Here’s how Shaun White is shaping snowboarding’s future

The Winter Olympics are less than a year away and, for the first time in two decades, snowboarding superstar Shaun White is not training to compete.

The retired three-time Olympic gold medalist said he’s not going to sugarcoat it: It definitely feels weird.

‘I’m excited and I’m happy for the next [generation] that’s coming through and what they’re going to do at this next Games,’ he told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. ‘But yeah, there will be some part of me that’s a little like ‘ugh’ − wanting to compete and wanting to ride.’

That, of course, doesn’t mean White has thought seriously about a return to competition such as the comeback that one of his contemporaries, Lindsey Vonn, made a few months ago. ‘I’m not contemplating it at all,’ White said.

Instead, as the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina near, the 38-year-old explained that he’s shifted his focus to the future of snowboarding − how the sport will evolve, and the athletes that will be at the center of that evolution. Last year, he founded a new snowboarding and freeskiing league called The Snow League, which held the first of its four events in Colorado in March. And next month, he’ll be on Mount Hood in Oregon to work with top junior athletes as part of Project Gold, a national talent identification program run by U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

‘It’s all elements of the industry becoming more professional and more looked at like a true sport,’ White said. ‘I think that for a long time it was just like ‘oh, this is cool’ (but) people didn’t really take it seriously.’

White grew up attending the High Cascade Snowboard Camp that will serve as the backdrop for Project Gold. He also became a part-owner of the summer camp, and its freeski counterpart, in 2023.

A summer camp for winter sports like snowboarding and skiing might feel like an odd match, but White said off-season training has become critical, especially for elite athletes. It’s why, even though Mount Hood boasts year-round snow, the camp recently also added a dry slope with an adjustable takeoff ramp and airbag-cushioned landing area for training runs.

‘When I talk about the future of the sport and where this next amazing athlete’s going to come from, I always say − and I do believe − that they’ll come from somewhere that doesn’t have any snow,’ White said. ‘They’ll be in a situation where they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve just been training on this bag year-round, I had access to this facility and I’m just going every day.”

White pointed to Japan, where snowboarders have access to indoor halfpipes and other year-round training facilities, as one example. The country is home to the reigning Olympic gold medalist in men’s halfpipe, Ayumu Hirano, and one of the sport’s recent pioneers in big air, Hiroto Ogiwara. At the Winter X Games in January, the 19-year-old Ogiwara became the first snowboarder to land a 2340 − which, to spare you the math, is a whopping six and a half rotations.

‘It’s wild,’ White said with a laugh when asked about that feat. ‘I was like ‘oh my God, I got out at the right time.”

White announced his retirement from competitive snowboarding after a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Beijing Games. After winning three gold medals across five editions of the Winter Olympics, he said he doesn’t take many runs through full-size halfpipes anymore but he does still spend plenty of time strapped to a board. He’s found new joy in backcountry trips with friends and family, or hitting jumps and rails.

‘I really feel for athletes in the football world and others, where it’s like, how are they going to go enjoy the game in a solo situation? Go throw the ball around in the yard?’ White said. ‘For me, it’s like maybe the band’s no longer together, but I can still play the guitar. And that’s a very enjoyable thing. I can still go ride the mountain.’

At times, White admitted, his mind has also drifted to an all-too-natural question: What if? He’ll watch a video clip of a halfpipe trick and wonder if he could still do it, or see headlines about Vonn returning to the podium after a five-year hiatus and having a passing thought about a similar attempt.

Then, he said, his mind will settle and he’ll ‘come back to reality.’ He’s happy with the decision that he made to walk away.

‘Retirement’s such a kind of ugly word, in a way,’ he said. ‘I’ve definitely just shifted my focus to something else.’