Photo: itsJamieAnderson.com
What is it like to be at the absolute top of your game?
Not many people in the world get to feel this sensation and be confident that they truly are the best. But for women’s snowboarding, Jamie Anderson has about as solid a lock on the top spot as one can have. This year, she took down the top contests in big air and slopestyle around the world, including top honors at the big shows of the X Games, the World Snowboard Championships in China, as well as the top ranking on the World Snowboard Tour. Then, of course, there is her title as first-ever gold medal winner in women’s slopestyle at Sochi two years ago.
But amidst all the crazy travel, media attention, and training, Jamie still has time to keep it real at home. She holds onto her roots as a Tahoe local who loves to ride with friends: she makes it a point to support Boarding for Breast Cancer every year at her home mountain, Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Despite a busy schedule and people vying for face time at every opportunity, we snagged Jamie for a few minutes to discuss life as a competitor, goals, and even what it means to be feminine in a masculine world.
Let’s get an obvious-one out of the way. How was competing for your country in the Olympics?
The Olympics are pretty rad! Definitely one of the only times that the entire world comes together to celebrate sports. So for me I think it’s really rad to compete at that level, you know? It goes back forever in history, and it’s just ah… it’s a privilege. It’s been kind of a hectic journey… Russia was a little bit wild with some of the accommodations, but it really is a gift to be able to shred.
Are you still stoked on competing? Is that still important to you?
Gosh, I started competing at such a young age that, for me, all sports kind of had to do with competition. So now, being older and having a different perspective on it, it’s funny, you know? When I was young… nine, ten years old, it wasn’t very much stress. It was really fun. Seeing now how it’s evolved to me being an Olympic competitor is definitely pretty insane. But I think it’s great – it keeps us growing, keeps us progressing, keeps us pushing each other. And I think that’s why contests are really powerful: because it helps us progress and evolve.
Jamie spent all day at the B4BC benefit getting to know the next generation of shredders
What do you say to young kids who want to follow in your footsteps?
I definitely think goal setting and manifestation is huge for anything we want to do in life. We have to have a little bit of direction and a little bit of guidance of where we want to go and what we want to work on. Short term goal setting, long term goal setting, even day setting is important. We are so capable, probably even more capable than what we are aware of, so just to tap into that and start to learn what our power is… is huge. So any of you out there – groms, or anyone trying to progress in life, try journaling. Believing, you know? Changing the way we think about things. Having a good attitude, because we’ve got some powerful energy.
How much has your home-town community been in your corner?
It’s huge. (Laughs) I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for my community here in Meyers and South Lake Tahoe. I grew up in a really big family and financially snowboarding is a really expensive sport. And I got a ton of love from the community. Sierra-at-Tahoe was one of my first sponsors. We would host little fundraisers and find ways to raise money for nationals and events, and our community was really the hub of all of that. So I’m really thankful for my community and building it wherever I am, and making new connections all over the world. And… yeah! To community! (She raises her fist in the air).
A photo posted by ॐ Jamie Anderson ॐ (@jamieanderson) on
What about femininity in this seemingly masculine world? What does that mean to you for you as a snowboarder?
Feminine Power! (Laughs) I think it’s frickin’ awesome! I mean, that’s the yin and yang of life, right? We’ve got the feminine and the male power. I think for me growing up in a pretty male dominated sport it’s made me work even harder to find that balance of the feminine and masculine energies because we all have all of it. And obviously extreme sports take a lot of that testosterone and crazy male fighter energy that a lot of women don’t have. So for me it’s been pretty interesting to learn about how I am and where my energy is at, and accept that sometimes we’re not going to feel it. I think women in general are really intuitive so we just gotta remind ourselves of that when we’re doing crazy tricks that it’s really a good kind of power to have. So I’m definitely thankful for the feminine power!
