I started snowboarding about six years ago and as soon as I strapped in and pointed my nose down the hill I was in love with the sport.

I learned to ski ever since I could walk. My parents would venture down from Sydney to Jindabyne every weekend and holiday period to go skiing.

When my whole family moved to Jindabyne around eight years ago, my two older brothers and I attended Snowy Mountains Grammar School where we could go skiing and snowboarding every Wednesday in term three for sport. In terms one, two and four, I would go Downhill Mountain Biking for sport. I loved to ride my bike and looking back on it now my competitiveness in the sport of racing downhill bikes has helped my snowboarding immensely. The whole idea of entering a turn and riding the berm is almost the exact same concept between the two sports of DH and Snowboard Cross (SBX). Line choice is also huge factor in both sports, being able to choose the fastest

and smoothest line with the most momentum coming into the next feature is crucial. Although a little different to most people's transitions to SBX, where they normally come from another discipline of snowboarding, mine was a natural transition from dirt to snow because of the similarities that come from both sports.

Getting to the level I’m at now was not easy. It took a lot of hard work on and off snow, in the gym with my trainers and on snow with my coaches. Without all of the support I never would have got to this position of being selected for the Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer.

I have achieved a lot these past two years leading up to the Youth Olympics. As I didn’t know what exact events the Youth Olympic selectors were looking at I just had to perform at my best at all race events in the 2015 Australian winter.

My season started off well by winning the regional Giant Slalom (SBGS) and coming second in SBX. I was the highest placed Australian under 18 male at race one at the Australian and New Zealand Cup which was held at Mt Hotham. This set me up well for the Australian Junior National Championships at Perisher where I won both qualifying and the final race. Towards the end of the season I won both the State and National Division 1 Inter-school’s in the SBX category. This capped off my season and set me up well to be selected for the Youth Olympics and I am so excited to be getting the chance to compete in Lillehammer in February, 2016.

I am soon arriving back in Australia from my one-month trip in Austria where I competed in the World Cup stacked field of the Europa Cup and Junior FIS races in Pitztal. Over this last month I trained with the Reign Snowboard team which consisted of five Australian snowboarders, three Canadian riders and an American. The coaches are John Shelly, Rob Fagan and Dave Hugill.

For the majority of the trip the it was freezing cold with the temperature not getting above freezing. However we had clear weather, except for the five race days where the weather was pretty snowy and cold.

Overall this trip has helped my overall riding greatly. Getting a chance to race on a SBX course that is both technical and fast and also getting the chance to race against a lot of the world’s best riders has given me great experience leading into the Youth Olympics.

Alex