In Depth: Biba Turnbull | AussieSnowboard.com // The Home Of Australian Snowboarding

Name; Biba Turnbull
Age; 17
From; Bronte, Sydney
Home Resorts; Thredbo & Mt Snow
Sponsors; Roxy, DC Shoes, Flux
Food; Sushi all day, every day. Green Tea Ice cream, Cadbury cream Eggs and Hersheys Cookies and Cream Bars.

Photo credit; Steve Griffis

Firstly, congratulations on what was a near perfect season last year, managing to win or podium at every junior event you entered. What’s your take on the year that was?

It definitely came as a bit of a shock at first, I had just spent my first year away at Stratton Mountain School in the US, but only got to ride for 3 weeks the whole season as I ended up with 2 broken collarbones, a hairline fracture in my hip and 2 concussions. So you could say that I wasn’t feeling super confident, just real happy to be back on snow. Everything else to be honest was such a bonus, competitive wise my main goal was to simply try and land a solid run at each event and rebuild my confidence level. I was humbled to be on such a nice winning streak, but unfortunately missed both the Thredbo Freeride and Perisher Night Series finals due to another injury.

You then scored yourself an invite as the first girl to legitimately compete at STYLEWARS? Taking on that gigantic step down all day until injuring yourself on that Tyre bonk?

Yeah I broke my collarbone for the third time in 12 months after catching an edge on that last jib feature. It sat in the shade all morning too which didn’t help my cause aha! To be honest I was only planning to soak up the experience, but once I saw the boys work out the speed and start getting at it, I couldn’t help myself haha. It was probably the scariest, most adrenaline pumping experience of my life, one I wish to try and emulate as much as possible! Although I wasn’t able to finish the entire competition calendar, I left Australia super happy and content with what ended up being my best season yet.

Photo Credit; Roxy Europe

You backed it up with a pretty full on northern hemisphere schedule, traveling and competing with some of the biggest names in female snowboarding. You managed to join the winner and fellow Roxy shredder Jess Rich on the podium with a 3rd place at the prestigious Showcase Showdown in Whistler Village. It must be so cool to now ride with some of your idols on a daily basis?

Yeah, I spent the majority of the season traveling and competing, 3 trips to Europe and a whole bunch of events on both the west and east coast’s of America. I also went to Whistler in spring to film some stuff with the Roxy guys which was such a nice change of pace. So yeah I guess it was a pretty hectic few months, but at the same time I got to meet so many amazing people and gain as much experience as possible at that elite level which makes it all totally worthwhile. The highlight of my season would have definitely been going to Austria for the Roxy Snow Pro. Basically all of the girls that I look up to were there, Jamie, Torah, Kjersti and Aimee to name a few. It was such an amazing opportunity to ride with those guys, I learnt so much from them and I now realize that I can get there as well if I put in the effort, time and hard work. I also had the chance to shred and compete with my fellow Roxy teammate, Jess Rich whilst in Whistler. Jess is such a great person to shred with, has the best front board in the business and has style for days! It’s always great to be competing with friends and people that push you, yet don’t take the fun out of it. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to be reminded that I am actually riding with such rad people like Jess, Jamie or Torah!

Finishing your schooling in the states, yeah? Tell us a bit about that. What’s your take on the balancing of ones scholastic endeavors whilst pursuing a promising shred career?

I have just completed my 2nd year at Stratton Mountain School in the US as a Junior and will be a Senior next year to finish my schooling. Stratton Mountain School is a snow sports specific school that is geared to deal with kids traveling and continuously missing class. That way you do not feel as though you are forever under pressure and have a constant amount of schoolwork that will never get done. It is hard to find the balance between snowboarding, schoolwork and having a social life, but it is such an important part of life. I feel that learning how to manage your time at a young age will help prepare you for life after school. I also think that it is vital to have something to fall back on incase things don’t work out with injuries etc.

What’s your preferred riding style or terrain?

Powder, no doubt about that! Chasing fresh lines in pow with that ‘all mountain freestyle’ aspect in mind is the closest feeling to the one I get when surfing, that feeling of floating. I also love that lazy looking style, it makes everything look effortless and so smooth. Jess Rich has this on lock as do Ben Alexis and Tom Reilly, especially on jibs.

Screen Grab From Biba

Crew you most enjoy shredding with?

Anyone who makes snowboarding even more fun than it already is, anyone who’s always up the mountain keen for a shred. All my aussie friends as well as my US and European ones. To name a few Amber, Troy, Alex, Maddy, Ben, Longy, Pelley, Jess, Kibs, Jye, Michaela, Rainer, Phoebe, Quincy, Kirk, Karen, Marian, Celia, Birgit.

With Slopestyle now a confirmed Olympic event for 2014, is this something you have within sight?

This is definitely something that I have as one of my major goals. I would love to go the Olympics and represent Australia at Sochi in 2014! It has been a dream of mine for so long and it would be such an amazing opportunity. This is definitely something I am working hard towards.

I hear you can throw a mean bucket or two? Roxy having one of the best surf teams in the biz. Is surfing the thing you miss most now that your a winter babe as such? Must be cool to be on the same team as Sally and the girls now though?

I LOVE Surfing! Almost more than snowboarding sometimes. The question I get asked a lot of the time is which one I like more, my answer always varies. Usually when I am stuck trying to paddle out and am out of breath I like snowboarding more because of the chairlift; then when I am freezing cold and it is snowing and raining on that same chairlift, I like surfing more haha.
I didn’t realize how much I would miss surfing until I no longer had the ocean at my front door. It was one of the only ways to clear my mind and be completely relaxed, and now that I don’t have it, it is as if I am having withdrawals or something. I’m so happy to be on the same team as Sally and all the other Roxy girls, all killing it in their own chosen lifestyles. Who knows, one day I may get to jump on board one of their team surf trips!

What’s the game plan for this southern season? Any events in particular that you are focusing on?

Well, I would really like to be able to just shred and train a bit more this year, maybe be a bit less competition orientated. By the looks of things I might be heading on a couple of backcountry trips if the snow lets us, which would be cool. Also hoping I can manage to get some cool shots for the magazines and my sponsors. The main events that I will be focusing on will include the Billabong Bro Down in Snow Park NZ, the Aus Slopestyle series, including both Stylewars and the Thredbo Mile High. I’m very much looking forward to the the Roxy Perisher Night Series events also. They are always a blast!

Sounds like a good time to me.. Any last words or shout out’s?

Firstly I wish to thank you guys for the catch up. Thank you so much to my parents for giving me this amazing opportunity to live my dream, without them who knows where I would be. Big thanks to my sponsors – Roxy, DC Shoes & Flux bindings, you guys are the best! Thanks also for all the support from my friends and the snowboarding community, you make every day even more froth-able!