When Maya Al Muhairi was in Bosnia with her family, she was told about a new snowboarding instructor. She asked her kids if they wanted to try, and her daughter, Amenah, described by her mother as "an adventurous spirit", jumped up and volunteered.
“The instructor had stars in his eyes; Amenah had stars in her eyes. She said, 'I love it, mum, I love it, I love it, this is it, this is it, this is it'.”
Over a decade later, Amenah is one of the UAE’s brightest young winter athletes. This 18-year-old freestyle snowboarder made history as the first Emirati to represent her country at two Junior World Championships as well as the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea in 2024. She also competed at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China in 2025.
Amenah is in training to try to qualify for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Her mother is her biggest cheerleader; she espouses her daughter's resilience, the courage to push past physical and mental limits, and the pursuit of excellence that would never have been possible without a mother’s fearless love.
The National caught up with her during a training session at the subzero temperatures of Ski Dubai. A celebrity in this neck of the woods, she was greeted by countless staff members as she entered. As she adjusted her gear in preparation for a run, she enthusiastically explained that her gloves were wearing thin and that she needed a new pair.
It’s hard to really explain how startling it is to adjust to the cold as temperatures outside hit 45 degrees in Dubai’s summer. Yet a country famed for its sweeping sandscapes and searing sunshine has produced a competitive snowboarder.
“I love saying the fact of where I'm coming from. I love saying that I'm from UAE. I love saying that I come from such a unique place and seeing people's reaction because it just makes a conversation. It's a conversation starter,” Amenah said.
It’s understandable that, geographically, Al Muhairi’s chosen career would attract attention. But winter sports are in her blood, a hereditary love of adventure. Her mother, Maya, was born in Australia but spent the first 11 years of her life in Europe. She grew up skiing across Serbia, Bosnia, Austria, Italy and France. Her own father discovered cross-country skiing in his twenties, entered a competition almost on a whim and finished third. He later became a ski instructor and secretary of a ski club. Amenah referred to her grandfather as a trailblazer in his own right.
“When I was about two and a half, he put me on a set of skis ... I just always remember knowing how to do it.” Maya recalled. “And I always said, when I have kids, this is what I'm going to pass down to my children.”
Living in Dubai, Maya had to be inventive about how to pass that inheritance on. Amenah and her siblings began with lessons at Ski Dubai before family trips gradually became more ambitious, including summer skiing on Austria’s Hintertux glacier. The kids' enjoyment turned it into a ritual, with the family returning to the mountains once or twice a year.
It was on one of those trips to Bosnia that the adventurous Amenah and her brother decided to try snowboarding, unleashing a passion in the seven-year-old girl.
“The snowboard instructor said to me she's actually really good. She [Amenah] has a really good feel of her body, her movements, what it's all about.” Maya said. She explained that she thought the instructor was trying to sell her more lessons and was initially dismissive. “I'll book a next lesson; you don't have to sell me on it, you know, I just want her to do something.”
But the instructor persisted, and, as Maya recounts, that’s how it all started.
For Amenah, it was another sport she quickly fell for, but this time with the added bonus of trying to outdo her brother. “If you grew up with siblings, especially an older brother, you know how competitive they are. So it first started off as who can be better, who can be faster, who can be just a better sibling at the sport.” That was until she started to feel a genuine love for the sport.
Amenah, who has broken fourteen bones and counting, and her mother laugh at the number of trips to the hospital the teenager has had to make. She’s as famous in the doctor’s office as she is on the slopes of Ski Dubai, they joke.
However, out of the 14 bones she has broken, only four were from snowboarding. Amenah has always loved participating in sports: basketball, football, swimming – she was born to be an athlete. The first break, she recalls, was when she fell off the monkey bars and broke her wrists.
Her father is fiercely proud of her achievements, but after all the breaks, there was a part of him that wondered if it was time for her to give up snowboarding, wanting to protect his little girl. Her mother refused, passionately proclaiming, “She’s the best son you’re ever going to have!”
Amenah refers to her mother as “my number one fan and supporter". According to Daniel Paquette, who teaches observation techniques, parent-child attachment and evolutionary developmental psychology, fathers can help children “learn to be braver in unfamiliar situations”, contrasting that role with the “mother-child attachment relationship aimed at calming and comforting children in times of stress”.
For Amenah, the roles were reversed in her family, with her mother the one who consistently urged her to push boundaries and choose courage over caution.
Her mother said, “I'm always telling her push your limits; don't look at somebody who is below your level but reach for somebody who is higher than your level.” When Amenah struggled with being the only girl competing, her mother taught her to look inwards. “You know the best competitor that you can ever have is yourself.”
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Amenah Al Muhairi is one of the UAE’s brightest young winter athletes. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National -
Amenah Al Muhairi during a training session at Ski Dubai. -
Amenah Al Muhairi, an 18-year-old freestyle snowboarder, made history as the first Emirati to represent her country at two Junior World Championships as well as the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea in 2024. -
UAE freestyle snowboarder Amenah Al Muhairi says she loves to tell other competitors she is from Dubai. -
Amenah Al Muhairi is trying to qualify for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Her mother’s unconditional support has helped Amenah to mature both on and off the slopes, helping her adopt the mindset of a veteran athlete. When asked whom she looks up to, she smiled and said, “I don't have a particular idol because I like to imagine myself in that spot instead. And I look forward to my future self instead of other people, see how far I can get.”
While she grew up as the only local female competing, she’s grateful that she is beginning to see the landscape change around her. More girls are now taking up snowboarding, and some have even approached her to say that watching an Emirati woman compete convinced them that they could too. “To see that I have started that movement in a little minute way is ... feels so good. Feels amazing.”
The 2030 Olympics are the next target on Amenah’s horizon, and she believes she’s on track. “This upcoming year is going to be the new four-year cycle for the Olympics. I'm really going to be focusing on training while maximising as many competitions I can do and gain the points, so I'm perfectly in line for 2030.”
