5 Questions with Olympic Snowboarder Elena Hight

Last week we were invited by Toyota to Breckenridge, Colorado to test drive their 4-wheel drive vehicles over snow and ice covered trails, and to spend some time on the slopes with US Olympic snowboarder, X-Games sliver medalist and Team Toyota competitor, Elena Hight.

Sure she was the first woman to land a 900 in competition (doing it at a ridiculously young 13 years old) and is the first snowboarder ever, male or female, to land a double backside alley-oop rodeo in Superpipe competition, but the 23-year-old is also a hottie. So besides learning how to shred the mountain, we wanted to know what it takes to date an Olympian.

Here’s what Elena had to say about being manly, whether her success intimidates guys, and the worst line she ever heard:

1. What qualities do you look for in a guy? And be specific. If you like a guy who can deal with being second place to boarding, who has enough self-confidence to be okay with that, or an Alpha guy who will take control, or a guy who will treat you like a queen, say so.

Elena Hight: I don’t necessarily have a “type” of guy that I look for. I think that the most important qualities are a good sense of humor, intelligence, a passion for life, and someone who is comfortable and confident in their own skin.

2. How important is it to you that a guy be into snowboarding or skiing? Or surfing. Or is it better that he be into something totally different that he can introduce you to? And how important is it that he be fit and active?

EH: I definitely look for a guy who is active and into sports. I love to play outdoors, so anyone who is into some type of athletic sport is good for me. They don’t necessarily have to be the best snowboarder, but they have to be able to at least hang!

3. Do you find that guys are intimidated by your success? Does it make it harder or easier to meet guys when you’re an Olympic athlete? Does the constant travel help or hurt?

EH: Traveling is great to meet new guys or people in general, however not great to keep in contact with those people. But it is really fun to be able to hang out and get to know all sorts of different guys with different backgrounds, which is nice because it’s easy to get stuck just knowing the same guys in the snowboard industry.

I am not sure that guys are necessarily intimidated by my success, but if they are, then they probably aren’t the guy for me.

4. What do you think makes a guy “manly”? Is it having no fear facing the toughest mountain runs? Knowing how to fix a car or build a deck? Protecting you from harm? Not being afraid to cry?

EH: Because I grew up in the mountains, I was constantly surrounded by manly mountain men. To me, being manly is being able to take care of others. Whether it is fixing a car or bike or snowmobile, building a fire, shoveling the driveway, or building a tent, taking charge of a situation is manly.

5. What’s the worst line any guy has ever tried to use? The absolute dumbest thing a guy ever said or did? What was your reaction?

EH: Maybe, “Can I have your phone number because I lost mine?” That is just so lame!

And what was the sweetest/funniest/best line or thing a guy ever did to try to meet you? And did it work?

EH: Flowers are the way to a girl’s heart, and it will work every time.

Eric Rogell is the author of The Art of War for Dating and the is founder of The Casanova Code, a program where he teaches sales teams, corporate executives, and marketers how to achieve unrivaled business success by using the wickedly effective secrets of seduction. You can follow him on Twitter @ericrogell.

  

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5 Questions with Isabel Lucas (“Immortals”)

She’s had parts in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “The Pacific,” but sylphlike 26-year-old Isabel Lucas is probably still best known in her native Australia for her three-year stint in the continuing drama, “Home and Away.” She can currently be seen as none other than the goddess Athena in Tarsem Singh’s bloody sword & sandals fantasy, “Immortals.” She will also be featured in the upcoming, long-awaited remake of “Red Dawn.”

In her spare time, Ms. Lucas is also an activist for the environment and animal rights. Her activities on behalf of dolphins actually caused her to run afoul of the Japanese government some years ago and she can be seen briefly in the Oscar winning 2009 documentary, “The Cove.” We managed to grab enough time during the recent “Immortals” junket to ask her, you guessed it, five questions.

1. I’m sure you’ve been called a goddess once or twice. What’s it like to actually play one?

Isabel Lucas: I don’t think I’ve been called a goddess before. Maybe. I don’t know. Athena is a very special archetype. She’s the goddess of wisdom and runs around in the wartimes providing counsel. It was a really amazing opportunity. Big shoes to fill, in a way.

2. So, now, you’re a goddess — the goddess of movies. Which leading man would you choose to be in a movie with? It can be anyone who’s ever been onscreen from any time period.

IL: I was going to say Daniel Day Lewis, but then you said any time period. So, maybe James Dean or Marlon Brando.

3. What was the best thing, and what was the worst thing, about being an Australian soap opera star?

IL: The best thing is probably the learning experience. You have a creative outlet every day and you’re working with really great directors and you have a very tight schedule, and you have a lot of obligations… a lot of dialogue and there’s a lot of things you’re learning on the job. So, that’s a great thing.

What are the negative things about working on a soap opera? It’s probably a boring response, but I think actors can pick up patterns from working on a series like that. [They] find acting tricks that they can repeat — you’re not really stretching yourself. There may only be a certain amount you can learn on a series like that.

4. You were voted one of PETA’s “Sexiest Vegetarians.” Who would you vote for “sexiest vegetarian”?

IL: I don’t know if I really know that many sexy vegetarians. I have a really good friend of mine. He’s been a bit like a big brother. He is a really diligent vegetarian. He’s actually a vegan, and that’s why he came to mind. He’s a free surfer. His name is Dave Rastovich. He does a lot of really great environmental activism. I just did a sail with him and a whole bunch of our friends along the California coast, sailing on kayaks….I went with my boyfriend, who is not a vegetarian. We sailed down — it was basically doing beach clean-ups along the way. Dave organized the whole thing. If you want to check it out, it’s called TransparentSea Voyage.

5. Speaking of your aquatic adventures, you were, of course, involved in an effort to protect some dolphins from fishermen. Is it true that you’re still a wanted woman in Japan?

IL: I would kind of chuckle if they threatened that. I think it was more just to sort of make a scare, to scare us from coming back. At this point, I don’t really have any plans to go back right now. I think that Japan obviously has a lot of issues that need to be dealt with and doesn’t need this right now. However, I actually don’t think it’s very serious because I did return to Japan for the “Transformers” premiere [in 2009] and it was fun.

And nobody tried to arrest you?

IL: No.