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12-year-old N.W.T. snowboarding star says Olympian Liam Gill gave her confidence to win gold

Olympic snowboarder Liam Gill says hearing that he helped inspire a 12-year-old snowboarder from Fort Smith, N.W.T., brightened his day. Storm Cabell-White has picked up two gold ulus at the Arctic Winter Games so far.

Storm Cabell-White wins 2 gold ulus at Arctic Winter Games

Liny Lamberink · CBC News ·
A girl stands holding a snowboard at the top of a ski hill. There's a chairlift in the background.
Storm Cabell-White, 12, stands with her snowboard at the Vista Ridge in Fort McMurray, Alta. The N.W.T. athlete has won two gold medals in her sport at the 2023 Arctic Winter Games so far. (Liny Lamberink/CBC)

A 12-year-old snowboarder from Fort Smith, N.W.T., who has picked up two gold ulus at the Arctic Winter Games so far, says Olympic snowboarder Liam Gill inspires her confidence on the slopes.

Storm Cabell-White met Gill during a snowboarding clinic in her community nearly a year ago. Gill, 19, was born and raised in Calgary and is a member of Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation in the N.W.T.  

Hearing about the young athlete's success, Gill said Tuesday, brightened his day.

"Storm is just so great, she's got such good style, and I'm so happy for her," said Gill from Mammoth Lakes in California, where he's competing in a qualifier this week for a World Cup event. 

A snowboarder slides along a rail during a competition event.
Cabell-White competing in the rail jam event at the Arctic Winter Games on Monday. (Thomas Hopkins/Wood Buffalo 2023 Arctic Winter Games)

Gill travelled to Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Yellowknife to ride with kids nearly a year ago, shortly after competing for Team Canada at the Olympics in Beijing. Cabell-White said she enjoyed having him around. 

"He would just tell us stories and he would snowboard with us and that was very fun," said Cabell-White. "It made me feel like I wanted to go to those things ... the Olympics sounded fun."

After the clinic, Cabell-White said she felt more confident in herself. That confidence helped her win a gold ulu in a rail jam event Monday and a slopestyle event Tuesday. 

She thinks trying a new trick — the rainbow — is what helped her to win the rail jam event.

"I was scared at first because I thought I couldn't do it, but I knew I could do it," she said. 

Speaking to CBC News on Tuesday, before her second gold ulu was announced, Cabell-White said she was super excited about her first win at the Arctic Winter Games. 

Canadian snowboarder Liam Gill trains in the halfpipe at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in February of 2022. When he came home, Gill travelled to Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Yellowknife in the N.W.T. to ride with kids. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

"Everyone was watching me, taking pictures. I was at the centre of attention, it felt kind of weird when I was walking up for first place," she said, adding she was "relieved" when she was no longer in the spotlight. 

Gill said he hopes to travel to the N.W.T. to do more clinics. 

"Those kids definitely inspired me and made me remember why I love snowboarding, and how stoked they were on everything. It was just amazing to see," he said. 

A screengrab from a video call of a young, smiling man.
Gill, speaking to CBC North from Mammoth Lakes in California, where he's competing in a qualifier this week for a World Cup event. (CBC)

"I can't wait to be able to go back up there and spend some more time with them, definitely want to make it a yearly thing where I get to see them more often."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liny Lamberink

Reporter/Editor

Liny Lamberink is a reporter for CBC North. She moved to Yellowknife in March 2021, after working as a reporter and newscaster in Ontario for five years. She is an alumna of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. You can reach her at liny.lamberink@cbc.ca

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