Snowboarding
With his signature grin and laid-back charm, Scotty James has built an epic career in snowboarding. The Australian's secret? A perfect mix of good vibes and relentless hard work.
Having just hopped off a 10-plus-hour flight, days before one of the biggest competitions of his life, it would be understandable if Scotty James wanted some alone time. But behind his facemask it’s easy to see a smile stretched wide, and as the four-time Olympian strolls through the Beijing airport, his excitement is palpable, his eyes lighting up as he looks at the camera.
“Feeling great, stoked to be here. Good vibes, good energy. It’s sunny outside. It’s probably minus 50!”, exclaims James.
From there James hops on a bus accompanied by a man in a full hazmat suit (it’s the peak of the pandemic), get’s locked out of his hotel room, and finally, then happily gives the viewers a tour of his strikingly small accommodation for the next two weeks. Just days later, he takes home the Silver Medal in Halfpipe – and he does it all with a smile on his face.
This is the power of the undying positivity of Scotty James.
01
Scotty’s first board
If James had it his way, he would have been on snow earlier. But it wasn’t for lack of motivation: by age three James was chomping at the bit, but finding a snowboard his size was near impossible. It wasn’t until a random bit of chance and persistence from his dad, who spotted a board in the window display (the smallest one he could find) from a Vancouver snowboard shop. He bartered for the board, and Scotty was off to the races.
By age six he was competing, by age 10 he was beating anyone and everyone in his age range (even the older kids), and by age 14 he competed in his first international competition, the Europa Cup in Saas Fee, Switzerland. After a meteoric rise through the competition circuit, things got real just two years after his first international competition: the 2010 Games were coming up and James stumbled into the opportunity of a lifetime.
02
A rising tide
Never one to back down from a challenge, (and always keen to do it with a smile on his face), James was confronted with a unique opportunity when his Australian team-mate Nate Johnstone was ruled out of the 2010 Games with an injury. At the ripe age of 16 years old James was the injury alternate, he would just need a 19th-place finish or better at an upcoming World Cup in Stoneham, Quebec. He put down a run that was just enough, placing 15th and punching his ticket to the Vancouver games, where he eventually finished 21st.
His ascension continued as he climbed the world rankings in the following seasons, earning his first World Cup medal in 2013, a bronze, one of many results that season that once again earned him a spot at the next Games, this time in Sochi where he finished 16th in Slopestyle and 21st in Halfpipe. While his performances on the big stage weren’t podium-worthy, the best was yet to come for James. In 2016, the hard work started to garner the results he’d been building up to since his early days of standing sideways.
03
Medal stacking
After a strong start to the World Cup season in 2016, James started his medal collection with a bronze in Superpipe at X Games Aspen. The following year he took on a stacked field at the 2017 X Games, taking down Shaun White and Iouri Podladtchikov in the process, two gold medallists in their own right. He then went on to win the Gold at a test event in February of 2017, and eventually a Bronze at PyeongChang in 2018, his first medal from sport's biggest event. In what’s become a quintessential show of humility, James took a moment afterwards to thank those who have helped him get to where he is.
“It’s hard to put words to how I’m feeling after yesterday,” James said after the event.
“I couldn’t do what I do without the people I have around me. To everyone who said I could, this one’s for you!”
From there James continued his run, winning world cups, world championships and X-Game medals, and eventually winning the aforementioned silver medal in Beijing. While his career might have started slow, once James got going he was like an unstoppable freight train – and it appears he’s still gathering speed.
04
Making a difference off (but on) the hill
After his most recent X Games gold in Superpipe, James has achieved a rare feat: a four-time repeat as gold medallist in superpipe, and a decade long run of winning X-Games medals. But his presence in the snowboard world goes beyond podiums, most recently in his work to bring a halfpipe to Australia.
If you watch the episode of James's Red Bull TV show, All Day SJ below, you'll find a little parody about James bartering with his lovable but dim-witted agent, Quinton 'Pecky' Peck, about wanting to build a halfpipe in Australia. While the episode runs as a joke, in typical James style of bringing levity to the most serious of situations, it was a real passion of his to elevate halfpipe riding in Australia.
“I am striving to leave a legacy when I hang up my boots,” James told GQ
“I want to leave something for the kids, so they have something in the backyard, opportunities I didn’t have. Competitions and medals are really just an opportunity to make that one dream come true.”
In the lead-up to the 2022 Olympic Games, James played a prominent leadership role in the National Park & Pipe program, helping to develop young athletes with potential to be medal contenders at the Beijing Games. He also worked closely with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia to make sure his compatriots had the best possible national training facility at Mount Buller in Victoria, Australia.
05
Scotty James today
Fresh off the first-ever four-peat in Superpipe in the X Games, Scotty is back to training and riding for the remainder of the winter season. After that he’ll bounce between Monaco where he lives with his wife, Canadian singer Chloe Stroll.
If you want to check in on Scotty, it’s not hard to get close to him: he’s an open book on social media, often sharing hilarious insights into his life with Chloe, his training regimen and little tidbits of info (like the fact that learning the switch backside 1260 gave him nightmares). You can also watch his Red Bull TV show, All Day SJ (if you haven't already)
While his jaw dropping style, boldness and consistency in the pipe are what has gained him recognition, Scotty is so much more than a run of medals or a (deep) bag of tricks – he’s an example of how to carry yourself and enjoy the life you’re living, and he’s here to stay.
“It was all a dream,’ James posted on his Instagram just after his most recent win at X Games. “To my family, my team, and all my supporters, your belief in me has made all of this possible. We are just getting started.”
Stay tuned for more massive airs, shadowboxing on the podium, and hilarious antics from the one-of-a-kind rider.