Indra Brown - Flying Higher with Every Spin

At just 16 years old, Indra Brown is already redefining what’s possible for Australian Women’s Freeski halfpipe.  Preparing to make her Australian Olympic Team at the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games later this month, Brown is certainly one to watch. 

Born in Melbourne, Indra’s journey into winter sport began early. She first stepped into skis at the age of five and her time spent living in Canada was what ignited her passion for freestyle skiing.  

Her Olympic aspirations were inspired by defending Women’s Moguls Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony, who Brown watched win the gold during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. 

In the 2025-26 FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup season, Indra made an immediate impact, finishing third, second, first and fourth in her first four starts. 

The results earned her the world number one ranking and cemented her place in history as the youngest Australian to ever win a World Cup medal or victory in any winter sport.

Her rise has been marked not just by results, but by progression. Indra is known for pushing technical boundaries in the halfpipe - she drops in with speed and maintains amplitude throughout her run, highlighted by back-to-back spins - a leftside 900 into a rightside 900 - adding in more technically demanding tricks including a switch leftside 720 spin.

Behind the scenes, a key part of Indra’s development has been her access to world-class training environments, particularly National Snowsports Training Centre (NSTC) in Jindabyne. Launched by Snow Australia in partnership with high-performance sport organisations, the NSTC has transformed the way Australian winter athletes train year-round.

For Indra, the facility has been a game-changer.

“So when we’re learning new tricks, we actually prefer to do it on an air bag,” she explains.

“In Jindabyne, the NSTC is an amazing facility. It’s a dry-slope in-run, fake snow, into almost a bouncy-castle landing. 

“So we’re able to safely practise our tricks without any injury risk on snow, and when we feel confident, take them to snow.”

The airbag and dry-slope setup allows Indra to repeat manoeuvres in a controlled environment, accelerating learning while reducing the chance of injury. Once the movement is dialled in, she can confidently transfer it to snow.

That process is evident in the tricks she’s currently landing.  It’s a level of difficulty rarely seen at her age, and one that reflects both her fearless mindset and meticulous preparation.

Indra’s success continued at the X Games in Aspen where she recently won silver medal, further underlining her status as one of the most exciting young athletes in global freeskiing.

Yet despite the accolades, Indra remains grounded, focused on progression, creativity and the joy of pushing herself further each time she drops into the pipe.

With world-class facilities behind her, an unshakeable belief in her abilities, and a fearless approach to innovation, Indra Brown isn’t just riding the future of Australian freeskiing, she’s shaping it, one spin at a time.

The Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games gets underway from 6 February 2026 and will be shown live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now as well as StanSport.