Free Spirit: Happy (Anna) Valentine’s Day!

Anna Valentine
Anna Valentine
Anna Valentine

Valentines Day is the feast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of love and affection. Anna Valentine is a Free Spirit who may or may not be related to the Saint, but she rips on her snowboard and she holds a pretty mixed bag of tricks and treats. Ok, well that’s the other Holiday based on sweets, but she does love chocolate, long traverses, sunset snow ballet, and barefoot skiing as well as icy pipes and kickers. Anna already has a pretty impressive list of contest results, but it’s her style that shines whether she’s riding pipe or slope, or carving around on corduroy. She’s picked up a few style pointers from watching her elders while keeping a calculated eye on the future. She’s really good at math too, so no doubt she will be able to navigate the complex formula of multiple rotations in today’s snowboard scene. She’s a Free Spirit that is grounded and gifted, we are stoked to have her riding her GNU B-pro and making the future of women’s snowboarding look pretty sweet!

Age: 17, but 18 on February 20!

NJ born, VT raised- and loving Vermont

Started riding at 7, competing at 11- Yep.

OMS since what age— since I was 14 (8th grade, when my mom couldn’t homeschool anymore because the math was getting too hard)

Anna Valentine. Any relation to St. Valentine? I can only assume St. Valentine was a free spirit too. What does being a free spirit mean to you?

Honestly, not that I know of. It would be pretty cool to be related to him, but I hope I don’t meet his fate, because I’m not looking to get beheaded anytime soon. Being a free spirit to me means simply trying my best to live a happy life.

I can think of much worse childhood name associations. Is there any special tradition you have on Feb 14th?

Usually I’m out snowboarding. So back in the day when there weren’t the scanner gates at my home mountain, Okemo, I’d see how many lifties I could get to notice my name. Secondly, make as many corny jokes as possible.

Was it your idea or your parents’ to go to a snowboard academy (Okemo Mountain School)?

Definitely not their idea. They didn’t push me in any way to pursue snowboarding at this level, they have only been there to support me in whatever I want to follow. Even if I loved the bagpipe, I think they’d probably be cool with it.

What other sports/activities do you think have contributed to your snowboard skills?

I’d like to think that anything you do or try can somehow help with snowboarding- if not physically, then mentally. I love unicycling,  mountain biking, waterskiing, and just spending time outdoors. I’ve been on a water ski show team for the past 4 years, which was doing pyramids, barefooting, and trick skiing, so that might’ve helped with balance, but most importantly was incredibly fun.

What are your favorite tricks on the following:

Snowboard slopestyle

Front 3

Snowboard pipe

Method

Unicycle

Trying to ride down a wet grass hill without falling.

Mountain Bike

Going fast!

Wakeboard

I waterski a lot more, showskiing to be exact, and with that my coolest thing is barefoot skiing or doing a pyramid.

Cross Country trail

Running? Making people laugh.

Art Studio

I am not particularly gifted at art, but I did a pottery class once and spinning on the wheel was my peak.

Computer

Helping my mom.

Slacklining

I just broke my hand slacklining! I’m pretty mediocre, I like just walking across the line. I’ve been trying to spin around a 3 in the middle though, which always gets interesting.

How many States/Countries have you been to? Are you a brilliant geography student thanks to your extensive travels in your teens?

I have been to 19 states, and 3 countries. When I went to Switzerland last year it was my first time in leaving North America! So it was a very exciting experience. I might be better at geography than average, but I lost pretty hard last week in flag trivia so I certainly have room to improve.

You are a twin! My daughter plays the video games BABY TWINS, NEWBORN TWIN SISTERS, NEWBORN TWINS BABY CARE, NEWBORN TWIN MONSTERS. Are any of these on your phone?? If you were to create a video game about you and your twin, what would it be?

I have never heard of these games, but I truly want to know more now! We both have a respect for each other’s mode of sliding, but if we had to have a video game it might be skiing vs snowboarding, not sure how it’d work but I imagine we’d both get pretty competitive.

What are your earliest snowboarding memories? Who’s method did you study to get yours perfected?

Earliest snowboard memories were riding with Okemo Mountain Snowboard Team when I was 8, there was one other girl my age and we had a lot of shenanigans going on. I vividly remember penguin sliding on my stomach down almost an entire trail, and getting stuck in the woods every pow day. I don’t have a specific method that I look to have, but the biggest influencers were my older brother Jack, my coach Matt Fortuna, and Ross Powers. Today, I’d say that making my method more like Danny Davis’ where he brings his board over head would be prettttyyy killer.

What do you think the next big leap in women’s snowboarding is going to be?

Probably will be more women doing doubles. However, stylish women are getting recognized and scored higher recently, so perhaps the next big thing is a trend in creativity/style, I don’t know!

I know at your age, people will tend to ask what’s next? College? Studies? What do you want to be when you grow up? How do you answer those questions?

I’m very driven to get a college education because I honestly like school. I’m a bit of a nerd, who actually likes math, and making things, so for the past couple of years, I’ve liked the idea of engineering. Long-run I want to work to better the environment, and I think energy systems are pretty neat, so perhaps something along those lines. For now, I will probably defer or take online classes next year and see where snowboarding takes me! I love shredding, and I couldn’t imagine not putting everything into it while I can.

Valentine’s day treats:

Chocolates and Roses OR Hot Dogs and Handrails?

I love hotdogs and handrails, but if I could mix and match to make it chocolate and handrails I would. I love chocolate.

Movie Night OR Night boarding?

Night boarding, for sure.

Dinner and Dancing OR mini shred and snow ballet?

Mini shred and snow ballet all day. Extra points if my date shows up in a retro onesie.

Long walks on the beach OR Long traverses at the resort

Long traverses at the resort. Carving corduroy and a piece of my heart, I would hope.

Sunset sledding OR Sunrise splitboarding?

Why not both?

Your favorite Sweetheart Candy Heart Message?

“You Rule”

HAVE A LOOK @anna_valentine_ 🙂

Dreamy lil’ Valentine’s Day gift idea…

Categories | AMS, Anna Valentine, Free Spirit, Women's