Head over heels – how Abbey fell for snowboard cross

Anyone who doesn’t believe in ‘love at first sight’ might like to chat to hot shot, Abbey Wilson, who speaks passionately about the moment she – literally – fell head over heels for the Olympic sport, snowboard cross.

Wilson was only eight when she tried snowboard cross as a school activity and the Jindabyne local, who would one day win a bronze medal at the 2024 Gangwon Youth Winter Olympics, was instantly hooked.

“Most people say they don’t have love at first sight, but I think that was my love at first sight,” said the 19-year-old.

“At that moment, I put the snowboard on and kind of grasped the concept of snowboarding quite quickly. As soon as I could go down the steeper and faster slopes, that’s all I wanted to do . . . and has continued to be all I want to do.”

Wilson credits learning to ski when she was only two for providing the foundation that’s needed to zoom down mountains at speed, while she uses her next breath to credit ballet for helping to build the resilience that’s needed to compete internationally.

“I think it’s a great base point for anyone who wants to learn how to snowboard,” said Wilson. “It’s much easier to transition, I would say, than just jumping on a snowboard straight away.

“Most of the time I cruise down the mountain without even registering I have something on my feet. [It’s] more when I get to jumping, I notice that I have to lift a bit more weight off the ground, but it becomes a second nature to me!”

However, mastering ballet moves such as the pirouette, glissade, arabesque allied with the odyssey of travelling 60 kilometres by bus from her home in Jindabyne to Cooma to attend the classes moulded her determination.

“Ballet has definitely helped with my flexibility,” she said. “It helped a lot with core stability and balance which is a very important aspect of our sport.

“You know to be able to centre yourself – and ground yourself – on the snow and make sure that there are no minor adjustments because, in snowboard cross, a minor adjustment is a major adjustment.

“So, any minor adjustment can be held with your core and with your balance. Ballet completely helped me with that, and it also helped with my grind of sport.

“Growing up in a country town the nearest dance studio was about an hour 15 on the school bus. So, straight after school [I’d] wait for the bus, get on the bus, drive to Cooma with all the stops, get off the bus. walk about 15 minutes from the bus stop to dance – and then I would usually do a contemporary or jazz class and then a late night ballet class until mum came, picked me up after work, we’d get a late night snack from the shops and I’d eat that on my way home to then wake up and go to school the next day at 7am!

“So that has really helped me with understanding that it was something I loved doing –  same as snowboard cross – and it was something that I wanted to continue [but] my parents put it on the table and said, ‘if this is something you want to continue this is the effort you’re going to have to put into it.

“So, dance really helped me with that.”

Indeed, Wilson also credits snowboard cross for playing an important role in making her and older sister Charlotte – a rising star on the World Cup Moguls scene – even closer.

“Growing up, me and Charlotte always had that sibling rivalry – and the bickering,” she laughed. “But when we found our disciplines . . . I think . . . I became so appreciative of having my sister around was when she decided moguls was her thing and I decided snowboard cross was my thing.

“She puts so much hard work and dedication and time into the things she loves. And it just inspires me to do the same in every way and really work hard and be like her . . . but be myself.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS