Tell us about what it means to be representing New Zealand on the 2025 Freeride World Tour?
Born in Auckland, with my family now living in Tauranga, I am super proud to represent NZ on the Freeride World Tour. There is so much Freeride history in NZ and from NZ athletes, I have known the Kiwi crew for a while and they are some of my best riding buddies. NZ is also where I did one of my first ever Freeride competitions (at Mt Olympus) and it was amazing – the Freeride community in NZ is really cool.
What inspired you to get into Freeriding and how did you get started?
I was instructing at Breckenridge (9 years ago) when some friends encouraged me to get into Freeride as they thought I would enjoy it. I did my first competition at Crested Butte - I crashed about five times, tomahawked through the finish line and got dead last but I loved it! It was so fun and the Freeride community was so welcoming and inviting so I wanted to do it again. The more I did it the better I got, and I really enjoyed competing at Mt Olympus and at The North Face Frontier in NZ throughout the years.
Can you share a standout moment of your snowboarding career?
I have two standout moments – one was laying down a circle carve in the finish coral of a couple of events, people really got jazzed about that which was fun. The other is when I won the Crested Butte Xtreme, as that is where it all started for me so it was a super special moment.
What are you goals both for this season and into the future?
I am coming into this 2025 FWT season as a rookie and a bit of an underdog, so I think it is best to go into these things not worrying about the outcome, but focussed on having the best time you can have. I am looking forward to heading away on the Tour, there will be so many exciting new experiences coming, including my first time snowboarding in Europe! Looking to the future, I would love to compete at the 2026 FIS Freeride World Championships.
5 days ago