Nordica Ambassador Profile: Katia Griffiths

“I never really had any heroes growing up,” says Spanish skiing sensation, Katia Griffiths. “I’m inspired by anyone that dreams, fights for a good cause, follows their own path and remains humble when they succeed; that, and my mom for being a role model in strength and courage.”

British-born Katia grew up in sunny Spain. When she was five, her mom took her skiing in Andorra, and so began a lifelong love affair that has seen Katia transition from rank novice to certified instructor, ranked freerider, Olympic slopestyler (halfpipe), sports model and, most recently, Nordica Ambassador.

Says Katia, “doing a bit of everything when I was younger helped me gain a good base. Later on, one of my trainers was a former gymnast, so we trained in gymnastics and on trampolines.”

While in New Zealand, a friend and competitive freeride skier encouraged Katia to compete. “I placed third which helped me gain my first sponsor,” she says. “That encouraged me to keep going before switching to the halfpipe.

“I was always drawn to jumping and learning new tricks,” she says. “Back in the day, there weren’t many girls competing, so I’d ski with the boys and learn from them. Watching videos of Sarah Burke inspired me to compete.”

One day, a friend pushed Katia into trying the halfpipe. “I didn’t enjoy it much at first,” she says,  “but it was a challenge and I stuck to it.” That stick-to-it-ness eventually led Katia to the World Cup circuit and the realization of a childhood dream: competing in the Olympics. At Sochi, Katia became Spain’s first ranked Olympic halfpipe skier.

For Katia, success comes from always learning, having fun and finding the right balance. “While competing in pipe, I didn’t have a lot of time for freeriding,” she says.