Hannah Teter

Born into a snowboarding family in Belmont, Vermont, Teter is the youngest of five siblings. Two of her four older brothers, Abe and Elijah, competed for the US Snowboard team, and her eldest brother Amen is their agent and manager. She is an Okemo Mountain School graduate. By 2002 at the age of 15, she was the World Junior Halfpipe Champion, and had begun riding on the FIS Snowboard World Cup circuit. Teter achieved a 4th-place finish in her first World Cup halfpipe event at Valle Nevado, Chile, in September of that year. Teter became vegetarian after watching the film Earthlings, and credits her plant-based diet as taking her to a "whole other level" as an athlete. ==Professional career==

From 2002–2004 Teter competed in seven World Cup events with four victories, at Sapporo in 2003 and 2004, Valle Nevado in 2003, and at Saas-Fee in 2004. Competing at the Winter X Games, Teter won bronze in 2003, and gold in 2004. During 2005 Teter was hampered by a knee injury which required two surgeries; in her words: "there was a chunk of bone that had separated and it was kind of dangling around." She also won the ESPY Award for Best Action Sports Female in 2006. At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Teter scored 45.4 in the qualification round for the women's halfpipe, the second place score, earning her a bye to the finals. After the first run of the finals, Teter was in first place with a score of 42.4. In the second run, Teter's earlier score was topped by Australian Torah Bright, who scored 45.0, a mark Teter was unable to beat in her second run. Teter finished with the silver medal. Fellow American Kelly Clark won the bronze medal. Teter finished fourth at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in the Halfpipe event. She was fifth among US athletes in qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and did not make the Olympic team. ==Media and business ventures==

Before going to Turin for the 2006 Olympics, Teter was featured in the 2005 documentary film about the growth of snowboarding, First Descent. The movie, which was filmed in the mountains of Alaska, starred Teter alongside snowboarding legends including Shaun White and Terje Håkonsen. Teter and her brother Abe were also featured in the 2006 documentary Snow Blind about the history of snowboarding and its evolution into an Olympic sport. In 2009, Vermont based ice cream company Ben & Jerry's created a new flavor in honor of their fellow Vermonter; Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie. Teter was one of four Winter Olympic athletes chosen to model for the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in an "Olympic Stars" section of the popular annual magazine. Teter's photo shoot took place at Whistler Blackcomb, the venue for several events of the Vancouver Olympic Games. Teter joined fellow snowboarder Clair Bidez, and skiers Lacy Schnoor and Lindsey Vonn who also modeled for the issue. While Teter and the other athletes received some criticism for participating in the photo spread, she responded to her critics saying: "I don't believe in the criminalization of bodies and women having to be ashamed of their bodies. That's just so wrong." In 2013, Teter published an instructional snowboarding book entitled, Mastering Snowboarding, along with co-author Tawnya Schultz. In February 2020, Teter became Global Ambassador for British snow apparel brand Oneskee. ==Charity work and philanthropy==

In 2008 Teter founded a charity called Hannah's Gold which raises money through the sales of Vermont maple syrup. The charity, in partnership with World Vision, helps to support the village of Kirindon, Kenya through building schools, digging fresh water wells, and providing water filtration. In 2009 Teter donated all of her prize money to the Kirindon program. In 2014, Teter was named a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics. She says she is inspired by her brother, Josh, who has intellectual disabilities. ==Other titles, awards and honors==

• 2009 Gold medal at the Burton Australian Open • 2009 Gold medal at the US Snowboarding Grand Prix in Boreal • 2006 Winter Gravity Games Silver medalist, women's halfpipe • 2005 Vans Cup champion • 2005 US Open bronze medalist • 2005 Nippon Open silver medalist • 2005 Winter Gravity Games silver medalist • 2004 Finalist for the ESPY Awards for Best Female Action Sport Athlete • 2004 US Snowboard Grand Prix halfpipe champion • 2004 NASJA "Competitor of the Year" title and award • 2003 Vans Triple Crown halfpipe title + silver in slopestyle • 2003 Became youngest member of the US Snowboarding Team • 2002 First Female Snowboarder to land a 900 in Competition ==References==