You think of Hawaii and you think of snow, don’t you? No? Strange then, that one of the world’s best snowboarders, Elena Hight grew up on the island of Kauai. This is home to some of surfing’s most famous champions, including Andy and Bruce Irons, but funnily enough, very few snowboarders. Yet Hight was the first woman to land a 900 in competition (when she was 13) and has proven to one of the most progressive girls in the superpipe.
She was the first woman to land a double backside alley-oop in halfpipe, and then the first person, man or woman, to nail one in competition. She has competed at the last three Olympics, has won five X Games medals and has been on some of the biggest podiums of the World Snowboard Tour. She still calls Hawaii home and again proves the theory that growing up at altitude isn’t always the way to snowboard success.