This story originally ran in the October 2008 issue of Freeskier (V11.2).

November 15, 1976
Just as winter sets in, Daniel Treadway is born in the chilly environment of Kenora, Ontario.

Winter, 1979
The Treadway family puts Dan on his first pair of skis at the tender age of 3. Mt. Evergreen and all of its 250 feet of vertical give Dan his first memories of sliding. Growing up, Dan and his brothers were at the ski hill the minute the
T bar started running until it shut down every weekend and Wednesday and Friday nights, the only times Mt. Evergreen was open.

Photo: Chris O’Connell

1986
As a 10-year-old, Dan tells his mom he is going to be on the cover of Powder as he is flipping through an issue. Pretty good prophecy little Dan makes.

Winter, 1994
Lured by the snow and the mountains, Dan sets off to the West, landing in Silver Star, BC. A year later, at 19, he takes up residence in the granddaddy of them all, Whistler, BC. “Dan was so excited,” recalls his brother Dave. “This is what he’d been waiting for his whole life… to move to the mountains and ski every day.”

Photo: Chris O’Connell

Winter, 1996
Dan hangs up the dishwashers apron, hands in the keys to the pizza delivery car and is able to pursue skiing full time.

1997
K2 gives Dan his first pair of skis and he is featured in his first published photo. He begins to think this could lead to something bigger. “He was pretty humble,” says Dave. “I remember seeing his first picture in Freeze, where he was just standing beside some guy at a heli pad, and I was like, ‘Wow, my bro is a pro skier!’ I hated it because he wouldn’t even tell me when he had a picture taken in a magazine. I’d have to go find them.”

Photo: Damian Cromwell

Winter, 1998
Dan gets hooked up with Rossignol and Oakley, two of the sponsors he is currently with ten years later.

Fall, 1999
Poor Boyz Productions releases 13 and with it, introduces Dan to the movie-going masses with his first movie segment.

Photo: Damian Cromwell

Winter 1999 / 2000
Dan’s infamous leap off an air in the permanently closed Don’t Miss area on Whistler leaves Dan banned from the resort for the year. “Dan wanted to hit an air off the Peak Chair that had never been hit,” says on-site companion Damian Cromwell. “The air is called OD (Oli, Dan). He sent it super far, narrowly missing rocks on the landing, but he managed to ski away unscathed. The patrollers never physically caught him and we spent the afternoon skiing over
on Blackcomb. But Whistler decided to ban Dan for the year anyway, figuring there was only one blonde ponytail guy that would have hit it. We partied that night to an Offspring and Pharcyde concert. Life was simple.”

February, 2001
Big-Air Dan lands his fi rst cover on the February 2001 issue of Powder. “That first cover is still my proudest moment,” Dan recalls.

Photo: Bryn Hughes

Fall, 2006
Warren Miller’s Off the Grid is released. “This is my favorite segment,” says Dan. “It was such an amazing trip [to India] and they did a great job of portraying the adventure.”

2001 – present
Dan has accumulated, by his last count, 42 covers, the last being a Chris O’Connell shot on the latest cover of Powder Hound, Australia’s main ski rag.

Photo: Damian Cromwell