Charlotte Bankes is the 2021 snowboard cross world champion and remains at the very top of her sport heading towards Milano-Cortina 2026.
The 29-year-old won the world title in Idre, Sweden, before taking mixed team snowboard cross gold at the 2023 World Championships and individual silver in 2025.
They represent the brightest stars of a glittering career that has also seen her overcome a major injury and switch national allegiances.
As Bankes hones in on a place at Milano Cortina 2026 and continues to compete for Crystal Globes, we meet the person behind all the success and talk sailing, climate change and world titles.
The Alps as inspiration
When Bankes was just four years old, her family moved from Hemel Hempstead to Puy-Saint-Vincent in the south of France.
It was a decision borne out of a desire to spend more time outdoors and it meant the childhoods of Bankes and her brothers were filled with outdoor sports.
“It was the best way to integrate into the local community and also use up the energy that we had. That's what my parents thought,” she said.
“We had a strong snowboarding club at the local resort so I went there and I just did it for fun alongside other sports.
“I was getting good results and moved more and more into snowboarding. I just continued competing for fun and enjoyed the competition and it brought me to where I am today.”
With her new childhood home nestled into the Alps, it provided the perfect location to put Bankes on the path to snowboarding success.
Finding a winning instinct
Bankes puts a lot of faith in her instinct to produce her strongest performances.
It is an aptitude she believes she has always possessed but her riding style has meant she has honed her instincts even more than others.
“I've always had that [instinct] from how I grew up riding, doing a lot of different terrain trying to follow my brothers and older kids,” explained Bankes.
“It's also something that I've had to work on a lot because I've struggled with my starts and therefore I've had quite a lot of practice overtaking.”
Now Bankes has put in the work on her starts, she is benefitting from being ahead from the get-go in her World Cup finals, but it is a position that does not always feel natural for the two-time world champion.
“I wouldn't say I prefer being behind but it is nearly easier for me because it feels like I know where to go and what to do,” she said.
“I'm happy to have that in my skill set and then it's a bonus if I manage to start in front.
“I know that a race is never over until we get to that finish line. I will not give up until we get to that finish line.”
From France to Team GB
Having grown up in France, Bankes started her career competing for the country across the Channel from her birthplace out of ease.
While competing under the French flag, she won World Championship silver in 2017 in the team snowboard cross.
But, having sustained a fractured pelvis earlier in her career which she had struggled to fully recover from, Bankes made the switch to compete for Great Britain in 2018.
It has enabled her to find pride in her nation of birth, while also finding belonging in the local community where she lives.
“I grew up in France, but we've always been ‘the Brits’ where we live and being able to represent GB was a really proud moment,” she said. “I felt that I belonged in that team whereas I never really knew before.
“I'm still living in the south of France. I grew up there and we have integrated really well and the local community still fully supports me.
“I'm really proud to be able to represent Great Britain, but still also represent my home resort and that local community that helped me grow up because I wouldn't have been at this level without them.”
Changes in the sport and climate
Bankes first started competing internationally in 2010, when she was just 15.
It means she has a wealth of experience in snowboard cross and is well-placed to reflect on the huge changes in the sport since she first started.
“Our tracks have probably got safer. Sometimes we think it’s not quite as fun to ride but it just means that we need to be technically even better to be faster on these tracks,” said Bankes.
“The density of the field has improved massively and everybody is more professional.
“The level is coming up tenfold every year and pushing everybody to improve and we're pushing each other to improve every year. That's what's great for our sport.”
Another element that is raising the levels of Bankes’ competitors comes as a result of climate change as tracks have been reduced in size due to there being less snow available.
Spending her life out in nature, it is something Bankes is acutely aware of.
“I've been going on the glaciers for the last 20 years and you see how they've evolved. It's scary, but we just need to do our best to adapt,” she said.
“We're getting warmer temperatures and that makes it more challenging for us riding the tracks so it’s adapting to that element.”
Sailing away from the slopes
In the rare moments when Bankes is not hitting the slopes to train or compete, she finds an escape out on the water.
It provides another way for her to be at one with nature as she makes the most of her home in the Alps.
“I can't sail in the winter, but in the offseason and during the summer I can,” she said.
“It's one of my big outlets to just be able to switch off on the water and appreciate those moments.
“[I also enjoy] spending time with my dogs. I really relish living outside and the calmness that I've got living in the mountains.”
World Championship success
Bankes’ biggest title came in 2021 when she beat Italy’s Michela Moioli and the Czech Republic’s Eva Adamczyková to claim gold in the Snowboard Cross World Championship.
In the individual event, she has claimed silver on two other occasions - 2019 and 2025 - but was pipped by one of those two opponents both times.
It makes 2021 a standout moment in her career and one that instigated further success in the sport.
“That was a big moment. I’d had good performances but I hadn’t been on the forefront of the sport before,” reflected Bankes,
“Being able to pull that performance off actually led to quite a lot more success on the World Cup circuit.”
She also claimed a world title in 2023 alongside Team GB teammate Huw Nightingale in the mixed snowboard team cross and relishes their relationship and the team atmosphere in the camp.
🇬🇧Here's how Charlotte Bankes became Britain's first snowboarding world champion.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 11, 2021
Watch until the end! 🤯pic.twitter.com/or08juVquh
“I've seen [Huw] grow over the years and seeing that improvement has been great. It brings a fresh air into how I work,” said Bankes.
“It can be a big challenge but a good challenge because the guys are often a bit faster. He's in front of me, but I always want to be as close as possible to him if we do heats together.
“That competitiveness comes out even with Huw, but it's been good for the team as a whole to be able to do those team events.
“Hopefully we can grow this team because our dream is to be able to have more athletes and a bigger team.”
Sportsbeat 2025