Craig Kelly
Craig Kelly
Craig Kellywas an American professional snowboarder. He attended the University of Washington where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and studied Chemical Engineering. Kelly is known as the 'Godfather of Freeriding'; Terje Håkonsen called Kelly the best snowboarder of all time. Over his 15-year professional career, he won 4 world championships and 3 U.S. championships; he won the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom snowboarding competition in 1988, 1991, and 1993...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth1 April 1966
CountryUnited States of America
My experience and what I do in snowboarding is really quite independent of the industry and the more independent it is, the more pure and better I feel about snowboarding.
What you do once you're beyond the confines of your local lift service can be as limitless as the mountains themselves.
Oakley and Burton have been my main sponsors since '87. I've been riding for both of them.
So I've been pushed farther and farther out into the mountains, but at the same time realizing that that experience is really nice and I'm glad I'm getting pushed out there farther.
I suffer every moment of every day that I am not with my son. All I want is to be reunited with my son.
All of a sudden you have this feeling of clarity. Backcountry snowboarding has really done a lot to boost that feeling in me.
I've always been into powder, that's what I like riding, and now you've got to go farther to get it.
While I will always have the utmost respect for the superhuman out-of-bounds freestyle and extreme stunts that seem to continually progress beyond our imaginable limits, my highest appreciation goes out to the simple rider who's out there just for the experience.