It’s no secret that some of us are seriously lacking in snow right now, which makes it hard to believe that somewhere in the world there are lines of bottomless pow waiting to be slashed. Last night my phone was blowing up with texts and photos from Kelly Clark and the jealousy started to set in. “We were up in Hokkaido at Niseko, then went to another mountain Rusutsu. They’re having an all-time snow year here – it was literally bottomless. We are getting slashes for you!” Hokkaido is the Northern island of Japan and home to some of the best snowboarding I’ve ever had – the trees are full of snow and are wide open compared to the tight trees in Vermont. I caught up with Kelly to hear more about her trip to to the Far East.

My Instagram feed has been blowing up with photos of Japan and it looks like its going off right now. What brought you over there this time around?
It is no secret that the US is hurting for snow, and until Christmas, Europe did not have any either. A few of my halfpipe events got postponed and canceled as a result, and I found myself with one month off until the X-Games. We heard that Japan was having an epic start to their season and with the time off it seemed like the thing to do. It ended up being awesome considering we planned it in 3 days. I literally got a call the day after Christmas as soon as I got back from surfing in Costa Rica with my family for the holiday. We lined a few things up, and without having everything dialed we pulled the trigger.



Your contest run is pretty impressive right now, locking in your 13th win in a row at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge. What’s it like to take a break from that circus to do some good old fashion snowboarding?
Thanks, I have been having a lot of fun in the halfpipe lately. It is so good, and healthy, I think to put yourself in different environments, especially when that environment has powder Not to mention it was just plain fun! I usually have back-to-back events heading into the X-Games, and as I don’t have any this year, I thought it would be good to not be thinking about my biggest event of the year for 1 month leading up to it. I don’t think I could have done anything better to get myself ready for the rest of my season.

Rumor has it you’re a big fan of Japan and at one point you started studying Japanese. How’s that going for you? Nihongo hanashimasu ka?
Konnichiwa….Ogenki desk ka? Yes, it is true I love Japan! One of my all time favorite places to visit. That is another reason why this trip happening was so great. My Japanese? Not so good…I try to learn from people and I have studied a little. But like any language, I think being in the country is the best way to learn. Contrary to popular belief I think Japanese as a language is not as hard to learn as it most people think.



Who were you shooting with while you were over there? Was it a good crew?
Yeah we had a great crew. Met some new peeps as it was a spur of the moment trip. Got hooked up through Pat Bridges with a great local, Neil Heartman. We also met a guy named Sato Key, good times for sure.

Where can you get the best Japanese curry in Japan?
That is hard to say… It is everywhere! I would say I am a connoisseur in the sense that I can tell the difference between the good and best spots. As far as where to go…trial and error. Don’t worry, even the errors are not too bad.



What’s your karaoke go to?
Easy….”Total eclipse of the heart” by Bonnie Tyler

If you were a meteorologist for a day, what’s your read on the rest of the winter? Are we ever going to get dumped on in Vermont or is Japan going to hog all the snow all winter?
I have seen a lot of winters in my day, 28 to be exact. In my experience, dry winters do happen, however inconvenient they may be. I am privileged to have the opportunity to go to the snow, as it is always snowing somewhere. I hope that true winter shows up for everyone soon. On the upside, it will make us more thankful when it does snow.

What’s next for you after this Japan trip?
I am heading to Colorado to ride pipe and prep for the X-Games. I am really excited to get back in the pipe, I missed it.

What are you looking forward to the the most this winter?
I was looking for a Pow trip with my friends That happened already…..so maybe round two?



Your words of wisdom are always super inspirational to me. Anything you’d like to share with the Burton Girls out there?
Um words of wisdom……Don’t eat too much candy. My tooth fell out the 2nd day in Japan as a result That is always a wise thing to do, but for real….In light of this trip I would say, be thankful and keep it fun. It is easy to lose perspective and forget why you do the things you do. Like I was saying before, different environments give you perspective that is healthy. They can help you remember how good you have it and why you love doing what you do. This trip was really a nice break for me from the contest scene, but more so than anything it made me thankful for some of the good things in my life: snowboarding, powder, halfpipes, good friends, opportunity, curry and yes…candy

I find thankfulness is a big key to having fun. Think about trying to have fun and being grumpy at the same time…does not always work. So yeah, whatever it is that you do, if you’re not having fun, do some things to get a bigger perspective and look for things to be thankful for. You’ll be having more fun in no time

And there you have it. One of the best women in snowboarding. Learn more about Kelly and her journey on her team timeline.