Snowboard or Bust

By Nick Hensley

FORT COLLINS, CO —— Sitting in a room dimly lit by florescent lights and cheap computer screens isn’t the ideal place to have a comfortable in depth discussion. However, an uncomfortable rolling computer chair will have to serve as a hot seat for Janelle Kienast.

Janelle is a small polite girl whom when asked anything, responds enthusiastically with a smile. Janelle is currently a student at Colorado State University majoring in technical journalism, specifically public relations. Kienast is confident about most things in her life like her love of sports and allegiance to the Chicago Cubs, but what she really loves is snowboarding.

“Snowboarding is my life,” Janelle responds confidently when asked what she does for fun. Kienast snowboards almost every weekend during the winter. If you were taking the chair lift up Keystone Mountain anytime the last several years, there’s a good chance you’d see Kienast shredding it up. This seems surprising given her “nice girl” vibe, but snowboarding is her passion and who says nice girls can’t throw down on the slopes?

A native of Colorado and alum of Falcon High School, Janelle and her two older brothers make snowboarding a family affair. Her father is a skier and started Janelle on the slopes with a pair of skis not a snowboard. However that quickly changed, “but he doesn’t mind…..that much,” she giggles showing her rebellious attitude. But snowboarding won’t be just a hobby for too long; Janelle plans to be a part of a public relations department for a snowboarding magazine.

Janelle is not to be judged by her cover. When asked “If you could be any animal what would you be”? she responded with a smile, “A tiger because they’re feisty,” once again showing her versatility.