Why is HoroHoro a Snowboarder?

Taking a little break from attempting to dissect characters I don't like anymore for a Shaman King special, I'm looking at doing five characters starting with HoroHoro.

Usui Horokeu or HoroHoro is an Ainu Shaman from the great North of Hokkaido, his goal is to save the Koro Pokkuru "Minutians", a tiny spirit people. As part of this goal, he intends to plant a vast field of Butterbur, the leaves of which are used by the tiny Koro Pokkuru.
He's an environmentalist at heart and takes the role very seriously despite not looking the part as he's introduced as cheerful and a bit of a goofball.
He does take the Shaman Fight more seriously as it goes on even confronting some of his troubled past and building his dream with his own two hands at the end.
But why he's a Snowboarder, is completely baffling.
With how his character develops as the series goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that his design would never support the radical extreme sport persona we were first greeted with, I'm aware there's a section of that community that are more in tune with nature and would share that interest but HoroHoro is not Californian, Hawaiian or Australian nor is he a surfer.
4Kids didn't make it any better by giving him an embarrassing nickname and a voice that's trying too hard, early 00s Tony Hawk skater culture I suppose.
The updated retelling of the anime is a little less cringy but the snowboard is still there.

End