Olympic Hopeful: Kelly Marren

Christina Johnson

Born on August 22, 1991, 18 year old Kelly Marren is taking the world by storm. Recently being named to the US Snowboarding’s Rookie Team, this half-pipe queen is anything but your typical rider. Her hometown is Hillsborough, CA, but she is currently attending Stanford University. Taking the fall semester off, she will be concentrating on qualifying events that are about to be under way.

Kelly wasn’t born into a snow sports family like most other athletes so it’s no surprise she had to work hard to convince her parents to buy her a snowboard.  She did so by being a creative 10 year old and sitting her parents down to a well planned power point presentation.  After that day, she received her first snowboard and spent countless hours on the hill. Within her first 2 years of riding, Kelly was ranked first in her bracket nationally. At the age of 13, it became apparent to her parents that she was destined to become a pro snowboarder.

Kelly moved permanently to her family home in Lake Tahoe with her coach and long time family friend, where she was home schooled and trained full time in order to enter the competition scene. The pair remained living together for 6 years, up until Kelly graduated from high school.

Kelly takes snowboarding just a seriously as any other competitor but she also sees it for more than that. Snowboarding to Kelly means strengthening her confidence and overcoming her fears. These things will definitely come in handy as she prepares to perfect the Haakon Flip and add it to her bag of tricks.

Last season Kelly placed 4th at the Junior World Championships on Nagano, Japan and then went on to compete at the FIS World Cup in New Zealand. Adding to her list of podium finishes was her 2nd place finish in Open Class Women’s Half pipe at the 2009 USASA National Championships.

Kelly may only be 18 and only on the US Snowboarding Rookie Team, but don’t let that fool you. She has some serious industry backing from sponsors such as Oakley, Burton, PacSun, USASA, Tahoe Select Snowboard Team, Dakine, and Woodward.

With mountains getting tons of fresh powder and the games only 2 months away, don’t be surprised if Kelly Marren is a name you get used to.

Posted by Christina Johnson on 12/01