As a youngster growing up on Kaua'i, Elena Hight dreamed of surfing and not snowboarding.

So expect some head scratching among Hawai'i residents when the 16-year-old who was born in Princeville, rips crazy, aerial snowboarding spins as a member of the U.S. Snowboard Olympic Team in the Winter Games in Turin.

Hight is Hawai'i's only competitor in the Winter Games, which begins in Italy tomorrow, and is the youngest of the 16-member U.S. team.

"It's really cool to go and represent the country," said Hight, who has been profiled in ESPN The Magazine, and appeared on NBC's The Today Show. "I guess it's kind of unusual because Hawai'i is more into summer sports."

The homeschooled Hight is a prodigy of the snowboard halfpipe, a U-shaped structure with walls generally 18 to 22 feet high. Competitors slide from wall to wall, performing tricks and airborne spins more than 10 feet above the lip of the wall.

"Right now, I'm just working on dialing my tricks, getting them better and bigger, and just more confident with them before I go to the Olympics," said Hight, who made the Olympics by placing in the top three in Olympic-qualifying Grand Prix events.

Hight attended Aloha Early Learning Center of Kaua'i-Hanalei. At 6, she moved to Boise, Idaho, for a year where she learned to snowboard from her father, Mike. The Hights now live in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

"On Kaua'i, I wanted to surf more than anything, but once we moved, being the mountains, snowboarding is kind of the closest thing you can get to surfing," said Hight, whose Kaua'i neighbor was professional women's surfer Keala Kennelly.

"My dad always loved to surf, and he picked up snowboarding right away," Hight said. "He taught me, and ever since then I've been doing it."

Hight began competing in amateur events when she was 7, and soon went to national competitions and eventually landed on the professional circuit.

"I did my first pro contest when I was 13," she said.

Hight credited her surfing and gymnastics background for her snowboarding success. She was 6 months old when she rode on a surfboard, according to her grandmother, Martha Hight.

"Snowboarding and surfing go hand and hand," said Hight, whose spinning, aerial maneuvers resemble powerful surfing tricks. "They're very similar."

Hight said gymnastics taught her about "air awareness," and she's able to apply that knowledge to her tricks in the snow.

Nicknamed the "Nugget" because of her size and youth, Hight said her 5-foot-1 frame works fine for her.

"I think there are a lot of shorter snowboarders," she said. "I think it's possibly easier, your center of gravity is lower, so you have a better chance to land, and better control of your body."

ESPN The Magazine referred to Hight as the "Troy Aikman of the snow set" for all the concussions she's suffered. Hight had three in 2003 and one in 2004 that threatened to halt her career.

"I think in any action sport, you'll take some risk in it," said Hight, who now wears a helmet when snowboarding. "You can't live too much on that. You know, you can get hurt walking across the street."

Myra Hight called her daughter's string of concussions "pretty scary," but the mother's concerns were eased when a specialist cleared Hight to continue snowboarding.

"He gave her the green light, and me the comfort I needed to let her continue," Myra said. "I said, 'You better love it.' We've always encouraged her to follow her dream. As a parent, it would be just heartbreaking to make her stop because of my fears; just as long as I know that she's not in critical danger."

Hight is the youngest female to execute a 900 (2 1/2 spins while airborne) in competition, and "now, there's a lot of girls doing it," she said.

Fittingly, Hight makes enough money to make heads spin. She is sponsored by such companies as Burton, Oakley, Volcom and the U.S. Snowboarding Team, and competes in contests that pay winners $10,000 in Grand Prix events and $20,000 in X Games, according to her mother.

Myra said she couldn't disclose endorsement information, but said in the past two years Elena has probably earned $40,000 to $50,000 in contest winnings.

"I think by the time she's 18 and needs to support herself, she'll be in good shape," Myra said.

Myra said her daughter enjoys "expressive sports like surfing and snowboarding," and had the family decided to stay on Kaua'i, "it probably would have been surfing," because of the strong influence of professional surfers Andy and Bruce Irons, and Kennelly.

Elena plans to return to Hawai'i this summer to visit family. Her sister, Shelah Abubo, lives in Hawai'i, and surfs recreationally.

"I'm grateful for the aloha of the Islands," Myra said. "I know that was a huge part in shaping her character as a young child."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.