Hats off to two-time world champion and U.S. Paralympic snowboarder Zach Miller, who saved the day as he was riding his motorcycle on a Utah highway on his way to a training session. Miller was riding through Parleys Canyon when he noticed a pickup truck smoking. Upon closer inspection, Miller noticed the truck had an engine oil fire and he flagged down the driver, Hector Diaz, who quickly pulled over to the shoulder.

The fire was getting bigger and neither of them had a fire extinguisher, but luckily Diaz had water bottles in his truck that they used to put out the flames. With a potential crisis averted, Zach headed out to do his training. Great job, Zach!

“I’m going to put firefighter on my resume after today. No one was hurt and the emergency was dealt with quickly. This is a reminder to always have something in your car to deal with fire in case something similar happens to you or someone you share the road with!” -Zach Miller

“My brother, thank you, I was able to take the truck to the garage where it will be repaired. I will be without a truck for a few weeks, but thank God I am safe and can relax with my family” –Hector Diaz

About Zach Miller:

Zach was born with cerebral palsy and discovered snowboarding through the Denver Children’s Hospital sports program. Daniel Gale recruited Zach to his snowboard team at age 13 and helped him develop into a top athlete. Miller credits him as the most influential person in his sports career, as he not only taught him how to be an athlete, but also how to be an ambassador.

While working at Gale and Adaptive Action Sports, Zach quickly rose through the international rankings, securing a spot on the U.S. Para Snowboard Team in 2018. Since then, he has become a two-time World Champion, five-time World Championship medalist, and Paralympic competitor (2022). Zach’s goal is to be “a guy you always want to have on the mountain with you. Maybe a Paralympic gold medal too.” His fondest sports memory is winning his second World Championship title with Mike Minor. Recently, Zach Miller was awarded the 2023 ESPY Award for “Best Athlete with a Disability.” Zach finished last season with three medals at the 2023 World Championships in La Molina: Banked Slalom Team (Gold), Dual Banked Slalom (Silver), and Snowboardcross (Bronze).

Zach describes himself as a huge nerd, passionate gamer, and extremely competitive. His favorite thing about snowboarding is how fast he can go. His hobbies include gaming, motorcycling, and skeet shooting. Additionally, he now works as a coach at Adaptive Action Sports, teaching junior athletes how to snowboard and race. He also set up some new PCs in the office so they can start building a local adaptive esports program.