Now Introducing Bea Kim: Team USA's Youngest Halfpipe Rider

It was a Sunday in late January, and Bea Kim had a long day of media ahead of her.

That’s not how most people would celebrate their 19th birthday, but Kim celebrated with her family and friends back home in California the day before. How’d she celebrate? A dinner that featured some Mediterranean food.

“Which was delish,” she said during our phone call. “And so many desserts. It was like, actually unreal.”

Earlier that week, Kim learned that she had solidified her spot on the U.S. Olympic Women’s Halfpipe team. For the first time in her career, she was headed to the Olympics.

But in that current moment, with about a week to go before she actually flew over from Italy, reality hadn’t quite set in.

“I'm really excited, obviously, but I honestly don't know if it's set in,” she said. “I don't know if it really will have set in until I'm actually in the village there with all the gear and all the hoopla, I guess. I'm just really excited to get out there and just take in the whole experience and try to do my best.”

Kim is the youngest member of the American halfpipe team that features some of the heaviest hitters in the Games. Of course, there's Chloe Kim, who is of no relation to Bea, and will try to take home her third straight Olympic medal. Maddie Mastro is also back for her third Olympics and will try to take home her first medal. Maddy Schaffrick is also at her first Olympic Games, but has had a professional career for more than a decade.

It’s kind of like joining the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mastro helped her make a packing list. Chloe taught her to enjoy the moment and be present for the entire Olympics.

"I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better situation, and more special teammates," she said. "They all bring something super special to the table, and to be able to be on the same team as them and just watch them train…To be able to see all the different their styles and the way they approach training and the way they approach competition and building their own runs has been super cool to to just observe and just get some insight from all of them. They've been in a little bit longer than I have.”

Bea grew up in California, just like Chloe and Mastro, and was on the Mammoth Mountain Snowboard team, just like them. She got her first FIS World Cup podium in 2023-2024 with a second-place finish at the Laax Open. She went on to finish in third in the overall standings and brought home a second-place finish at the Dew Tour later that year. Bea finished in third place at the Grand Prix at Copper Mountain back in December. That finish was vital to her securing a spot at the Milano-Cortina Games, as she had a shoulder injury and finished seventh at China’s Secret Garden.

She is part of a new wave of younger riders who are taking not just the U.S. team, but all of halfpipe snowboarding by storm. It’s not lost on her that the older generation has helped pave the way for the current moment.

“It's just a testament to, obviously, this younger generation of riders, but also the older generation and the people that we grew up watching and looking up to in the Olympics and in competitions and on social media. They really paved the way for us to be able to get out there at a young age and get into competing,” she said. “So it's pretty special that there's a lot of young names out there, but also a few legends in the mix.”

And Kim should be in the mix as well. Look for the switch backside 900 Japan grab in the pipe, and her personal favorite, a switch backside 540.

Regardless of what happens in the Olympics, she’ll be set to suit up for the final stop of The Snow League at Aspen at the end of the month.

Oh yeah, and when that’s over? She’s moving to New York City to be a freshman at Columbia University. She told me she plans to live in the dorms and get the full college experience.

If she rides her snowboard while in school, it will be the first time she does so on the East Coast.

Just another first for Bea Kim.