Snowboarder Bea Kim is ready for the spotlight. We sat down with Bea to learn more about how she got into snowboarding, why climate conservation is important to her, and her mindset going into her first Olympic Games.

TOGETHXR: Congratulations on qualifying for your first Winter Games! What are you most excited about going into this experience? 

BK: Qualifying for the Olympics has always been this big goal in my life. It's always been like this: five years from now, four years from now, next winter, in a few months… It's always been an “in the future” thing. It's made me live somewhat in the future and somewhat detached from where I am. I'm really excited to just try to sink into the moment and be there, be present, and soak up every little bit of everything that there is. I've gotten some advice from people who have been before, and they said, “It's gonna feel like a lot, and you're gonna have a lot of pressure on yourself, and you might feel pressure from other people — but don't forget that you're at the Olympics. Take a moment when you're at the top of the pipe to take off your goggles, look around, and smell the flowers." That's what I'm most excited for.

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TOGETHXR: When and why did you get into snowboarding? Was there a specific moment in time where you realized that this sport would be a big part of your life? 

BK: My family and I grew up snowboarding and just doing everything outdoors. I have a younger brother. We're four years apart, and, when you're young, four years seems like a lot. Snowboarding was one of those things that we could all do as a family and we could just rip around the mountain together. We got to be outside and spend a lot of quality time together. It wasn't anything crazy, it was just a fun thing. 

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Then, when we were in Mammoth, I randomly entered a competition, and somehow ended up on the podium. I found this different side of snowboarding, this competitive side, and I thought it could be something. I really don't know the exact timeline because it was all a blur, honestly, but I was lucky enough to go to Korea with my family, and we got to watch the 2018 Olympics as spectators. 

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I got to stand there and watch Chloe Kim win her first Olympic gold medal. At the time, I don't think I really realized, that was a moment where things changed. Looking back on it, that was definitely a point where I saw somebody who looked like me, from the same area, doing something that I really loved — and I realized that this could be something. 

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TOGETHXR: Yeah, that's crazy to think about — same last name, similar background... The stars really aligned there. 

BK: Yeah, I got super lucky because now I can call her a friend, which is wild, and a mentor in a way. We're on the same team and I did get really lucky that some things are pretty similar.

TOGETHXR: What's your mindset like as a competitor going into Milan? 

BK: It’s pretty similar to going into a lot of the other competitions. Obviously, it’s the biggest competition and there's a lot more noise around it. The only thing I can control is my own snowboarding and that's all I can focus on. Doesn't matter how many cameras there are, how many people are there, what uniform I'm wearing, or anything like that. It's just about how well I can snowboard, how well I can perform, and that's mainly what I'm focusing on. 

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TOGETHXR: Did it take you a long time to get to that point where you could tune out the outside noise and focus on your own mindset? 

BK: It's definitely been a journey, for sure. I dropped into my first World Cup when I was 15, and that was the mindset that my Dad and I decided on before the competition even started. It's a big deal to compete in your first World Cup, on the U.S. team, on home soil in the U.S. So, it felt like there was some weight around it, but we had a discussion before and he said, “Look, you can't control what score the judges give you. You can't control what the other girls do. We can't control the weather, the pipe, or anything like that. The only thing that you can deliberately control is your own snowboarding." That helped a lot, because I get a lot of anxiety related to some things like this. As I've gone kind of through my career, it's the same mindset. Staying true to that and sticking with the roots of what got me here is really important. 

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TOGETHXR: Do you have any routines or superstitions that you do before you drop in on your run? 

BK: On ski jackets, there's a little pocket on the arm where they want you to put your pass. My childhood best friend, who I grew up with and has seen this whole crazy journey, gave me a little keychain. She has a matching [keychain]. I keep it in my pocket and before my run, I make sure it's in there. Then I like to take a deep breath, release everything, and forget about all my training, because it's muscle memory. My body knows what to do.

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TOGETHXR: Do you like to listen to music when you do your runs? And if so, what are you listening to? Is it the same every time? Do you switch it up? 

BK: I actually started listening to music [during competition] this year. A lot of people listen to hype-up music, but if I listen to aggressive music, I will have an anxiety attack up there. So, I've been loving this artist Cleo Soul, and I love Olivia Dean. I like when it's more chill. When I do want to get hyped up I'll probably pump up some Kendrick [Lamar] and Doechii.

TOGETHXR: You're very involved in the Protect Our Winters (POW) organization. Why did you want to get involved with POW, and why is climate advocacy important to you? 

BK: My climate advocacy journey runs parallel and is intertwined with my snowboarding career. Like I mentioned, we were always outside snowboarding, surfing, camping, hiking — all of it. As I started snowboarding and I started traveling, we would go to the same places every year, around the same time every year. So it was really easy to see how things were changing year to year. It became impossible to ignore how the glaciers that we were on were receding, the lack of snowpack, the excessive snow, extreme weather preventing us from going up, super warm weather, crazy winds, and more. There's a common misconception that climate change is all about a warming planet, and it is, but that also means wild weather, with highs and lows. That’s not good for anyone, not good for our mental states, and obviously, not good for the planet. 

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I had been looking for a contact to get in touch with POW, but couldn't figure out who to talk to. Then, we were on a camping trip with all of our family friends in Big Sur and we had a POW sticker on the back of our car. A family friend saw it, mentioned that one of their good friends worked at POW, and asked if I wanted to get connected. So it's all full circle — the outdoors brings community and brings family. So, I got in contact with them, and now I'm an athlete ambassador. I just share my story and share how that is intertwined with their work, and we work on legislation to advocate for a more sustainable future and try to protect the outdoors for future generations.

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TOGETHXR: If you have a chance to watch another winter Olympian, who would you want to see compete? 

BK: There's so many! I definitely, if I can, want to go see Jessie Diggins in cross country. She's obviously from the U.S. We have some partners together that we work with. POW is one of those, and I've gotten the honor of going to a few events with her, and she's just an all around, awesome human being. She’s retiring this year, so this is gonna be her last go at it. I want to be there and feel the energy of the crowd.

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Elana Myers Taylor in bobsledding would be sick. I know nothing about bobsledding, so I think it would be really cool to see. She's super inspirational, traveling with her kids and being a mom out there. I also want to go see figure skating. As an American, figure skating is such a big thing with so much history around it. Alyssa Liu, Amber Glenn, and all the American girls will be so awesome to watch.

Your favorite sports movie: Rocky.

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Your go-to snack: Gummy worms, an apple, or chocolate. 

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A non-snow athlete that is killing the game right now: I saw that Trinity Rodman signed a new contract, that was very cool to see — and she was very, very fly in her outfit. So I'll say Trinity Rodman. She always looks incredible. I love seeing her fits. 

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Your biggest pet peeve: Oh, my God. When people stand right on the baggage claim belt. That's not gonna make your bags come out quicker. I'm probably gonna take you out with my bag because it's so heavy that I can't lift it off the thing. If everyone just stands ten feet back, you can see your bag easier. It just makes everything flow smoother. That's my biggest peeve.

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Your biggest piece of advice for younger athletes: Remember why you're doing it, which is because you love it — and if you don't love it anymore, then it's okay to step away and be done. But always remember to have fun and you'll love what you're doing.