While some may be intimidated to hit the slopes with Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, Nina Dobrev has proven she can shred with the best of them.

“She’s really good on the board,” Shaun told E! News in an exclusive interview. “She grew up in Canada. So, it was nice ’cause that’s definitely sometimes a relationship make-or-break. Not if they can’t ride, but I’ve had people come up with me and it didn’t end well ’cause I’m not the best coach at times.”

And if you’re wondering how a three-time gold medalist could struggle to teach the sport, White explained it’s because he describes “everything in feelings,” which doesn’t always translate to the student. 

“So luckily,” he continued, “she was already good.” 

Still, the Whitespace founder understands how some could freeze up in that scenario.

“When people come up with me—especially close friends of mine—I deck them out, all the new gear,” he said. “And they’re like, ‘I look way too cool. I look way better than my actual skills. And now they see me with you, and they expect me to be hitting the jumps.’ So I think there’s a bit of a nervousness or a hurdle that a lot of my friends and Nina maybe in the beginning felt.”