Shin Biyajima

Hailing from Nagano, Japan, host city of the first-ever Olympic halfpipe competition, Shin Biyajima could have followed in the footsteps of the freestylers he witnessed making history as a teenager. But the call of the backcountry was too strong. Shin now spends most of his time riding the famous powder-filled slopes of Hakuba in the Japanese Alps. When not showing his friends in the international freeride scene around his home mountains, he’s off making a name for himself in front of the cameras in places like Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the wilds of the Alaskan backcountry, where he recently impressed the snowboard world with some serious lines down some serious spines. Although not a full-time competitor, Shin finished second, behind Travis Rice at the Freeride World Qualifier event in Hakuba Japan in 2017