(NEXSTAR) - Snowboarder Jake Pates reached the halfpipe finals during a recent competition in Italy, marking a successful return to one of the largest stages in the sport. Pates had previously stepped away from professional snowboarding before beginning a journey back to the sport's highest level of competition. He emphasized that his return was motivated by a desire to share a message of perseverance. "I just want to leave people with this never give up statement and you know you can lose hope and you can lose belief, but you [can] find it again," Pates said. During the competition, Pates reached the halfpipe final. After landing his opening run, he was able to celebrate the moment with friends and family who were present in Italy. Pates described the performance as "the best run of my life" and noted that the experience felt as though his career had come "full circle." The snowboarder also spoke about the mental preparation involved in his return to the halfpipe. "I was like, manifestation complete," Pates said. "I had been manifesting that for a while and you know, it didn't look exactly how I wanted it to, but I landed the first run and I was really excited about that when I got to the bottom." Beyond the athletic competition, Pates gained significant traction on social media for videos documenting his personal life, including his search for a date on Valentine's Day. He described the videos as a reflection of his personality while navigating the romantic atmosphere of Italy as a single man. Pates noted that the engagement from his new followers has been a highlight of the trip. "All the love people are showing me has been amazing," Pates said. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by Nexstar. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by Nexstar staff before being published