Snowboarder. Yoga instructor. Environmental activist. Writer. Filmer. Camper van renovator. World traveller. Tattoo artist. Musician.
All the way from Italy, Elena Graglia has seen a lot and done a lot. Starting out in the backcountry, she quickly moved to riding the park and the streets, and is now known all over the world for her steezy riding and serious rail tricks. Most recently featured in The Uninvited II and Heroes; she's been a regular attendee at snowboarding events and a consistent face in the snowboarding culture for the last few years. We always love watching her ride and she approaches everything with effortless style.
Despite COVID, Elena's had a great year, co-creating a new video project with husband Kael Hill titled Snowboarder's Guide To The Galaxy (featured in our Movie Marathon). We chatted to Elena about her goals with the project, what she loves about riding street, and the problems she sees in the snowboarding culture — and what she's doing about it.
'We wanted to destroy every single rule that the "cool guys" in the street scene made.'
We also talk behind-the-scenes of The Uninvited II, how we need more Jess Kimura in the world, and her experiences in snowboarding industry coming from a small town in Italy. Elena handed us some serious life advice and explained how she learned that loving herself was more important than getting the clip for someone else. Check out the full interview below.
Then, of course, we had to get close and personal with Elena as we asked her our 3am Questions. We found out Elena's hidden talents, biggest fears, and left the chat feeling slightly concerned that Elena and Nikki seemed to be hatching an environmental activist plan together that may or may not put them in jail.
Elena is one of the nicest people we've had the pleasure of talking to. She's authentic, honest, kind, and is all about supporting fellow women; from the top dogs in the industry to the quiet girl doing her first 50-50 on a box. Maybe she can't pee standing up but here at NITP we think there are better qualities to look for in a human. Thank you Elena for your time and we look forward to next time we can talk!
Check out Elena's film Snowboarder's Guide To The Galaxy by DMing her on Instagram (elenuh_g) showing receipt of an action that supports the snowboarding community and/or environment! See more info on her post here.
Words: Hannah Brinkhurst
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