“I’ve always wanted to be a professional snowboarder,” said Indigo Monk, who was two years old when first introduced to the sport on a family trip to Big Bear.
Monk’s progression in the sport has provided her the opportunity to train at Ski & Snowboard Club Vail in Colorado from December through April. Her goal is to represent the United States in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Monk competes in slopestyle, an event added to the Olympics last July. The snowboarders perform tricks on a freestyle course that includes features such as kickers, rails, hits and tables. Points are awarded based on factors such as technical difficulty, style and height of jumps.
“Slopestyle is a creative event and the public is going to love it – probably more than halfpipe,” Monk exclaimed. “It has large jumps, rails and boxes and every course is different.”
After her freshman year at Mira Costa, Monk’s school counselors suggested she take an independent study program her sophomore year. But Monk felt the program wasn’t giving her the education she needed, so she enrolled in K12 Education – an accredited online public schooling program.
Monk hopes to take classes during the summer so she will graduate with a high school diploma in December, enabling her to focus more on snowboarding next year.
“It was a decision we didn’t take lightly,” said her mother, Kat. “I graduated from Mira Costa and was hoping Indigo would also.”
Indigo’s 19-year-old brother Julian was a standout water polo player at Mira Costa and is currently on the team at San Diego Mesa College. Her younger sister, Tippa (12) and brother, Slater (9) are expected to be Mustangs in the future.
“I tried public schooling but it was difficult to train for snowboarding competition at the same time,” Monk explained. “Being on the surf team at Mira Costa was the big reason I stayed in school. Taking classes online is a lot more challenging than independent study. But I feel I’m learning more this way.”
Commitment
“I think she’s getting really good coaching in Colorado,” Kat said. “It’s a big team and she may not get as much individual guidance as athletes who have private instructors, but she’s very happy with her coach Brady McNeill.”
Recognized as one of the best slope style instructors in the sport, McNeill returned to coach at Ski & Snowboard Club Vail in 2011 after helping Program Director Ben Boyd start the program in 2001-02.
“Indigo is a very dedicated and passionate athlete,” Boyd said. “She has grown up tremendously in the past year, where she has gone from a young kid into a very mature and smart competitor. She is fearless and can get the job done under pressure. We are so impressed and stoked how far Indigo has come in the past year.
“The biggest thing I have seen from Indigo is she now uses any hiccups or failures as learning experiences. She used to get very down if she did not ride well, but now she diagnoses those and uses them to improve her performance in the future. This is the trait of many successful athletes.”
An early start
After getting on her first snowboard while trying to emulate older brother Julian, Monk seemed a natural in the sport and was riding at the age of three.
When Monk was six, she won an 8-and-under boarder-cross race, earning a sponsorship from Roxy until she was 13.
She was landing 40-foot jumps at Mammoth at the age of nine and the following year, won her age group at the Slopestyle Nationals.
Monk was getting noticed and not just because of the unusual first name given to her by her mother, who was inspired by the band the Indigo Girls.
“I’m proud of my name,” Indigo said. “When people ask me if it’s my real name, I tell them ‘That’s what’s on my birth certificate.’”
With such a colorful name, Indigo doesn’t need a moniker although she said she has one.
“I picked up the nickname ‘Go-Go’ when I played soccer when I was young and it kind of stuck.”
When the athletic Monk wasn’t boarding in the mountains, she was boarding in the ocean. A participant of the Jr. Lifeguard program, Monk still spends summers surfing and paddleboarding.
But the frozen water was much more to Monk’s liking.
In 2008, Monk had six top-three finishes, including a win in the Slopestyle 13-17 year-old division in the Roxy Snow Classic.
Monk admitted Julian provided impetus for her early success on the slopes.
“I’m very competitive with my brother,” Monk said. “He was the perfect high school student, very popular and a great athlete. I was almost opposite, but I think he had animosity toward me and what I did snowboarding.”
International Competition
Monk said many slopestyle snowboarders also compete in the halfpipe, but she opts to focus on the one event.
“I’ve always loved slopestyle and was so excited when it was added to the Olympics,” Monk said. “I just want to work as hard as I can and hopefully be able to compete in Russia.”
After a successful 2011 season, which included a first-place performance at the Billabong Juniors in New Zealand, Monk began this year at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. She placed fifth and was the only athlete from California on the 57-member U.S. team.
Monk said although it was a thrill to represent the United States in the Youth Olympics, the highlight of her career came later in March at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix in Mammoth.
Making her third appearance at the event, Monk came off the mountain $15,000 richer. She earned $5,000 for her second-place finish in the slopestyle competition and $10,000 for the Best Trick – a Frontside 540 Stalefish she landed off an 80-foot jump.
“Being on the podium was such an amazing feeling,” Monk said. “All the hard work paid off.”
Kat, a professional photographer who works with her husband and digital designer Drew Heidreich, said she doesn’t get to see Indigo compete very often but was able to travel to Innsbruck and Mammoth.
“Mammoth was amazing,” Kat said. “Seeing her land a 540 on an 80-foot jump was something special. It’s fun to see her so happy snowboarding.”
The performance helped Indigo qualify for the FIS World Junior Championships in Spain where she was one of four Americans to compete in the slopestyle competition, held March 31.
After advancing to the finals, Monk rolled her ankle while walking out of her hotel.
“The U.S. doctor allowed me to compete anyways with lots of tape and Advil and I placed second,” Monk said. “My run was a front 360, back 360, front 540. I am disappointed about my ankle but very excited to have placed second at Jr. Worlds.”
Boyd praised the young athlete’s tenacity.
“Indigo will ride through pain,” Boyd said. “Evidence of her guts and determination is taking second place with a severely sprained ankle. The thing was very swollen, very black and blue, yet she gritted her teeth, landed a run under pressure and took home a medal. Very impressive.”
Injuries are nothing new to Monk. She broke her pelvis when she was 11. At 13, she broke her heel making a landing. Three years ago she tore ligaments in her ankle.
“I admit, there were a few years when I tried to get Indigo to quit,” Kat said. “Snowboarding is a dangerous sport.”
Road to Russia
Indigo said she has benefited greatly from her training period in Colorado despite a rigorous schedule.
A typical day began with breakfast followed by a bus ride to the mountain, where Monk would train from 4 to 5 hours. Another bus ride took her to the gym where she would work out for two hours. After she arrived home in the town of Frisco, she would complete her school work, eat dinner, sleep and then do it all over again.
The extensive training has helped Monk realize her strengths and weaknesses.
Boyd said he was impressed with Monk’s passion, work ethic, determination and fearlessness.
“I do well when I am confident,” Monk said. “I think I perform well under pressure. The bigger jumps are my strong suit. I’d rather perform on a 65-85 foot jump than a 40-60. I’m used to hitting bigger jumps in Mammoth.”
She said her biggest weakness was from the neck up.
“I’m trying to improve my mental game,” Monk explained. “Sometimes I play mind games with myself and it affects my performance, especially when the course is not what I expected. I need to learn to adapt a little better.
“For instance: We have goals set for each day of training. On a recent day, the course was changed overnight. My coach told me dealing with unexpected changes would be the goal for that day.”
Monk knows that every detail can make or break her attempt to qualify for the 2014 Olympic team and that although there are no standards set yet in Olympic slopestyle, competition will be tough.
“Even though slopestyle will be a new event in the Olympics, there are so many different contests and series throughout the year that all the competitors have been able to train at an Olympic level. There are a lot of people coming out of the woodwork now.”
Monk cites 3-time X Games gold medalist Jamie Anderson as being the best American snowboarder.
“The Norwegian teams are very strong and Canadian Spencer O’Brien is among the best,” Monk added.
Boyd feels Monk has a legitimate chance of becoming a member of the U.S. snowboarding team.
“I think Indigo can definitely get in the mix,” Boyd said. “A lot can happen in two years, but she is progressing quickly, and we have really seen her turn some of her riding weaknesses (Last year was not strong on rails) into strengths (She has improved her bag of rail tricks to where it’s another strength to her riding).
“Indigo just needs to stay physically fit and get stronger. If she can do that, progress and stay focused she could have a decent shot of getting to the 2014 Olympics. It will be tough, but I would not put anything past her.”
Monk will soon return to the South Bay but it won’t be for long. Her plans include training at Mt. Hood, Oregon, before spending July in Manhattan Beach where she is a Cadet in the Jr. Lifeguards. Naturally, she plans to surf and paddleboard and compete in the Jimmy Miller Foundation surf contest and the Pier-to-Pier paddleboard race.
Part of the summer will be spent trying to raise money. Although Monk is sponsored by Oakley, Spyder Surf and Yea Nice, she does not receive funding from the companies.
“My parents have helped me for many years,” Monk said. “Last summer, I worked at Noah’s Bagels and as a lifeguard at the Manhattan Beach Country Club to help with some of the expenses. Every year I try to do a fundraiser and the Manhattan Beach community has been very supportive. I think at the end of this summer, I am going to try and do a large fundraiser such as a talent show (with wine tasting for the adults) to help with the expenses leading into next season.”
In August, Monk will return to the slopes when her snowboarding team travels to New Zealand for the country’s spring season, which lasts through October.
“When I’m in training, I often think about the warmth of Manhattan Beach,” Monk said. “But when I’m home, I’m dying to go to the mountains,” she said.
