X Games Club Selects 14-Year-Old Snowboard Prodigy

Not many athletes are drafted into professional leagues at just 14. Chinese snowboarder Patti Zhou was.

At the inaugural X Games League Winter Draft last week, XC New York selected Zhou with their 39th pick in the fifth round. The halfpipe specialist was the youngest athlete selected in the winter draft, and now she will compete among the best snowboarders and skiers in the world throughout the X Games League winter season.

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Since first stepping on a snowboard at the age of 2, Zhou has been making waves in the sport. At just 7 years old in 2019, Zhou captured wins in halfpipe, slopestyle, and the rail jam at the USASA National Championship, taking home triple gold. She carried that success into other competitions, including the 2023 Dew Tour, where she won second place in the superpipe at just 11 years old. She even had a video go viral following the competition, saying that she intended to use her prize money to buy her coach tequila in a post-competition interview.

In recent years, Zhou has become a staple competing in Shaun White’s Snow League. She debuted as an alternate at the League’s second event in China in 2025, where she went on to win in front of a home crowd. Her winning run was incredible by any snowboarder’s standards—but competing at just 14 made it all the more impressive. Despite being behind going into her second run, Zhou opened up with a frontside 1080 truck driver ten feet out, followed by a Cab 540 melon, a switch backside 900 Weddle, a Cab 720 Weddle, and a frontside 720 Indy to close. The run would ultimately put her ahead of the competition, giving Zhou the win at her home mountain of Yunding.

Following The Snow League’s inaugural season, she finished fourth overall in the standings and took home $62,500 — probably more money than a 14-year-old knows what to do with. 

• Related: From Aspen to the Arctic: X Games League Reveals Its First Winter Season Schedule

Zhou’s dominance doesn’t stop at snowboarding, because she’s a surfing prodigy, too. Popular surfing magazine Surfer called Zhou the sport’s “next big thing,” showcasing “a pint-sized Patti Zhou, then just barely in the double digits, launching massive and exceptionally stylish aerials in a wave pool.” For Zhou, success in both sports might be in her future.

“I see myself going to the Olympics in snowboarding, but after snowboarding I’ll try to get there in surfing as well,” she told Surfer. “Try to get a title or something.”

While a career in surfing might be on the horizon, Zhou’s current focus is on the upcoming X Games League winter season. As an XC New York athlete, her performance in competition affects more than just her own placement. It also affects her team’s points as XC New York chases the first-ever X Games League Winter Championship. Solid results earn XC New York more points, and poor results can hurt the club’s chances. It’s a lot of pressure for a 14-year-old, but if her future is anything like her past, she is sure to do incredible things.

The Moonpay X Games League winter season kicks off in Aspen, Colorado, from January 29-31, 2027.