WHITNEY GILLIAM

Birthplace: Little Rock, AR First Mountain: Crested Butte, CO Years riding:  10 years

Welcome to the Stranda family! Let’s start from the beginning, where did you grow up and how did you get into snowboarding?
I grew up in the southern part of the US where there is little to no snow, but went skiing with my family on holidays. When I was 18 years old I decided snowboarding looked like it was a lot more fun and flowy than skiing, so I decided to switch, and I’ve never looked back! It wasn’t until I was 22 that I got into split boarding and found my favorite sport on earth 🙂

Whats your home mountain?
Crested Butte, Colorado.

Favourite place to ride?
Crested Butte backcountry or Valdez/Thompson Pass, AK.

Can you describe yourself in one sentence?
I love to laugh and make others laugh; I hate sitting still for extended periods of time; and I love splitboarding, but mostly I love seeing others love splitboarding and educating them on how to stay safe but still enjoy the backcountry!

What´s your favorite trick to watch?
Any kind of method. But mostly riding big steep alaska spines if that counts as a trick!

What is your favorite book?
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Do you listen to podcasts, if so what´ your favorite podcast?
Totally Deep backcountry podcast, Mtn Meister, & Stuff You Should Know

Best splitboarding/snowboarding Hack (advice) you have?
A lot of people make fun of me, but I love using my skin savers in the backcountry! I usually cut them in half and use one half per skin and keep them separate. One of my biggest pet peeves is when my skins are really stuck together! I also keep an old ski pass/card so that I can use it to scrape ice or snow off of my bindings for quicker transitions.

Who have been some of your biggest influences as snowboarder?
Jeremy Jones! I’ve watched him since I was a kid. I have always been inspired by his desire to get others out splitboarding and his focus on education and sustainability.

What boards have you gravitated to in the Stranda line up and why?
The Descender Split! I’ve ridden many split boards, but this one does it all. It’s light without losing power! It edges beautifully on a skin track, which helps me beat all my skier friends, and it’s perfectly shaped to be an all mountain dominator but also excels in powder with the shape and directional stance.

What does the future hold for you? Any goals, trips or projects for this season?
I plan on doing at least one over night camping trip and/or hut trip near my home town! And one big goal I have this season is to do 10,000ft of vertical in one day!

Boards of choice:  Stranda Descender Splitboard
Stance: Goofy 🙂

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