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ROBIN VAN GYN

If the spirit of restlessness were a person, you’d meet Robin. That restlessness is partly on account of passion, and partly on account of her inability to stop doing things, as evidenced by her off-time spent as a guide in Nelson, BC, summers spent surfing and fishing, and her recent undertaking of converting a shipping container into a home off the grid with her boyfriend. But Robin makes her name as one of the leading female backcountry snowboarders in the world, a leader in navigating “the high and steep, the wide open and the densely treed”.
Q:
What goes through your head when you first wake up in the morning when you go snowboarding?
A:
What’s the weather doing, what’s the avalanche advisory, where is the coffee?
Q:
Where is your favorite place snowboard?
A:
It’s hard to compare, places are that different in their own regard. But If I had to choose I would have to pick my own backyard. British Columbia is where I have done the most epic snowboarding and there is still so much more to explore. It’s huge and the terrain is incomparable.
Q:
Tell us a favorite story from a day out?
A:
I think one of my most memorable days was in Alaska with the Full Moon crew, we always just had so much fun together and it was magical getting the perfect conditions with the perfect crew and making the film concreted in one day was something I will never forget. That’s really what it’s all about, the fun factor, friends and of course POWDER!
Q:
How do you up your game year after year?
A:
Constantly finding ways to evolve is key, it’s not always going bigger or being more technical, but figuring out where you want to go next and learning how to get there is what keeps progression alive for me.
Q:
If you could do anything better, what would it be?
A:
Surfing and fishing.
Q:
Who are your heroes? Who do you look up to?
A:
My mother and sisters, Elon Musk, Travis Rice, Paige Alms, Grant Korgan, Malala Yousafzai, Stephanie Gilmore, Kimmy Fasani, Victoria Jelouse, The entire FULL MOON crew.

Three things that I admire in people: the ability to just do things as they feel right and stay true, constant progression and forward movement and innovation, and those who push the limits of what is possible and challenge what we know about the human condition.
Q:
What haven’t you accomplished that you aspire to in your lifetime?
A:
I would like to become a fully certified ACMG snowboard guide.
Q:
What part of you, or what you do, reflects a spirit of restlessness?
A:
I just can’t stop doing things, it’s a problem. Try to make me sit still, I can’t, it’s part of me. There is just so much to see and so much to learn, how can anyone sit still?
Q:
If there is any love-hate relationship with any aspect of what you do, can you describe what that is?
A:
 
At the end of the day, I just want to shred powder every day and only do that, so a lot of the business sides of the industry I have a hard time with. I get behind a lot and have trouble with spreadsheets, it’s not my forte or what makes me stoked, but put me on a mountain or in the ocean…