IN his own words, Jamie Rogers was "livin' the dream".When the 23-year-old Ballarat adventurer set off on his first overseas trip in July last year, his aim was to hit the famous Canadian ski slopes at Whistler.This week, his parents Lindsay and Ann spoke to The Courier about their son, "J", who died last month in Canada from hypothermia.Jamie, a maintenance fitter, gained his qualification as an apprentice at Goldacres.It had long been his plan to finish his apprenticeship and go to Whistler, where he could hone his skills."He couldn't wait to get there _ he was chomping at the bit to get on the plane," Ann said.Together with his mate Lukas Raschilla, they arrived in Whistler seven days into their trip and Jamie didn't leave."He always said to Lukas, `you want to go to the World Cup soccer; this is my World Cup Whistler'," Ann said.His aim was to race at the annual Crankworx mountain bike festival, which he did in August, ranking in the low 30s for downhill mountain-bike riding.His love for riding joined his other outdoor loves, fishing, camping, shooting and snowboarding.Ann said Jamie had a goal and stuck to it."He was livin' the dream," she said."He'd say, `you don't get much done sitting on the couch thinking about it, you've got to get up and do it'."In the week before he died, Jamie rang Ann, having been snowboarding the previous two weekends."He said, `mum, the snow's just awesome here, it's just unreal, I love it'," she recalled.On the weekend he died, he hit the slopes early on Saturday before going to work at Prior Snowboards.On his way home from a night out, he lost his wallet and housekey at the ATM 200m from his unit.His body was found the next morning, after he fell asleep outside his unit and suffered hypothermia. It had been Whistler's first cold night of the season, with temperatures down to -15C.Ann said their only compensation was that Jamie died peacefully."(Having not been able to get in), he would have thought `bugger this', laid there and sort of nodded off," she said."If you have to lose a child, you couldn't ask for a more peaceful way for him. He was in his element."For Ann and Lindsay, the news was "the end of a dream"."It's just sad and a shame, and just for some reason, his number was up," Ann said."It's sad all round but (some) people only have their children a few months; we were lucky we had him for nearly 24 years."Lindsay flew to Canada to bring Jamie's body home."It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do," he wrote in Jamie's death notice.At his funeral, held at St Patrick's Cathedral two days before Christmas, his mountain-bikes and helmet sat on the altar, while his mates formed a guard of honour at the church entrance.The church was packed with more than 600 family and friends, many of whom placed dozens of heartfelt notices in The Courier."We shared plenty of laughs, you were my best friend _ and neighbour and I love you," wrote his close friend of 10 years Claire Poppe."You did everything you wanted and more and I was just lucky enough to be a part of it," wrote Johno.Jamie would have turned 24 on New Year's Eve, which his family celebrated quietly with friends.He was not supposed to arrive home until April."I suppose a way of dealing with it ... part of him is still in Whistler," Ann said.Jamie's sisters Sally and Nikki, idolised and mothered him from when he came home as a baby.They are trying to cope with their brother's death, but are missing him terribly."He was the apple of their eye, he was `J', their little brother," Ann said.In a tribute, his mates at Prior Snowboarding went up the Whistler mountain with a snowboard they made in Jamie's honour, marked with his initials JMR 85-09.