What were you doing a month after you learned to walk? When Kennedy Galinski was barely a year old, her parents introduced her to something far more advanced than waving bye-bye… and that’s exactly what she’s doing to her competition, now with almost 100 medals under her board.
“I used to live in Flagstaff, Arizona, and that's where I first learned to snowboard," she said. "And so my dad would put me in these snowboard boots and a little board. And I would just go straight down the mountain and my parents would catch me.”
What started as a fun family pastime has turned into a passion for the 8-year-old. She recently clinched the title of No. 1 Overall Snowboard National Champion at the 2024 USASA Freeski National Championships at Copper Mountain.
There are five disciplines in snowboard competitions and Kennedy showcased her versatility with a podium finish in every event for her age group.
“My first event was halfpipe and I got a silver in that," she said. "Then my second day at slopestyle, I got a second in that. Then the third day was giant slalom and I got third. And then I got second in slalom and second in boardercross.”
Her dad, Ken Galinski, estimates his Silver Summit Academy second grader spent about 120 days on the snow this season. She enjoys training with the Park City Ski and Snowboard Team and honing her skills at Woodward where she has access to some of the country’s best facilities.
“That place has been amazing with the indoor trampolines and the rollerboards, just to name a few," he said. "And then the ability to take it from that inside element where it is controlled with limited risk to the snow, where you have a clear path of progression. It's really nice.”
Kennedy’s family tries to strike a balance with snowboarding and emphasizes she’s a regular kid who enjoys hanging out with friends, mountain biking, skating and surfing.
When asked if she has any aspirations to compete in front of her home crowd at the 2034 Winter Games when she’s 18, she laughed and said she’s just having fun right now… and the most fun of all is taking down her dad.
“It's really fun to see Kennedy develop from that little snowboarder at 1-year-old who we had to run and catch, to the snowboarder I now can't keep up with on the slopes. So it's really fun," he said.
So, does she consider dear ol' dad slow?
“Yeah. Dad, I beat you every time down the mountain," she joked.
Beating dad down the mountain while soaring to new heights–the future is bright for this promising young athlete.
