Olympic Hopeful: Elena Hight

Christina Johnson

Elena Hight may be a Hawaii native but now calls California home.  Riding at Heavenly and Mammoth Mountains, this 20-year-old is on top of her game. As a kid, she learned how to shred from her father in Boise, Idaho at the age of 6. She started competing at the age of 13 and has been on her way to the top ever since.

Being from Hawaii, it’s only natural that Elena’s favorite place to visit is Kauai where she was born.  While at home in Hawaii, she enjoys paddle boarding, surfing, spinning, hiking, cooking, and hanging out with friends. Being home-schooled due to her extensive traveling, Elena has had plenty of time to focus on competing and training.
She spend this past summer in New Zealand to train for the Olympics and other competitions and even decided to go bungee jumping for the first time.  Aside from jetting across the country for a chance to ride some snow, Elena spent much of her summer at Mt. Hood in Oregon honing her halfpipe skills with the U.S. Snowboarding Team. From Mt. Hood, she also went to Whistler, BC for the Camp of Champions and her Send With It Session.
Elena has a background in gymnastics which could have helped with her multiple podium finishes.  She earned a Superpipe bronze medal at the 2007 X-Games after being the first female rider to land a backside-900 in competition.  She also finished 2nd overall in the 2007 Grand Prix halfpipe ranking as well as 1st at the 2007 Abominable Snow Jam.  If being the first pro female to join the NorthStar Resort Professional Team in 2006 wasn’t enough, she also went on to earn sixth place at the 2006 Winter Olympics at the age of 16.

Beyond her ability to compete well, Elena has also had some recognition in the media. She was named Transworld’s Rookie of the Year and Snowboarder’s Magazines Minor Threat. To add to the list, she was also named one of Kidz World’s Top 10 Teens.  With this recognition and high level of competing comes sponsorships one could only dream of. Elena’s first sponsorship came from Burton shortly after she began competing at the age of 13. From there, Volcom, Nike 6.0, Oakley, Nixon, Monster, Toyota, and the U.S. Snowboarding Team have been added to the list.
Elena has what it takes to be an Olympian and improve upon her place standing world wide. With the Grand Prix circuit set to begin in December, keep an eye on her, you may be pleasantly surprised!

Posted by Christina Johnson on 11/09