money is going right back into the community. We want to make sure people understand that there’s a side of him everybody needs to remember.”

Nate seemed destined for big things, but his life was cut short at the age of 30. Pocatello police say brothers Anthony Moreno, 23, and Gabriel Moreno, 25, both of Pocatello, murdered Nate in the early morning of June 24 during a physical altercation in an alley near Old Town Pocatello. Gabriel Moreno is charged with second-degree murder, while Anthony Moreno is charged with principal to second-degree murder. If convicted, both brothers face 10 years to life in prison. A trial date is set for Nov. 14, with a pretrial conference on Oct. 30.

A little more than a month after Nate passed away, his cousin and grandmother began discussing the desire to hold a benefit in Nate’s memory. They enlisted the help of Cassandra and ChayAnne, and the planning for the event got underway around early-to-mid-August.

Cassandra and ChayAnne managed to round up contributions and donations from individuals and businesses around Pocatello. The Pocatello Trap Club jumped at the chance to host the event.

Everywhere Cassandra and ChayAnne turned, it seemed the community was willing and able to lend a hand. And in their efforts, the pair discovered their beloved Nate knew and cared about more people than even they had realized.

“The best part about it is everybody you go talk to, almost everywhere we go, they go, ‘Yes, I knew him, he was a great guy and we are happy to help in any way that we can,’” ChayAnne said.

Indeed, Nate didn’t have acquaintances; he had friends. He was always willing to drop everything to help out the people he cared for, and he always made sure those who knew him best felt as loved as possible.

Cassandra remembers when they became official. Her and Nate had known each other a while, but it wasn’t until he asked her to dance at a gathering of mutual friends that the sparks really began to fly.

“As soon as he touched my hand and I touched his, it was an instant ‘There you are,’” she said. “… A very old-fashioned type of love — one that kind of lights your head, your heart, your soul, everything on fire. You feel complete.”

It’s been almost three months since anyone has heard Nate’s thundering laugh or been the recipient of one of his loving embraces. For Cassandra, ChayAnne and countless others, the good memories and funny stories help ease the heartache.

And come Saturday, Cassandra and ChayAnne hope those memories and stories are shared in earnest.

“Nate was a powerful force, and he loved people,” ChayAnne said. “He brought people together, and those are the people that we’re focusing his story and legacy on. We remember, and we laugh. And we miss him.”