We had a chance to sit down with the jack of all trades action sports enthusiast and proud Neon Bandit athlete, Gina Kaprielian recently to learn a little bit more about her craft. Enjoy our conversation below.
Tell us about yourself- where are you from?
I was born in San Francisco and have been living in the Bay area my entire life. I spend my summer weekends in Discovery Bay on the water and winter weekends in Tahoe on the snow!
You seem to have all of the action sports covered (wake surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc) what is your favorite sport to participate in?
I guess my favorite sport to participate in depends on the season! I love to snowboard in the winter and storm chase to find the best powder! In the summer there is nothing better than being on and behind a boat wakeboarding/skating/surfing the Delta sloughs...except for maybe a little bit of ocean surfing from Pacifica to Capitola! I cruise around on a skateboard in between and to/from these activities. I just love board sports altogether...gliding around on land, water, snow and feeling free and alive!
Have you always been into sports? What lead you to try all of these action sports?
I used to run trails and half marathons until I came across these sports a couple years back. I don't run much anymore because these action sports are way more fun and exciting!
What is your biggest accomplishment within these sports? Do you have a specific trick that you landed that you are most pumped about?
I try to improve my skills every time I ride. For wakeboarding I'm working on a backroll invert trick and almost have it down! For wakesurfing, I am working on a big spin trick involving a shove-it and switch direction landing. In snowboarding, I’m trying go bigger and do some steep cliff rock jumps this coming season!
Now onto the good stuff- tell us what you like about Neon Bandits.
Neon Bandits makes the most comfortable socks for all of the sports that I participate in that actually require socks (skateboarding, running and even as snowboarding socks). Not only are they comfortable but they have a sweet look to them! Every time I put them on I get all sorts of complements- they are so rad!