Walter Kim

Bea Kim, professional snowboarder and 2026 Milano Cortina Olympia, began her athletic journey similar to many other kids in youth athletics. Kim, who grew-up in Palos Verdes and attended Montemalaga Elementary School. She played numerous sports including softball, soccer, basketball and sailing.  Her participation in these sports and local leagues (such as Palos Verdes Peninsula Girls Softball, AYSO, PVBA, and King’s Harbor Sailing Club) served as an early introduction to athletic competition.
At the age of six, she began snowboarding with her family at Mammoth Mountain, quickly falling in love with the sport. On one of these trips, Kim joined the JLA Banked Solomon race and found success, placing third on the podium. The combination of the thrill of snowboarding and competition hooked the young athlete, and she joined the Mammoth Snowboard Team the following season.  
Kim drove to Mammoth with her family every weekend while attending school during the week. Eventually, she with switched to home schooling to accommodate her demanding training schedule.
 “It was definitely challenging when I was still in school. All my teachers were pretty accommodating when I was missing. It started just missing Fridays and Thursdays, and then all of a sudden I was gone Wednesday to Sunday, but a lot of people in the district helped me achieve this dream,” said Kim, when asked about her experience balancing school and snowboarding. 
Kim, who originally competed in all types of freestyle snowboarding, was inspired to focus on halfpipe after witnessing Chloe Kim win her first Olympic Gold Medal in person at the 2018 Winter Olympics. For those unfamiliar with the discipline of halfpipe snowboarding, riders compete in a 22 foot high U-shaped feature made of ice and perform five to six aerial maneuvers reaching heights of 30-40 feet.  
After years of competing in local and national competitions, including USASA (the governing entity hosting youth national championships for ski and snowboarding), Kim was selected for the US Rookie Snowboard Team. Based on her performance, Kim would then qualify to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Leysin, Switzerland, with the event serving as her first international competition. Kim would take home the silver medal. Following her success in Switzerland, Kim continued to train and compete all over the world, and in May of 2023, at the age of 16, she would be promoted to the US Professional Snowboard Team as the youngest athlete on the team alongside childhood heroes, Chole Kim and Maddie Mastro.  
“I was super excited when I was named to the team. Honestly, it was something I dreamt of since seeing my first Winter Olympics,” said Kim.
Kim had a breakout year in the 2023-2024 season, placing 3rd at the Dew Tour, 2nd at the Laax Open, and 3rd in the overall World Cup standings. Unfortunately Kim’s momentum would come to a halt, and she faced her biggest hurdle, undergoing shoulder surgery, sidelining her for the 2024-2025 World Cup season. The timing was especially critical because the 2024 season was the beginning of the Olympic qualifying process. 
“It definitely hurt watching all my teammates, friends and competitors continue to ride and compete as I sat at home with my shoulder injury. That time was pivotal for me as a person because it allowed me to realize that I have a life outside of snowboarding,” said Kim.
Off the snow, Kim is also an environmental advocate, representing the organization Protect Our Winters (POW) as a member of the athlete alliance. Through her advocacy, Kim was invited and spoke on climate issues at the UN, Capitol Hill and the White House. Additionally, Kim plans to further her education on sustainability issues at Columbia University in the Fall.
In December 2025, after almost a year of shoulder rehabilitation, Kim returned to the competitive scene, at the 1st Olympic qualifier at Copper Mountain, Colorado. She wasted no time, placing 3rd on the podium, qualifying and booking a trip to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
The Olympic women’s halfpipe snowboard competition took place in Livigno, Italy, on February 11-12, and hosted the 25 most elite halfpipe riders in the world. In this international field, Kim would need to place in the top 12 to qualify for the final medal round. Despite the mountain town of Livigno being a long way from Palos Verdes, a large group of friends and family made the journey to support her. The media team would even call the 30 plus group of supporters the “Bee Hive”. One special person who came to support Kim was Ione Eaton, who has been her best friend since kindergarten. 
Eaton, also an alumni of Montemalaga Elementary and now a freshman at Tulane University, said “Missing a week of classes for the trip was stressful due to my workload; however, I would do it 100 times over again to experience such a special moment with her.”
In the qualifying round, the riders perform two runs, with the best score counting.  This puts an immense amount of pressure on the rider to strategize and execute. With the “Bee Hive” in a frenzy of excitement, Kim would land both of her runs and qualify for the medal round. Qualifying for finals was one of Kim’s goals for the Olympics, especially after not knowing how her repaired shoulder would hold up during the competition. 
The following night was a majestic setting under the lights and heavy snowfall, fit for an Olympics finale, and Kim would land one of the best runs of her life, which included a combination of spins of 720s, 540s and switch backside 900 (a highly technical trick rarely ever performed by female snowboarders) reaching heights of over 30 feet in the air.  She placed 8th overall. While a medal was always the ultimate goal, Kim found joy in all she accomplished through the years, which started as a young athlete with a seemingly impossible dream of competing at the Olympics. In the end, the presence of her friends and family watching her represent her country with her best performance was an euphoric high Kim will never forget. This was her Olympic moment.  
“I saw all my friends and family at the bottom of the halfpipe and it was so awesome. They’re all the people who have supported me on this crazy journey, and it was special to have them be there for, I guess you would say, the finale,” said Kim.
Through the unwavering support of her parents and her endless hard work and dedication, Bea Kim was able to realize a childhood sports dream. Along with her competitive success, Kim’s efforts in snowboarding taught her life lessons leading to her success in academics and advocacy. Kim’s passion for her sport and competition, conceived through youth athletics, shows young athletes anything is possible with a heavy dose of hard work, persistence and determination.