Dillon Flinders

Profile and significance

Dillon Flinders is a Utah-born freeski rider whose smooth, high-consequence big-mountain lines and film-first mindset have pushed him from local Wasatch laps into international view. A Freeride World Tour athlete in 2024 and a longtime product rider for Dynastar, he moved the needle again in fall 2025 by co-starring in “RIFF,” a Level 1–presented short supported by Dynastar, LOOK Bindings, Lange, and Snowbird. The film follows Flinders and Alex Lundstrom from Utah storm cycles to Alaskan spine walls, and it landed on festival and tour screens before an online premiere, giving a wider audience a clean look at why Flinders’ skiing reads so clearly at real speed. He’s not a bib-collector chasing slopestyle points; he’s a freerider who treats filming and backcountry decision-making as the main arena, with contest weeks serving as punctuation rather than the whole sentence.

Competitive arc and key venues

Flinders’ competitive chapter centers on the Freeride World Tour. The FWT24 season put him on the global big-mountain stage, with edits and league features highlighting his composure on exposure and his comfort when a line needs to flow from blind roll-overs into technical exits. While he has an alpine and freeride background (and notably crosses over with elite mountain-bike racing), his most visible “results” come on the lens. The 2025 project “RIFF” captured the rhythm behind those makes: storm-day face shots and technical trees in the Wasatch around Snowbird, followed by a late-season window in Alaska where spine geometry, sluff management, and long-range line planning mattered more than any start list.

Those venues explain the public arc. Snowbird provides the high-traffic, high-speed proving ground—tram laps, chalky mornings, and spring corn—that build line fitness and timing. Alaska supplies the magnifier: bigger scale, longer exposure, and the need to link safe zones without sacrificing tempo. When a season alternates between those environments, a skier either learns to protect momentum and manage hazard—or the footage never makes the cut. “RIFF” shows which way Flinders went.

How they ski: what to watch for

Flinders skis with deliberate economy, the kind of movement that looks inevitable when you replay the clip. On exposed faces he favors stacked, quiet upper-body mechanics and footwork that lets the skis do the deflection—small, early edge sets to change fall-line rather than emergency checks late in the panel. In couloirs and wind-buffed entries you’ll see hips stay centered over the feet so hop-turns land neutral and the next move can happen immediately. When features invite air time—rollovers to trannies, spine-to-spine transfers—he commits early, places the grab quickly if there is one, and keeps axes obvious so the camera (and any judge) can read the intent at full speed. The signature isn’t a single trick; it’s flow preserved from the first takeoff to the last safe zone.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Big-mountain filming compresses the margin for error: weather windows close, light fades, and a single sluff management mistake ends the day. Flinders’ recent seasons show a repeatable process for thriving inside that pressure. He and his crew start with careful line reconnaissance—spot from afar, confirm with binoculars, then mark rollovers and hazards. Speed checks happen where they can, and the first full line is treated like the keeper. That workflow translates directly from Utah storm days to Alaskan spines and explains why “RIFF” feels cohesive rather than lucky. Earlier short projects with the Dynastar North America crew laid the foundation, but “RIFF” is the statement piece that demonstrates authorial control: the skiing and the story move together.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place is destiny in freeride. Utah’s Wasatch gives Flinders dense repetition on consequential terrain—traverse-served steeps, tram laps, chalk, and powder in close succession around Snowbird. That mix hardwires sluff awareness, micro-terrain use, and the discipline to keep lines alive after small mistakes. Alaska adds scale and patience: reading spines for secondary ribs, choosing entry points that keep exposure manageable, and surfing moving snow rather than fighting it. Seasons that swing between those two build a skier who can look fast without hurrying and calm without being conservative—a balance that reads beautifully on film.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Flinders rides with the French “trifecta” of Dynastar skis, LOOK bindings, and Lange boots, and he filmed “RIFF” with direct support from Snowbird. The logos help, but the useful lessons are about setup principles that any advancing freerider can apply. Start with a directional or mildly twin-tipped freeride platform that balances stability with a tail you can trust when you have to shut down in a pocket. Keep bases fast and edges sharp with detune only where hookiness causes hazard on wind-scoured entries; in freeride, edge hold is non-negotiable. Bindings should be set for predictable release in variable snow without creeping too high—consistency across drops and long traverses matters more than a single “big send.” Boots need a progressive flex and locked-in heel hold so landings finish stacked and you can pressure the tongue through runnels or crust. The throughline is predictability: gear you don’t think about when the face rolls over.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Flinders matters because he turns complex mountains into understandable footage. If you’re learning to evaluate big-mountain skiing, watch how he “spends” speed—never all at once—and how he uses terrain features to manage sluff rather than getting chased by it. Notice the early commitment on airs and how grabs, when used, go in quickly and hold long enough to make axes obvious. For skiers pushing into sidecountry or film-day objectives, the takeaway is method as much as movement: scout carefully, plan safe zones, tune for consistency, and ski with decisions that will still make sense when the camera is rolling. That’s the connective tissue in his FWT appearances and in “RIFF,” and it’s why Dillon Flinders has become a reliable reference for freeride done with clarity.