Girl On: Jamie Anderson
Mar 27 2008 / Los Angeles, CA
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Meet one of Lake Tahoe's premier local riders
Jamie Anderson is without a doubt one of the most talented female snowboarders in the world. Sure, a lot of riders can have that said about them. What most of those other talented snowboarders can't say about themselves is that they're only seventeen years old.
That's right. Jamie Anderson, already regarded as one of the best, is only 17 (*for the record, she was born in 1990). And she tears it up. In her first Winter X Games slopestyle appearance way back in 2006 (hope you can smell the sarcasm), Jamie not only grabbed a bronze medal, but also went into the record books as the youngest medalist in Winter X Games history at the age of 15 (knocking out the previous record holder, Shaun White).
That isn't the only Winter X record Jamie holds. She's also the youngest rider to ever make any kind of appearance at the Winter X Games, making her debut back in 2005 at the young age of 13.
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And she's only getting better. in 2007, Jamie finished first at the Abominable Snowjam at Mt. Hood, Oregon, first at the Billabong Slopestyle Jam in New Zealand, finished second at the Roxy Chicken Jam, and in January 2008 she claimed gold in the slopestyle competition at the Winter X Games for the second year in the row. And she's now in the thick of the TTR title race.
Be prepared to see Jamie Anderson a lot. For most of the other female riders, they need to watch their backs. Jamie Anderson has already arrived, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Check out this interview we did with Jamie in May 2007.
Lat34: So what're you doing up in Whistler, Canada right now?
Jamie: I'm actually heading down to the women's superpark in a few hours.
Lat34: So there's still good snow to ride on?
Jamie: Yeah, Blackcomb is still open, and they have a pretty good park. And we've been doing some stuff in the backcountry. It's just like spring conditions.
Lat34: How's the party life there?
Jamie: It's pretty mellow.
Lat34: That's not what I've heard. Whistler/Blackcomb, you kidding me?
Jamie: They have a lot of stuff going on. It's pretty fun.
Lat34: What are you doing there? Are you doing photo sessions, filming, what's going on?
Jamie: We're just filming for a movie called Runway. We're just doing last-minute stuff. Filming jumps, doing little handrails, well not really handrails, more like junkyard stuff.
Lat34: Who are the other riders in the film?
Jamie: Hanna Beaman, Leanne Pelosi, Tara Dakides, and more.
Lat34: That's a pretty big line-up! Who are your sponsors Jamie?
Jamie: Billabong, Salomon, Grenade, Electric, DVS, Vitamin Water, and Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Lat34: Your older sister Joanie, who is only a few years older than you, can ride really well also. Which one of you two is better?
Jamie: That's a tough one. We kind of do our own thing. She's more like a racer and boardercrosser, and I'm more like a slopestyle rider. Like parks. We're both pretty equal.
Lat34: You're really only 16?
Jamie: I'm 16 and a half!
Lat34: You do slopestyles, rails, and junkyard things as you mentioned. Do you like slopestyle, backcountry, or the pipe better? What's your favorite terrain?
Jamie: Definitely backcountry. Just to be able to ride powder all the time, drops, all that stuff. And then probably slopestyle after that.
Lat34: You're a legit Tahoe local, right?
Jamie: Born and raised in South Lake.
Lat34: How does high school work for you? Do you even go to high school? Are you home-schooled?
Jamie: Since eighth grade, I've been doing independent study. It's like home school. I meet with my counselor every other Monday. Lately I've been missing out on a lot of school because I've been gone so much. They just give me extra work, and I do some online classes. It's pretty mellow.
Lat34: So you're what, in your junior or senior year of high school?Jamie: I'm a junior. I'm supposed to be a sophomore, but I skipped a grade.
Lat34: Do you party like a high school kid?
Jamie: Pretty much. I don't really hang out with any high school kids, so it's hard to say. I don't really know what they do.
Lat34: So if you're not hanging out with your high school peers, who are your peers? Who do you kick it with?
Jamie: Pretty much just kick it with the crew. Like Leanne (Pelosi).
Lat34: So you hang out with the pros?
Jamie: Yeah, that's usually who I always hang out with.
Lat34: Who's your mentor? Who do you look up to? Who takes care of you?
Jamie: Myself. I have sponsors, but I don't really have any team managers that I travel with. I just call them to get my flights and to get my hotel rooms, and then I just go with my friends.
Lat34: Are there any pros that you look up to?
Jamie: Probably Hanna Beaman. She just kills it. She's one of my favorite riders. (Laughing)
Lat34: What's next for you?
Jamie: I'm going to go to the women's superpark, and then just go to Tahoe and hang out at my house for a while. Then I think I'm going to go to New Zealand at the end of the summer, Mt. Hood for a little bit for a contest, and I think Mexico.
Lat34: Have you ever surfed?
Jamie: Oh yeah. This other film crew I'm filming with, another all-girl film, we have a whole bunch of trips in there, like surfing and what-not. We took a surf trip to Hawaii just two weeks ago.
Lat34: Let's say global warming kicks in at an accelerated rate, and next winter there's no snow. Snow is gone in the entire world. What do you do?
Jamie: (Laughing) I'm gonna surf. Or wakeboard. I just learned how to surf last summer.
- Cyrus Saatsaz
