LEFT TO RIGHT Elena racing slalom at a 1997 USASA event at Sierra-at-Tahoe. Photo: Hight Archives On the podium at USASA Nationals in 2000. “I’m not sure what event,” Elena says. “I used to do all of them.” Photo: Hight Archives “My first trip to Baldface Lodge [BC] with Burton Snowboards in 2007. It rained—I was gutted, but we ended up building quarter pipes and jumped off the roofs.”—Elena Hight Photo: Chris Owen Which mountain were you at first? I grew up riding Heavenly. There used to be a snowboard team there called the Heavenly Foundation. We would ride a lot of Kirkwood, a little bit of Sierra[-at-Tahoe]. Kirkwood was my dad’s favorite place— it used to be a mom-and-pop resort—and it has these gullies. I’d follow him down there as a kid making surfy turns… those memories have a special place in my heart. What did your mom do? My mom was in real estate and now she works for a tech company. My parents separated when we moved to the mountains, but they lived close, super amicable. Mom’s into the outdoors too, and we still ride together once a year—she rips for not getting out there very often. Growing up, snowboarding was our family thing. We would all go to the mountain, but I was a really, really competitive kid. The USASA events kept us busy. How did your parents pull it off financially? It took a lot to get us to all the contests, but I got a flow sponsorship from Burton when I was very young, too. My family put my snow-boarding first. I was very lucky. I got my first paid contract when I was 15, and it was a game changer for us. My parents gave up so much for me to pursue my dream. But I think they understood; Dad had competed in surfing—he grew up with legends like Gerry Lopez and understood how I could build an amazing life through board sports. Were you starting to have national success then? My first big success was in 2002-2003. I entered a Grand Prix, got third place and got invited to the X Games. The following season, I got multiple podiums and was invited to be on the U.S. Snowboard Team, and it took off from there. The team helped financially, and I had people looking out for me so Mom could stay home, take care of my brother and work. Then I went to the Olympics at 16, so it was a quick upward spiral. That was Torino in 2006. Who was looking out for you? And how well were they doing it? Snowboarding’s changed a lot since then. Things were a lot wilder and less serious. There was a group of us coming up within the sport —Kevin Pearce, Danny Davis, Louie Vito and Hannah Teter were all a little bit older than me, but we were all really determined to make it in the snowboard scene. We looked out for each other, pushed each other and built lifelong friendships along the way. I was also on the U.S. team with Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler, Tricia Burns, Danny Kass, Andy Finch, Steve Fisher, and Ross Powers. They were all at least eight years older than me and they were my idols. I had a lot of loose reign being on the road with them, but much like older sib-lings, they made sure I wasn’t going too crazy, took care of me when I got homesick, and included me in everything. Those first couple years shaped who I am as a person in so many ways. Which one of them gave you your first beer? It was a combination of the entire crew [laughs]. The scene was loose—those were the days where people still drank before events. They were sneaking me into bars and doing stuff we probably shouldn’t have been doing, but at the same time looking out for me. Danny might’ve handed me a couple beers. 074 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.1: Page 74
