Adventure Magazine

Cool Wakushima performs at the Swatch Nines in Mürren, Switzerland on April 22, 2023.
Image byt Lorenz Richard / Red Bull Content Pool
Are there any other athletes or snowboarders who inspire
you or whom you look up to? I love Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.
She’s someone I look up to. She’s my teammate and it’s cool
and crazy that I get to snowboard with her. Watching her at the
2018 Olympics was one of the reasons I was inspired to go in
the direction of snowboarding as a career.
I also love Hailey Langland. I’ve always looked up to her. I love
how she rides – it just looks fun.
I also look up to my friends. They’re not anyone famous.
They’re the people that I first snowboarded with that weren’t my
family and are the first crew I’ve had. They’re called ‘Platinum
Crew’. They were all boys and I was the only girl but they never
made me feel that way. They were all better than me – I could
see them being better and I was always trying to chase it.
They’re good friends and some of my favourite snowboarders
of all time.
What advice would you give aspiring female snowboarders
who want to pursue a career in the sport? They can do it;
just start. I feel like the snowboarding community, especially
for women, is so small. Just get amongst it. They don’t have to
go down the professional route. It’d be cool to see more girls
in general up the hill and I hope that by watching me or other
girls hit the jumps, it inspires them to hit the jumps and come
to the park because I know it can be intimidating. I know it was
intimidating for me when I first started.
I want everyone to know that anyone’s welcome in the park.
It’s never too late to start. I know we can get scared – for me,
it was scary until I was 16 and realised what I wanted. But
snowboarding is fun! It’s nothing to be scared of. And one day
the ‘’scary’’ part becomes funny – you laugh and think it’s funny
and fun to fall over.
What is your favourite snowboarding-related travel
destination outside of New Zealand? I love Switzerland. It’s
really nice. I actually love the whole of Europe. It’s beautiful. I
did two months there on my own and it was so much fun.
Do you have any specific rituals or superstitions that you
follow before or during a competition? I clear my mind
completely. I try not to think about snowboarding or anything
at all. I do think about the imagery of what my run is going to
look like before I drop in. But when I’m about to drop in, I look
around and try not to think about any snowboarding at all. This
works really well for me. For example, I’ll look around and try
to spot something like a parachuter up the hill and I’ll be like
‘’ohhh’’ and just drop in.
How important is teamwork and collaboration in
snowboarding, especially when working with your
sponsors, coaches or fellow riders?
It’s really important. Snowboarding is an individual sport –
when you’re on the course, you’re by yourself and it’s not like
someone is there to help. But teamwork is important, so is
communicating with all your support crew. They’re there to help
you and they want to help you. To me, it’s essential to have a
good crew on the hill and I really like to treasure the moments I
have up there with others and I love learning with them.
It also makes it easier to try new things. When someone else's
trying or pushing you, it becomes a big motivation. Although it's
an individual sport, there is a lot of teamwork that comes with it.
What are your goals and aspirations for your
snowboarding 2023 -2024? My vision is to make a name
for myself within the snowboard community and get an
international stage. To do that I need this domestic season, and
I’ve got to put my head down and work hard to be ready for the
2024 northern season!
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