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A bomb, a big decision and bond: Tyler Burdick’s military career ended, and his snowboarding career began, with an explosion

A roadside bomb in Afghanistan cost him his feet, but the Salt Lake City athlete has found a new platoon among his competitors

Joe Kusumoto, US Ski & Snowboard/contributed Tyler Burdick of Salt Lake City competes in a Para snowboarding event at Copper Mountain. Burdick, whose feet were injured when bomb exploded under his truck when he was serving with a Marines troop in Afghanistan in 2010, competed in snowboardcross as a standing athlete in the 2014 Paralympics. He returns to the Winter Games in Beijing as a below-the-knee amputee and will compete in men's banked slalom in the SB-LL1 class.