Dalvík, Iceland – Powder Lines, a backcountry guiding tour business founded by a Utah professional snowboarder with type 1 diabetes, Sean Busby, recently completed an expedition through the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve on Iceland’s northernmost peninsula and one of the most rugged and remote areas on the Atlantic island. The expedition included countless ascents and descents in Iceland’s most remote fjords, many of which have never been snowboarded before.
“Snowboarding the Hornstrandir and breaking new ground was an amazing experience made meaningful by knowing that we were showing kids that diabetes doesn’t have to get in the way of our most ambitious goals,” said Busby. “I hope we inspire people with diabetes to actively manage their diabetes so they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to.”
After enduring a complicated diabetes diagnosis at age 19, Busby didn’t know if it would still be possible to snowboard at high altitudes and considered retiring from the sport. While reading stories at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Children’s Congress of children who had been living with Type 1 since birth, he began to realize how fortunate he was for having been free of the disease for the first 19 years of his life. He was empowered to give back to those kids as they were his inspiration to continue snowboarding.
Powder Lines was founded with the mission of conquering remote and unexplored environments as a way to demonstrate to youth with diabetes that anything is possible with proper diabetes management. The group’s expeditions incorporate educational components, including presentations from Busby that are broadcast live via satellite phone to children at diabetes foundations, schools and clinics.
Busby is also the founder of Riding On Insulin, which hosts snowboarding camps across the United States and throughout the world for youth with type 1 diabetes, fostering community and enriching lives through the power of skiing and snowboarding. He lives in Fountain Green, Utah, close by Snowbasin Resort.