There are no mountains in the Netherlands, but we had a dryslope that was constructed from recycled trash.  It was here I first tried snowboarding.  I would hit the same (and only) jump from sun up until they kicked me off at closing.  From the dryslopes I began traveling to Austria to get on actual snow and mountains.  It was here I began progressing and taking my abilities to the next level.  By the 2000's I started traveling around the world and competing in major contests.  In 2006 I competed at my first Winter Olympics in Torino, placing 11th in the halfpipe competition.  During that time I also became World Champion.  I went on to compete in two more Olympics and was awarded World Champion twice more.  I was featured in the “Open Air” backcountry series and was the first woman to land a cab double underflip.  I was also the first women to land a 900 in competition.  Pushing the progression on the female side of the sport was the fuel to my fire.  In the following years I accumulated a number of video parts featuring my riding in the streets and backcountry, as well as continuing to stay on top in the competition circuit.  By 2010 I was named Snowboarder Magazine’s “Female Rider of the Year”, and in 2013 I won the bronze medal at the New Zealand Winter Games.  In 2016 I achieved my lifelong goal of winning my first X Games Gold medal in Big Air.  Most recently I was invited to compete in the 2022 Natural Selection Tour.  This contest honors the most innovative in the backcountry and is a huge honor to get the invite.  I get asked often if I am ready to hang it up after 15+ years of competing, but I still love it as much as those days of learning new tricks on the dryslope.