“I’m realizing more and more as I grow that life is really about the moments that we have to let go, receive, and enjoy right now.”

—Mike Basich, Mike Basich’s Forever Gone, 2024.

Mike Basich knows a lot about what sort of stuff survives a fire and, alternatively, what doesn’t.

“Anything made of polyester disintegrates in seconds and I lost a lot of my vintage snowboarding contest things,” Mike says as he reflects on the blaze that burned down his shop in Colfax, CA, in November 2020. This past August, over the phone from his temporary place in Nevada City, he says, “It happened quick. I left and 30 minutes later the place was on fire from a washer/dryer electrical issue. Nobody expects that to happen to them.”

Understandably, Mike was devastated by the destruction. The fire ravenously consumed decades worth of tangible nostalgia—cherished memorabilia from his time as a prolific pro snowboarder, and more—mercilessly scorching remembrances stashed away for safekeeping in what would sadly become his wrecked workspace. Eight months later, the farmhouse he and his family were living in six miles from the old shop also burned down. The farmhouse was a casualty of a forest fire, one that claimed more than 70 homes.

Wisdom comes from experience, and through this ordeal Mike learned a lot of life lessons the hard way. Yet with the support of friends and family he overcame that hardship, going so far as to eventually view the once grueling tribulation as a gift in disguise.

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