Industry News
Olympics
Australia’s first snowboarding gold medalist in the Winter Olympics, Torah Bright is one of the best female snowboarders of the 21st century. Bright started skiing when she was three years old growing up in Cooma, Australia, but she didn’t start snowboarding until almost ten years later. By 2005 she was already placing in third in the FIS World Cup for superpipe, and she qualified for the 2006 Australian Winter Olympics team. In the Torino Winter Olympic Games, Bright placed fifth, also taking home silver in her first Winter X Games in Aspen, CO that same year.
By 2007, Bright rose to secure her first gold in the X Games superpipe, along with first place in the Nippon Open, which she retained in 2008 as well. She continued amazing the world, placing first in the Superpipe World Championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, on top of silver in the 2008 X Games and gold in 2009. Finally, she was able to bring home a gold medal in halfpipe for Australia in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Four years later, she made headlines again after becoming the first person to ever qualify for and compete in all three snowboarding events at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, scoring her a silver medal in halfpipe in the end.
In recent years both due to injury and a growing passion for backcountry riding, Bright has moved past the competitive snowboarding world and now focuses on activism and personal projects. One of her biggest projects is a massive new 3D movie that came out in the fall of 2019, following Torah Bright, Jeremy Jones, and Sammy Carlson as they traveled through the longest chain of mountain ranges in the world, all the way from Alaska to Antarctica, shredding incredible lines. Along with unbelievable snowboarding and skiing shots, Out of Bounds: Mountain Adventure highlights the devastating changes occurring in mountain ranges across the world due to climate change and carbon emissions from human activity. Out of Bounds is being shown in 3D in science museums and centers all across the United States to help inform about how we can protect the mountains and better understand and reduce climate change.
Bright has also hosted her annual Mini Shred event in Thredbo Resort, Australia, for over five years, giving back to the community that supported her by planning a day when young shredders can come to the terrain park to practice and train personally with her and her coaches and friends. This year, the Mini Shred is coming to Aspen Snowmass, CO and hundreds of kids are expected to attend this weekend on January 11th as Bright has fun riding with the next generation of snowboarders rocking the industry.
Finally, 2020 is also looking like a life-changing year for Bright as she announced over the New Year that she is expecting her first child in July 2020 with her husband of four years, fellow snowboarder, Angus Thomson. We wish all the best to Torah Bright and her growing family and can’t wait to see her continue inspiring activism and accomplishments for years to come!
