Alert Bay, B.C. is a small fishing village on an island off the northeast tip of Vancouver Island. How small? A total population of 556 small. Everyone knows each other's nicknames small. The website for this place may still be under construction, but what it does have is bragging rights to being the hometown of super star sister pro shreds Meghann and Spencer O'Brien. The older of the two, Meghann, started her snow sliding early as a skier at Mt. Cain on Vancouver Island. At eight years old her family moved to Courtney, BC, and a few years later she started snowboarding. Her father, Brian O'Brien (yes, that's his real name...I'm not nearly funny enough to make this shit up), an avid snowboarder in his own right, spent just about every weekend driving Meghann and her sister to every British Columbia Snowboard Association competition he could find. After graduating high school Meghann spent a season in Switzerland and got a taste for big mountain riding. Shortly after she was transplanted to Squamish, BC, where she has taken full advantage of the backcountry that is just a few pulls on her snowmobile throttle away.

Meghann's snowboarding role models while growing up include the likes of Victoria Jealous, Annie Boulanger, Natasza Zurek and Romain De Marchi. At just 24, it is apparent that she is well on her way to cracking the A-list of snowboarders and making these role models her peers. Roberta Rodgers of Infamous Management noticed Meghann's raw talent and signed her up four years ago....now that's legitimacy. I managed to track down Meghann, who is currently spending some time at Crystal Mountain in Washington to avoid the Olympic melee, and she talked to me about what's been going on and how things are looking for the future.

What was it like growing up on such a small, secluded Island?
Growing up on a small island, and even Vancouver Island, was a really nice thing. It's just really grounding to have a home that is that small with such a tight knit community. I really like the rooting feeling I get from that kind of place. I'm really grateful to have had Alert Bay as a part of my life.

So why Crystal Mountain and where do you call home right now?
I came down to visit a friend from Bellingham and just kind of stayed. I've moved up to Prince Rupert. I moved up there in October. I fish up there in the summers with my Dad. I've also been working with a First Nations artist, who's a weaver. For the summer and the fall it makes more sense for me to be up that way.

Weaver? Like mats and tapestries and stuff?
No, no tapestries, more like basketry and regalia for dancers. I've learned basketry already, like cedar bark baskets, but he does raven's tail weaving and he is a fairly renowned teacher. He also does the ceremonial regalia stuff that people wear when they dance. It's kind of hard to explain, sorry.

Back to the fishing...how long have you been doing that?
I've been working on my Dad's salmon fishing boat every summer for about 8 years.

Whoa...are we going to see you on Deadliest Catch soon?
(Laughing) Yeah, I don't know...maybe. When I was younger, (my Dad) just made me fish with him (laughing). Now I'm thinking it would be good to learn to run my family's boat, you know, learn how to anchor it, read weather and all that stuff. Then I could combine it with touring on split boards or skis and go down the inside passage and find mountains to trek up that way. It seems it would be really possible to do instead of buying a lift pass or using a snowmobile. Just anchor out with some food for a week and also go catch halibut and crab etc. That's something motivating I want to work towards doing one day.

So no commercial fishing in the winters?
Nope, you know my dad, he snowboards (laughing). No room for fishing in the winter.

Do you think you were drawn to snowboarding, at least partially, due to it's tight knit community that is so similar to what you are used too from growing up on the Island?
Yeah...I think that I definitely lean towards a smaller place. I kind of have a distaste for cities. I'm drawn to them for about a week, maybe...when it's fun to go to and it's all glitzy and stuff, but I always like to back to a place where I know all the people. I get such a good feeling from those types of places, maybe a little less developed too. I have the same feelings about huge resorts like Whistler; I have never really felt at home out there or completely enjoyed being there all the time. It's just the type of feeling I get when I'm riding through the trees and they have chopped so many of them down or just dealing with huge line ups or expensive food that's really crappy, I don't really enjoy it. I definitely prefer the backcountry and more remote places. I find them more appealing...I'm more of a small town person in that respect. That's just what works for me.

The situation you and your sister, Spencer, are in is very reminiscent of the pro surf brothers Bruce and Andy Irons. Andy loves contest surfing and being in the limelight while Bruce kind of shunned the surf contest community, dropped out of the WCT and kind of shunned his sponsors so he could spend all his time ‘free surfing'.  Does that sound familiar?
That sounds pretty similar (laughing), although I think having my sponsors is a good thing! Although if something came up where my own wants were against what a sponsor wanted me to do I would probably go in my own direction...but that does seem pretty similar.

What have you been getting up too the last few years and what are you looking to accomplish in the next few?
The last couple years have been good. I have definitely established some great relationships with a few photographers, mostly in Canada but a couple in the States. I have been getting more experience working with people...like what it's like working and riding with film crews and stuff. I really like that side of snowboarding. I like the team effort it takes to get through a day of sledding and shooting, and the way everyone helps each other and share what they know. That's been a huge learning experience for me, being out in the back country and figuring out all the other aspects of it that you don't get to see when you look at a snowboard shot. There is so much that goes into that whole production. That's been very eye-opening and humbling to realize how much time you have to dedicate to get to where you want to go, whether it be Alaska or whatever it is for me. I'm looking forward to continuing that and building on it. I'm really happy with the sponsors I have right now, Northface, Yes Snowboards, Spy Optic and Macrolife Naturals. I'm really pushing to develop my skills to the point where I'm capable of filming with a really solid film crew that knows what they're doing and has fun out there. I want to have a presence in the industry that inspires other people to enjoy themselves and not get pushed around by anybody.

What was that last sponsor, Macrolife? Like supplements and that sort of thing? Is that due to your inner hippie?
(laughing) Yeah, I guess...their two main products are Macro Greens and Miracle Reds.

I don't think you are the only snowboarder that has a ‘Macro Green' type of sponsor...speaking of which, now that you are on Yes Snowboards, have you been able to get in any days riding with one of the guys you have looked up to in snowboarding for so long, Romain De Marchi?
(Laughing) Oh...yeah... My first time riding with him I tried to double him up on my sled to a jump or something and I was so nervous and I ended up dumping us both and messing it all up, but he was really nice about it all.

Not that there is any room in life for regrets...but if you could approach anything differently in days gone by, what would it be?
I probably would have tried to have a stronger sense of myself earlier on. Roberta Rodger has helped me out a lot with that...to just really understand the concept that you can create what you want in this world and you don't have to accept what people say are supposed to do all the time. I think if I had realized that when I was a little younger, like at 18 or something like that, I probably would have been a little happier, but at the same time, that's just a part of growing up. It will really work out better if you just follow your own heart.

Footage from 2007:

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Related:
Inside Infamous Management with Roberta Rodger
Spencer O'Brien: All Hands On Deck
Annie Boulanger: In A Category All Her Own

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