Cole Gibson
Profile and significance
Cole Gibson is an American freeski rider best known for his role in HG Skis’ influential urban projects during the mid-2010s. As part of the Vermont/Northeast-rooted crew, Gibson contributed to a run of street-focused films and web edits—among them “Aurora” (2013), “5 to 9” (2014), “Children of the Guan” (2015), “PromoCabana” (2016) and the two-year project “Eat The Guts” (2017). Those releases helped define an era of gritty, story-driven street skiing where line choice, build quality, and execution mattered as much as trick count. While he never chased World Cup points, his presence in these widely circulated films gives him lasting relevance to fans of urban/street skiing and to park skiers looking for a realistic blueprint for filming outside resorts.
Competitive arc and key venues
Gibson’s public résumé is film-centric rather than contest-heavy. The arc begins with his HG Skis introduction in 2013 and continues through a string of team movies and seasonal drops that spotlight East Coast handrails, creative closeouts, and night missions in winter cities. Summer laps at Timberline on Mount Hood kept timing sharp and gear experiments ongoing, while periodic park mileage in Colorado—particularly at Keystone’s A51 terrain park—shows up in social clips from the same period. The throughline is clear: stack shots during storms at home, travel to reliable park hubs to keep skills tuned, then return to the streets when conditions and crew schedules line up.
How they ski: what to watch for
Gibson reads like a technician who values full-feature usage and clean landings. Expect patient speed management into long kinks, gap-to-rail starts that require exact entry marks, and solid balance for nose/tail pressure through swaps. He keeps approach lines tidy, rides out both directions, and favors combo choices that look repeatable rather than one-and-done “hucks.” On park features he’ll lean into manuals, redirect transfers, and fast footwork that lets him extract two or three moments from a single obstacle. The sum is an urban style that rewards rewatching: practical, controlled, and filmed to highlight the whole spot, not just the ender.
Resilience, filming, and influence
HG Skis’ output was known for do-it-yourself persistence: digging, salting, rebuilding, and walking away when security, traffic, or weather refused to cooperate. Gibson fit that mold. Across “Children of the Guan” and “Eat The Guts,” you see the ethic of small-crew commitment—efficient shoveling, smart B-plans when temps swing, and line choices that balance ambition with a high chance of rolling away clean. For progressing skiers, his influence is pragmatic: pick spots that match your skill, build them right, and film in a way that tells a short story rather than chasing a single clip. Those habits make edits more watchable and projects more sustainable.
Geography that built the toolkit
The Northeast’s freeze-thaw rhythm and dense urban layouts shaped Gibson’s eye for features—handrails with awkward kinks, narrow run-ins, and drop-to-flat consequences. Summer stints at Mt. Hood provided reliable park access and nearly year-round repetition on rails and jumps. Colorado sessions kept the park meter running when storms were scarce back East; the A51 setup at Keystone is a frequent training ground for street-minded riders looking to dial consistency before filming. That combination—Northeast streets, Hood summers, and Colorado parks—underpins the calm speed control and measured trick selection you see in his parts.
Equipment and partners: practical takeaways
Gibson’s film credits tie him to HG Skis during the 2013–2017 window, reflecting a setup aligned with urban abuse: moderately stiff park/urban skis that hold tune after repeated rail impact, detuned contact points for fewer edge bites, and inserts/bindings chosen for reliable heel retention on kinks and gaps. Apparel and culture links via Tall T’s involvement around “Eat The Guts” reinforced a street-first visual identity. For skiers emulating his approach, the bigger lesson is systems thinking: detune thoughtfully, choose a mount point that balances presses with stable landings, and keep edges fresh enough to track on long metal without feeling hooky. A compact shovel kit, salt for temperature swings, and clear roles within a small crew (builder, filmer, spotter) often matter more than any single product choice.
Why fans and progressing skiers care
Gibson’s catalog with HG Skis stands as a study in doable—but still high-impact—street skiing. There’s inspiration here for everyday crews: make the most of local weather, read the feature from in-run to outrun, and prioritize landings you can repeat. For viewers, that translates to rewatchable segments where the narrative of the spot stays intact. For riders leveling up, it’s a credible path: park time to lock fundamentals, then well-planned street sessions that put quality and story ahead of raw volume.
Quick reference (places)
Principal sponsors
- HG Skis — team rider/film projects
- Tall T Productions — presenting/creative partner on film releases
