First published in Issue 17.2 of The Ski Journal. With support from Arc’teryx Stakes were high for Sam Kuch atop a steep, misty venue at the 2017 Kicking Horse Freeride World Qualifier. Lace this run, make the Freeride World Tour. Stumble, and the 19-year-old would return home to Nelson, BC, empty-handed, just in time to […]
First published in issue 16.2 of The Ski Journal. From the passenger’s seat of Leighan Falley’s 1957 Piper Pacer, the granite peaks of the Alaska Range loom large. Buzzing past heavily crevassed glaciers, the bush plane cuts through the narrow walls of the Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier with intuitive precision—an extension of its pilot, […]
This article first appeared in The Ski Journal Issue 15.1 Standing atop the perfect pyramid of Ober Gabelhorn, 13,330 feet above sea level, Jérémie Heitz musters a shallow breath. The face looks steep—fall-off-the-Earth steep. A 55-five-degree pitch careening toward the valley basin. One of the Alps’ most striking peaks is more a sheer triangular wall […]
For over 15 years, Tom Wallisch has been the benchmark for style in freeskiing. From his earliest East Coast park edits to the X Games podium to a new era in freeski filmmaking, The North Face athlete has helped bring our sport to where it is today, while keeping his eyes on the future. Scroll […]
The ink is only a few months dry on Vasu Sojitra’s first tattoo. Black lines carve a striking form against his chestnut-brown skin, etching an intricate five-inch lotus mandala in mehndi design. A nod to Vasu’s Indian heritage, the piece’s circular detail traces the 29-year-old’s bulging left shoulder—a muscle that has developed from years of […]
This April, Logan Pehota bought his first dirt bike. Within a month, he was leading his local pack on some of the gnarliest trails in British Columbia—weighting his foot pegs like a seasoned pro while jumping every hip and tranny in sight. By the end of the summer, he was more focused on dialing in his […]
Jackie Paaso has lived it all on the Freeride World Tour. From podiums and injuries, to near defeats and comebacks, the Bethel, Maine native has ridden a decade of ups and downs on the FWT. She even met her partner, 2012 FWT champion Reine Barkered, on the Tour, and the two have traveled and competed […]
“I figured the best way to let people know I’m alive is to ski,” says Simon Dumont. The 33-year-old from Bethel, Maine made his X Games debut at 14, holds nine X Games medals, a world-record quarterpipe air, and is revered for his iconic video parts like “Slumdog Illionaire” and “JOSS 2009-Team America.” But over […]
Freeskier Mike King insists he’s more of a professional farmer than a professional skier. He’s spent the last three winters skiing all over North America as an 686 and Lib Tech athlete, but his roots as a farm kid from Northern Michigan still win out every spring, when he goes back home to pick cherries […]
The chili dogs are ready, and Mike King wanders inside his family’s farmhouse for a quick lunch. His curly, shoulder-length hair is pulled back, and he’s wearing yellow crabbing bibs covered in freshly-pressed apple cider, which forms a thin, sticky layer atop the yellow rubber as it dries. It’s nearly Halloween in northern Michigan, and […]
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