The local snowboarding phenom, Virginia “Gigi” Boyd, is preparing for her first career World Cup appearance on Saturday in Cortina, Italy. 

Boyd, 17, has most recently competed on the Holeshot Cross Tour, a grassroots circuit that acts as a bridge to World Cup competition for Snowboard Cross, which offered Boyd a platform for climbing the ladder to the World Cup level. 

The second stop of the Holeshot Cross Tour was at Steamboat Resort Feb. 3-5, where Boyd delivered two race victories and earned one silver medal across her three races. 

Boyd opened the two-day NorAm, which was followed by a FIS snowboardcross race, with her silver medal. She then earned her second career NorAm victory on Feb. 4, beating out several racers who are much older and more experienced than her. 

The competition weekend was rounded out with a FIS snowboardcross race where Boyd collected a second victory. 

Other SSWSC athletes, including Cooper Malia and Logan Kolodsick, saw success by reaching the finals for the first time in their NorAm careers. Malia took 31st and 39th on both NorAm days with Kolodsick taking 16th and 17th. 

SSWSC Snowboard Program Director Alex Deibold had high praise for Malia and Kolodsick following the competition. 

“Cooper and Logan are improving tremendously,” Deibold said in a news release. “It’s a huge accomplishment to make it to the finals, but because of the head-to-head nature of snowboardcross, where anything can happen with other racers close on the course, their overall results aren’t a good reflection of how well they are riding.” 

Boyd World Cup race can be watched live through SkiAndSnowboard.live. The snowboard cross event begins at 10:30 a.m.