Without snow, there would be no snowboarding.
So, Bea Kim is fighting climate change with her words … and her wardrobe.
Whether the 19-year-old snowboarding star is speaking at the United Nations or thrifting for clothes to reduce the pollution caused by the fashion industry, she is making an impact one word — and one article of clothing — at a time.
“I couldn’t watch it happen and not say anything about it,” Kim said on an episode of NBC Local’s “My New Favorite Olympian.” “But also, I realized how quickly the danger of losing snow and losing winter and losing the future of my sport was and how real it really was becoming.”
Kim — who grew up in Palos Verdes, California — has traveled the world for snowboarding, a journey that will soon take her to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
When she returned to locations she had trained and competed at annually, she couldn’t help but notice the changing conditions.
“I would go to these same places the same time every single year,” she said. “And one year would be an exceptional snow year and there would be so much snow. We would be snowed in powder days, which is not good for pipe training, but lots of powder days. And then we come back the next year and there’s dirt and you’re walking to the chairlift instead of riding down to it because there’s not enough snow. So, it’s kind of hard to ignore.”
She became a member of the climate advocacy organization Protect Our Winters, joining a group of outdoor athletes who became climate advocates to speak about climate change’s impact on winter sports and to push for clean air, clean water and a healthy planet.
“It’s crazy to me to think that in the future, none of this could be here for the next generation, for my future kids and grandkids to see,” she said.
In April of 2024 — the same year Kim took her place on her first World Cup podium by finishing second in Laax — she traveled to New York. There, at the age of 17, she delivered a speech on the floor of the United Nations headquarters during the International Day of Sport.
“Through my travels as a professional snowboarder, I’ve gone around the world to Europe and New Zealand training and competing and I’ve seen one common theme throughout,” she said at the UN. “The world is changing. The glaciers are melting that we’re actually riding on. Our winters are starting later. The weather patterns are becoming erratic. Each year, we wonder if there will even be enough snow for us to compete and do what we love.”
As Kim was about to leave the U.N., she was approached by the delegate from Monaco.
“She stopped and looked me in the eye and shook my hand and said, ‘I really appreciate what you had to say today. And it means a lot that the next generation cares and is trying to do something,’” Kim said. “And I mean, I was in shock because that was like the highest political figure I’d ever met before. And the fact that she took the time to say those kinds of words really meant a lot.
“It was like definitely a realization moment where I was like, ‘Oh, I maybe do have a little bit more weight with my words than I thought I did.’”
But not every effort must carry the weight of a U.N. speech. Small changes can make a big difference in sustainability, and the clothing Kim wore during that speech may have played a role in that.
Kim’s other passion is thrifting — shopping for used clothing and goods at secondhand stores, garage sales or flea markets.
The fashion industry produces more pollution than all international flights and global shopping industries combined, and more than 85% of clothing ends up in landfills, according to NBC’s Chase Cain.
So, by shopping secondhand instead of at the mall, each shirt or jacket she finds and gives a second life to plays a small role in helping the environment.
“I know each person has their own kind of sustainability goals and we’re all very imperfect advocates,” Kim said. “None of us are perfect in the way that we live our lives. I travel the world. My carbon footprint is enormous. But thrifting and secondhand shopping is definitely one way that I try to combat that a little bit.”
Whether through words, wardrobe or any other effort, large or small, Kim hopes that all who share the planet will join the fight against climate change.
“It can definitely be a tricky situation, especially because climate change is such a heavily politicized topic,” Kim said. “But it really shouldn’t be. It’s an issue of the human race and a battle that we should all be fighting together because the world doesn’t care what side of the aisle you sit on, and the world doesn’t care which way you vote, and climate change does not care about that. It’s going to change either way. So hopefully we can come together and not care about those things in this particular fight, as well.”
