As a former member of British Columbia’s provincial half-pipe team, and now a globe-trotting splitboarder, coach, and co-founder of Indigenous Women Outdoors, Sandy’s roots in snowboarding run deep. That’s saying a lot given she only picked up a board at age 15, especially because she grew up on the territory of the Líl̓wat First Nation, just a stone’s throw from Whistler, B.C. Once she started sliding sideways, she quickly cut through the noise of the frenetic local snowboard scene and propelled herself into the position of an Olympic hopeful.

She spent years knocking on the podium’s door on the freestyle competition circuit, but eventually the hard knocks to the knees piled up and she switched to powder. Since then she’s also shifted her focus to elevating others. Through organizations like the Indigenous Life Sport Academy and Indigenous Women Outdoors—where she’s the program lead for all things backcountry, mountain biking, and climbing—she now works to reduce the barriers to entry that made her such a late-comer to mountain sports, and to help other underrepresented people get out on the land and thrive. She’s also on a path to becoming Canada’s first Indigenous splitboard guide. A child of two worlds, Sandy now seeks to be a bridge between them.

First place Saudain Couloir Ski Race Extreme 2022