WITH a fringe of blond hair sticking out from beneath his hoodie, 19-year-old Nate Johnstone looks like he should be carving through the waves at his home break at Mona Vale, on Sydney’s northern beaches, rather than carving up snow in the half-pipe.
But Johnstone’s path from Sydney led not to the ocean but to the mountains and he has emerged as Australia’s hottest male snowboarding prospect just in time for February’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
His father’s best mate lured the family to the snow when he was a child and Johnstone never left, at least in his mind.
He learned to ride a snowboard at 10, not long after the discipline made its Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998, and was quickly identified as an outstanding prospect.
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