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    Manchester resident Betsy Shaw first put on skis at age three. Taking advantage of local programs such as the MEMS JISP and the Bromley Outing Club, Shaw embarked on a downhill ski-racing career. She skied at Burr & Burton as well as the University of New Hampshire. Shaw’s snowboarding inspiration came from a hot day at the US Open where “the girls were pulling their speed suits down and they had bikini tops underneath them and the girl came down and won.” After the scantily clad victory, Shaw realized that ‘”Oh my god! I'm in the wrong sport!'”[i] At first, Shaw wasn’t “on a mission to compete, I was on a mission to get good at snowboarding because it totally chewed me up and spit me out. I thought I was going to learn really fast and it was hard at first. I was so determined to keep doing it and get good at it."[ii]Soon enough, Andy Coghlan convinced her to enter a race. She placed second and she caught the bug - "I was in college and I thought ‘well this is an interesting way to make some money on the weekends.'"[iii]  Shaw eventually joined the World Pro Snowboard team coached by Rob Roy, bring her snowboard experience well beyond the confines of southwest Vermont.

[i] Betsy Shaw Interview, July 2017

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Shaw