Five years ago, as he was beginning his rehabilitation from a spinal-cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down, competitive snowmachiner Paul Thacker of Anchorage began plotting his return to the X Games.
Thacker's comeback culminated with a silver medal Thursday in Aspen, Colorado, where he grabbed second place in the adaptive snocross race.
It was his first X Games medal in nearly a decade of trying – the first few years as an able-bodied athlete and the last couple as an adaptive racer.
Thacker, 41, made five laps around the snocross course at Buttermilk Mountain in 5 minutes, 26.438 seconds. He edged bronze-medalist E.J. Poplawski by four seconds and was nearly a minute behind six-time X Games champion Mike Schultz.
"The X Games has always kind of been my nemesis," Thacker said by phone Thursday night. "When I was able-bodied, when I got hurt, after I got hurt – if something could go wrong, it would.
"To finally have that monkey off my back this year – in my ninth try – feels super-great."
Thacker grew up in Willow, went to high school in Houston and several years ago quit a banking job to become a professional snowmachine racer and a regular at the X Games and other competitions.
In 2009, he became the first snowmachiner to jump more than 300 feet when he soared 301.5 feet and landed safely at a Minnesota raceway.
In November 2010, he was practicing tricks when he was slammed into his handlebars upon landing and broke his back. In no time, he began thinking about the 2011 X Games just weeks away.
"There was never a time when I didn't think that I would be riding again," he said.
"I was actually trying to get the doctor to let me race (that year), but my mom put the kibosh on that one."
At no time, seemingly, did the injury put the brakes on his career.
Monster Energy remained his sponsor through it all, and after his accident Thacker began a side venture as a motorsports announcer. After he won his medal on Thursday afternoon, he headed to the broadcast booth to contribute to ESPN's coverage of the able-bodied snocross competition.
Thacker never led Thursday's race, which was dominated by Schultz, a below-the-knee amputee who, unlike paraplegics like Thacker, can move around more and even stand on his sled.
"I have to be a litte more careful,"? Thacker said. "I have to wear a seat belt ... and I'm not able to use my legs to soak up (the pounding). I have to be a little more precise and not in as much of a hurry on some of the big jumps, because it'll hurt a lot more."
With Schultz taking control of the race early, Thacker was part of a fierce battle for second place.
"I did OK in seeding when I picked an outside line – I had a sled that was working really well the last couple of days, so I knew I could get to the corner before everyone else, and that's what happened," he said. "The guys on the inside got tangled.
"I was in second, then I got passed for second, and as I was tracking the guy in second place down, he made a mistake and I got around and put some space between us. I thought, 'Is this really happening? Are you kidding me? Don't screw it up, man.' ''
He didn't, and now he's the proud owner of an X Games medal.
During his years as an able-bodied racer, Thacker competed at the X Games in a variety of events -- freestyle, speed and style, long jump and best trick. His best finish was fifth place in the 2008 speed and style competition.
As an adaptive snocross athlete at the X Games, Thacker placed sixth in 2013 and seventh in 2014.
Until this week, perhaps his biggest accomplishment was becoming the first person to fly the length of a football field on a snowmachine. Thursday he was flying high again.
"I would say this was one of the coolest feelings that I've ever had from riding my snowmachine," Thacker said. "It took a lot of time and work and effort, and I'm pumped up about it."