Everything a Pro Snowboarder Eats in 24 Hours

This article is supported by Burton, who are pretty excited that the Australian snow season is officially here. In this article, we find out what three of their pro riders eat in a day.

Snowboarding is one of the most fun and extreme sports on earth, but all of that cold weather combined with intense cardio makes for a big appetite. Professional snowboarders spend long and strenuous days traversing mountain peaks in freezing alpine conditions, sometimes sustaining brutal injuries in the process––or, at the very least, falling on their butts a lot. Constant grazing is a necessity, even when they’re 10, 000 feet above sea level and 50 kilometres away from the nearest fast food chain. So what’s for lunch on the mountain? Some weird and wacky stuff, to be honest. We asked three pro snowboarders to show us everything they eat over a 24-hour period: from moose soup, to protein bars, to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Renowned Finnish snowboarder Roope Tonteri lives in a remote cabin nestled deep in the woods. He built it himself, and loves to retreat there between competitions. A typical day begins with a hearty breakfast of rye bread with cheese and cucumber, eggs sunny side up, and a cup of coffee. “I like to take time for it and not rush anywhere,” he explains. Lunch is a traditional Finnish moose soup, and dinner is fried fish caught fresh from a nearby lake. It’s all extremely wholesome, and suffice to say Tonteri could probably write a lifestyle book and make millions.

When he’s away from home––say, just casually competing in the Winter Olympics slopestyle competition––Tonteri misses cabin life and the hearty home cooked food that goes with it. “You are always a bit busier, so meals start including more fast food,” he says. “But I still try to eat my healthy breakfast and dinner, because food is so important for your body recovering and nutritious food makes that happen way better and faster.”

One of the most promising young riders to come out of the United States in the past few years, Californian Brock Crouch has what you might call an all-American diet. Luckily, snowboarding all day means you can get away with eating whatever you want. “Breakfast is the best meal,” he says. “If I have time I’ll eat eggs, bacon, pancakes, or French toast.” Lunch is a burger or pizza––or if he’s out in the snow all day, “my mum always packs me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

For dinner he’s a fan of trying out the local cuisine––meat pies in Australia and New Zealand, sushi in Japan. “When you’re traveling so much it’s hard to have a set meal schedule,” he explains. “But I eat all the time, so it works out for me!”

Jess Rich grew up in coastal New South Wales, and as a kid she dreamed of becoming a professional surfer. A gap year in Canada after high school changed her mind, and now she’s one of the best slopestyle riders in the country. The healthy beach vibes have stuck, though: Rich is studying to become a yoga instructor, and unlike most snowboarders she doesn’t dig into the fast food all that much.

Rich often fasts intermittently while training, which she says helps her focus. Breakfast is a bulletproof coffee with MCT oil and butter, lunch is a Gado-Gado inspired salad bowl, and dinner is a soup or curry packed with veggies. Rich makes her own protein bars with nuts, seeds, protein powder, and fruit. She’s not totally against sugar, indulging in a couple chocolate-covered almonds, every now and then. “I also try and drink a litre of water before 10am,” she says. “Which can be quite difficult in the middle of winter, but I find that sets me up for a good day.”

This article is supported by Burton. You can find out more about them here.