We’re back for season two of Winter Missions! What better way to kick things off than pairing up two powerhouse females on the board. A match made in heaven. Torah Bright, Olympic Snowboard Gold Medalist took over the new Ford Ranger Wildtrack whip and was joined by special guest, professional surfer and big wave charger Laura Enever.
The mission? Go seek out the early season turns with 100ml of rain on offer at Torah’s local resort, Thredbo located in New South Wales with a surf stacked quiver of boards for Laura to test and try. Surf the earth, feel the flow, find the board was the goal. No matter the conditions – rain, hail or shine.
A little about the impressive Laura. She’s a Pro Surfer from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, 2 x World Junior Champion, Australian Champion and Pro Junior Champion! She’s competed on the WSL Women’s World Tour for 7 years, consistently placing in the top 10. She’s recently transitioned into tackling big waves, making her one of the most exciting and influential female surfers of this time. She’s now competing on the Womens Big Wave World Tour…damn!
And Torah?! Well, where do we start…She’s Australia’s most successful Winter Olympian boasting a Gold and Silver Olympic medal. 2 x X Games Gold Medalist, 3 x US Open winner, 2 x Global Open champion plus a stack of other incredible achievements. So let’s just say she knows a thing or two about boarding and is also an avid surfer, being able to connect similarities between the two.
With limited early season terrain and 100ml of rain on offer up at Thredbo, both girls made the call to go shred the Cruiser Area…Torah knows a thing or two about her local, and when it’s early season, you head straight to the side of the run for surf inspired slashes thanks to skiers piling up all the snow.
On days like this, you need a quiver. A quiver of boards is a staple as a surfer, and becoming more and more staple as a snowboarder. Boards have gone from true twins to now being more directional, fish tails, squash tails, rounded surf noses, pointy noses are more. When youi’re not doing triple backflips of 100ft booters…riding a variety of boards keeps the good times flowing and the mind engaged.
Laura ditched her normal board and opted to take the stubby fish board out for a rip, similar to a fish surfboard – designed for fun, flowing, less performance and more smiles. Like 99% of people, she instantly fell in love with the feel of the fish. On an average day, it’s the perfect way to keep the stoke alive.
The rain started to turn to classic Aussie snow…Laura opted for the board swap. Thank god for the GoPro dealing with the elements…this was 100% shot on GoPro – images & film. This time round, a more traditional shape with a touch of directional camber. Giving it more drive, similar to some of the big wave gun surfboard shapes Laura rides.
Without hesitation, she was straight back into it and ripping the mountain like a wave. Surfing the earth. Fast and furious is Laura’s approach in the ocean, life and now on the mountain. Favoring her second board, loving that it held lines and hit a warp speed realm.
To send off the day in true Transfer style, the girls ended it with an après beer thanks to Pirate Life Brewing. Toasting to shredding, quivers and Laura’s next mission which she’s calling for the ultimate Aussie pow day!
Huge shoutout to all our partners for making these Winter Missions possible and Laura! So rad to work with brands we love, and have them support what we love. Thanks to Ford Australia for the wheels, GoPro for all the camera, YETI for all the gear, Allpress Espresso for the caffeine, The North Face for all the outerwear and kit, Pirate Life for the beer, Oakley for the prime vision and G-Shock for the time keepers!
