LEFT TO RIGHT Elena managing her sluff on a Donner Summit, CA backcountry line while filming with Nick Rus-sell and Danny Davis for her forthcoming TGR movie project. Photo: Ming Poon Elena’s dad, Mike, taking her out for a rip at Hanalei Bay, HI, in 1992. Photo: Hight Archives The Snowboarder’s Journal: What compelled you to produce this movie project? Elena Hight: I’ve spent over half my life in the snowboard industry. I started competing professionally when I was 13 and the contest scene really shaped who I am. Over the past six years, I began dabbling in filming and really stepping outside my comfort zone—I was always intrigued with it, but never jumped fully into it because I was still super excited about competing. As I started planning to make the transition from contests into filming, I really wanted to do it with a purpose—do more than just go out and film a video part. Part of what lost its luster about competing was its selfishness. Not selfishness in a bad way—I think competing elevates everyone helping you achieve this dream—but at the end of the day, it’s really all about you achieving your dream. I wanted to do something that might be able to touch people in a way that lasts longer than any contest result or three-minute clip. I want to be able to tell stories that inspire people to be their best person. How can I raise awareness about conservation, personal empowerment, equality and pushing the limits through this platform that I have built? How can I do that while living, pursuing my pas-sion in an authentic way? It’s really easy to say, “You should go protect the environment,” or “Let’s get inspired about following your dreams,” or “Step outside your comfort zone,” but when I see someone actually doing that and living it in a way that is really authentic, what they’re doing or saying has more depth and meaning. So, with that in mind, I asked how I could team up with other people that have a similar vision—who like to tell stories, who love snowboarding and the outdoors, and want to inspire people—and it kind of all came together with TGR. How do you maintain authenticity considering the scale of your project? It can be hard to do when you’re operating in this world of RED cameras and global travel. Honestly, I don’t have all the answers yet. It’s one of the things where we get these opportunities in life, no matter who you are or what you do, where you step out of your comfort zone and accept this huge chance of failure. There’s a big chance that I could make a fool out of myself, but for me, with this film, I have to try. Having that connective tissue is going to require the movie to be really heartfelt. The first step toward that is surrounding myself with people who are super experienced, who have really good ideas, who I really look up to, and by listening and observing I can learn a lot. Then I can take that and try to formulate something that is true to my own vision. What’s the message of the film? As snowboarders, we innately seek out unique moments that give us the opportunity to push our potential and leave our mark on the sport. These moments leave behind a footprint for the future genera-tion to follow and push past. We can continue to grow upon the sto-ries and successes of others to defy the odds of what we once thought impossible. There’s this element of human growth and development that parallels our growth as snowboarders that I find intriguing and inspiring on so many levels. Ultimately, I want to tell the story of growth, how we as snowboarders and humans are capable of so much more than we know. As a snowboarder you’ve got a unique origin story—you were born in Hawaii? I am originally from Kauai, HI. My family lived there until I was 6 and then we relocated to the mountains—we jumped around a little bit but ended up in Tahoe and I still live there. I grew up in South Lake Tahoe. Now, I live in Incline Village on the north end of the lake. My dad [Mike] is an avid surfer—he moved to Hawaii from Long Beach [CA] when he was 19 to surf. He’d leave the islands to spend a couple months in the mountains every year. He met Mom [Myra] there—she’d come from Los Angeles. When we moved to the moun-tains, the first thing he did was teach our whole family how to snow-board. He’s a free spirit who loves board sports, loves the outdoors, and he passed that on to me at a young age. He worked nights at this condo complex doing security and odd jobs, handyman stuff, so he could ride during the day. We would go snowboarding after school and every weekend together. I caught on super quick and started do-ing USASA events when I was 7-years-old. It took off from there. ELENA HIGHT 073
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.1: Page 73
