TJ Balon: From a Garbage Dump to Alaska’s Steepest Lines

Season 2 • Episode 6

From a frozen garbage dump to the Chugach

He learned to ski on a snow-covered garbage dump in Manitoba. Decades later, TJ Balon was standing above one of Alaska’s most intimidating lines, wondering which edge of his snowboard he wanted facing into the void.

In this episode, Austin sits down with Canadian-born snowboarder and photographer TJ Balon for a story that crosses continents, careers and more than a few questionable decisions made in the name of powder.

The Story

TJ’s snow life began in minus-40 Manitoba winters before a move to Banff showed him the community he had been looking for. He learned to snowboard to keep up with Mon, worked multiple jobs to finance back-to-back winters and built a life around following snow from Canada to Australia.

Japan arrived before the boom. TJ and Mon began taking groups into the powder, returning year after year as the trips grew and the dream became bigger. Alaska was the next frontier.

What followed included Valdez weather holds, life inside remote heli operations, joining the Points North Heli family in Cordova, learning the culture of the Chugach and eventually becoming part of the crew behind the experience.

One extraordinary day brought the full arc together. TJ crashed a drone in the mountains, recovered the memory card and its footage, then was unexpectedly invited to join a group of elite guides on Pontoon. He later filmed aerial footage for Warren Miller’s Face of Winter.

But this conversation is not only about lines, helicopters and footage. TJ and Austin also talk honestly about belonging, family, obsession, burnout, stepping away and learning to take pride in a life that once felt completely improbable.

In This Episode

A Manitoba childhood and learning on a garbage dump
Finding belonging in Banff
Learning to snowboard for Mon
Back-to-back winters and the ski-bum economy
Early Japan powder tours
Valdez, Cordova and Points North Heli-Adventures
What really happens during Alaska weather holds
The lost drone and the surviving memory card
Riding Pontoon with the guides
Filming for Warren Miller’s Face of Winter
Revelstoke, CMH and the COVID years
Family, burnout and the next chapter with Heli

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Meet TJ BALON

TJ Balon is a Canadian-born snowboarder and photographer based in Australia. His snow journey has taken him from Manitoba and Banff to Japan, Revelstoke and Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. Along the way he has led powder trips, worked behind the scenes at major heli-ski operations, flown drones in remote terrain and captured footage for Warren Miller.

He is now beginning a new chapter representing adventure-travel company Heli.

Connect with tj balon

@tjbalon

Watch or listen

Watch the full conversation on YouTube, listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or follow @onlyfriendsonapowday for clips.

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