Michaela Davis-Meehan is the new Aussie girl set to follow in the footsteps of 2006/2007 TTR Tour Champion, Torah Bright.  Michaela hails from Newcastle on the NSW Coast and began snowboarding when she was nine years old.  In the early days she used to have to drive eight hours every weekend just to get shred on, but as her skills progressed it became apparent she would need to make a permanent move.  Perisher Blue resort is the snowboard capital of Australia and under the expert tutelage of the Peter Baff at the Fastride Snowboard School, Michaela rapidly improved and starting finding herself on the podium.

She made a huge impact during the Southern Hemisphere season when she took out the Slopestyle and Big Air in the 2Star Teenage Rampage Australian Junior Series, but was just the beginning.  She came to Europe in January where she capitalized on her past successes and took out the 3Star Protest World Rookie Fest and 2Star Snowboard Challenge, shooting her up the ranking.  Beating a host of junior riders from all over the world was a big step for Michaela and proved that she has what it takes to take on the best of them.  

Michaela is a crazy girl with crazy abilities so expect to see big things from her on the Swatch TTR World Tour.


When and where did you start snowboarding?

I started skiing when I was three years old and then snowboarding at nine.  I first strapped on a board at Perisher Blue in the Australian Snowy Mountains. I live in Newcastle, on the east coast, which is an 8 hour drive so I did a lot a travelling to get into riding, every weekend for 4 years.    I now have moved there to do my seasons.
 
Could you give me a brief explanation about your first contest and how you got into competing on the TTR circuit?

My very first comp that I went in was the Australian Junior Series in Perisher, just set up by some parents and the head coach Peter Baff. There was a very small Slope Style course and Half Pipe. I don't really remember it but I'm pretty sure I was only getting half way up the walls in the pipe and came 3rd with a roast beef, and on the jumps i think i was throwing down some sweet indie grabs. At that point I never thought I would be travelling around Europe doing all the big comps and doing well in them. Over the next year or two it turned into a 1 star TTR event and that's how I found out about TTR and started doing other TTR competitions. The Australian Junior series is now called the Ocean and Earth Teenage Rampage and is a 2 star event and is a great comp to get the young Aussie riders involved in the TTR circuit.

 
Australia is most famous for Torah Bright. Which riders inspire you? Who did you look up to as a kid coming up?

As a kid I definitely looked up to my brother, Patrick a lot.   He's a really good rider and has such a smooth style and is always pushing me to do better. He's also a rider who inspires me.   There are heaps of other sick riders out there but no one in particular who inspires me.
 
What are your goals as a snowboarder?

I would love to be in a snowboard movie some day but other than that i just want to ride and see how everything turns out.
 
 
You have been doing well on the TTR Circuit, taking out some contests.  How does it feel to be coming up and doing well?

It's really great to be up there on the TTR circuit, but I still have a bit more to go to get up there with the top girls and hopefully start making the finals in the big events. It's awesome to be going so well and couldn't have done it without my sponsors, so thanks to, Billabong, K2, Smith, Semantics and Pow Board Store :)
   
You attended all the Southern Hemisphere events this year.  How do you feel your snowboarding developed at these events?

Just seeing all the riders, seeing what tricks they’re doing helps my riding a lot. Being around better riders then me helps me to push myself and gives me some more tricks to try. Also I always seem to go all out in competitions and try more things.

I know you have a brother who is also competing in snowboarding.  Apart from him who else do you ride with.  Who pushes your riding?

I used to do Fastride which is a training program in perisher. I met a great bunch of people from that who are sick riders that I still ride with. Alicia Barker who I also met from Fastride, I mostly ride with her. We both push each other's riding a lot. She comes overseas with me a lot for all the comps. We were just in Laax together for the European Open. I also ride with all my coaches, especially Paul McMahon who unfortunately blew out his knee in Laax and had to go home, but is still giving me tips over Skype.     

You are a new rider coming up on the scene.  How has TTR helped you progress your riding?

It has let me see what other riders around the world are doing, especially at the World Rookie Fest in Livigno. That was my first comp in Europe last year.  I saw what the other girls were doing and then went home, worked on my riding and some new tricks and went there again this year and won. I even went to a 2 star event in Chiesa Valmalenco in Italy this year. I had never heard of this place or would never have gone there if there wasn’t a TTR comp on, but it turns out it’s a cool little resort to ride at.

TTR has given me some great experiences and opened up my eyes to lots of opportunities.