Ylfa Rúnarsdóttir’s Space Techniques

I’m lapping Woodward Park City, UT, with Ylfa Rúnarsdóttir on a sunny spring day. She’s in town for The Uninvited Invitational, the all-women’s event named after the video series that catapulted her into snowboarding’s spotlight. “I’ll come cheer you on in qualifiers tomorrow,” I offer. “Hmm, maybe not,” she replies with a grin.

It’s not that Ylfa can’t hold her own. But her true impact lies beyond the contest scene: in standout video parts in The Uninvited II, Hot Coco and Bloom, and on magazine covers where her trick and spot selection shine through.

By the fifth chairlift ride, I’ve watched her eat five Fruit Roll-Ups. She’s a candy freak—though if she had her way, she’d be munching on salty Icelandic sweets, the kind she and her brother grew up eating at home in Reykjavík. Naturally, she shared a piece with me—the part with the tongue tattoo.

Ylfa is like your best friend from middle school: high energy, a little devious, with an open mind toward this vast world she has now crossed many times over. She feeds off your energy, and you feed off hers. But beneath the mischief and rambunctious outpourings, there lies a quiet and thoughtful center. In prolonged conversations, you realize the intellectual capacity this energizer bunny has, constantly interpreting and analyzing the world around her to better understand her place in it and help you find yours. She’s as true a friend as you can ask for, and she always gives me a healthy dose of the inner child that should never leave us.

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