Adventure Magazine

How did you first get into snowboarding, and what
attracted you to the sport? My family. My mum
snowboarded she since was young and then I also have
an older and a younger brother who snowboard. So it
was pretty natural for me to pick up. We always went
snowboarding together as a family on Saturday and Sunday.
Until around 16 years old, I was snowboarding as a
weekend rider with my family. But then it hit me that I
wanted to do it as a career. I wanted to learn new tricks and
travel the world.
In the beginning, I loved snowboarding but I wasn’t very
interested in hitting big jumps. But now I just want big
jumps! It’s weird how the mindset changes when you see or
get inspired by something. I’m really enjoying it now and I
like that I got to choose to do it at my own pace.
What challenges have you faced as a professional
snowboarder, and how did you overcome them? As a
professional, you are constantly wanting to learn new tricks
and land, but injuries always come with action sports. I think
the hardest thing I’ve faced was the injuries I’ve had in the
past year. It was a challenge but it was good that I was able
to go through that process and learn from it.
Are there any specific tricks or manoeuvres that you're
known for, or that you particularly enjoy performing? I
love front-side spins and front 7's with mute to tail grabs. It’s
something that I just do and whether it’s a small or big jump
it gives me a ‘’that was sick’’. It’s a trick that no matter where
I do it, I’m like ‘’I think that would’ve looked cool’’.
What does a typical training regimen look like for you
during the snowboarding season? I snowboard heaps
during the snow season but there’s a lot of behind-thescenes
training that I do as well. It’s essential to have a
strong body so strength and conditioning is a vital part of my
training because it’s a way to reduce the risk of injuries as
well as help to perform at your best. I snowboard five times
a week and have two days off and then I usually have two
or three gym sessions throughout the week. I also get to
learn about nutrition and psychology along the way.
You were at the Beijing Winter Olympics. How was
that experience? It was a pretty crazy experience! I got
injured there, which sucked. I actually didn’t know that I
was going to make it to Beijing until the last competition
that I did, which was around 2-3 weeks before. It was pretty
hectic. The level of riding was insane and although I didn’t
really get to compete the way that I wanted to because
of my injury, it was great to witness how much women's
snowboarding has grown in the past years and to see
everyone come together.
Have you ever had any significant injuries while
snowboarding, and how did you recover from them?
2022 - 2023 Northern and Southern season was pretty
rough. I had back-to-back injuries – around four. They were
pretty big which put me out of snowboarding for quite some
time. It was a big learning stage because I hadn’t really had
injuries from when I was 16 until now.
Since the Olympics, I had back-to-back injuries. I was pretty
bummed. Physically I was fine and the pain would pass. It
was mentally that I struggled to get myself back. It was hard
but there was a lot of time spent reflecting, time to learn
about myself and I had a lot of support from Snow Sports
and Red Bull.
I’m so excited now to be back on the snow, back to where I
was and able to snowboard with all my friends.
Cool Wakuhshima performs during a helicopter
snowboarding mission near Wanaka, New Zealand
Image by Miles Holden / Red Bull Content Pool
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