When Hannah was 3 years old, she watched Maelle Ricker win Gold in Snowboard Cross at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. She pointed to the TV image of Maelle on the podium wrapped in the Canadian flag and stated: “That’s what I want to do.”
Though all sports came very easily to Hannah as a child, she truly loved anything with speed and a touch of danger, with mountain biking and snowboarding quickly becoming her two main loves. Growing up as a Whistler kid, meant she had plenty of opportunities for both. At the age of 12, Hannah was asked to join the BC Snowboard team for Snowboard Cross, becoming its youngest member. Over the next three years she won most of the competitions she entered in BC and many around Canada.
While Hannah excelled in sport, school was incredibly challenging – leading to bouts of anxiety and depression. At the beginning of Grade 2, a Psychological Education Assessment determined that Hannah was in the 87th percentile for intelligence and less than 0.1% for reading. In short, she was severely dyslexic. This began the first real challenge of Hannah’s life – how to overcome her dyslexia. After many years of sweat and tears, she will graduate with her grade 12 cohort in June 2025.
In her first-year racing internationally, Hannah won gold at the Canada Winter Games and 9th in Junior Worlds. In her second-year, she captured 3rd overall in the North American circuit and 5th at the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea. She is incredibly proud to represent Whistler on the international stage! When not on her board, Hannah volunteers at WORCA Volunteer dig nights as well as WORCA’s Witsend race. She loves the opportunity to encourage other athletes to be their best and give back to the Whistler community whom she credits as giving her so much support over the years.
Today, Hannah is incredibly proud to be Canada Snowboard’s newest Next Gen athlete for Snowboard Cross. Though she had an injury early this year at a World Cup, she remains determined to recover and get back to doing what she does best. Go Fast! Her long-term goal remains firm – Gold at the Olympics – just like her mentor Maelle.
