Kai Martin

Sydney, Australia / Whistler, British Columbia | Active: 2018-present public archive | Known for: Australian World Cup team, ANC slopestyle wins, Nor-Am podiums, Whistler park clips | Current: Australia Freeski Park & Pipe athlete

Chur Under Festival Lights

The Big Air jump in Chur rose out of the city like a temporary mountain, dry-slope in-run dropping into snow while the festival crowd pressed close to the scaffold. Kai Martin stood there in Australian colours after five years competing under Canada, staring at a World Cup start he had chased through Nor-Am events, Whistler park laps, and southern-hemisphere contests. His first World Cup did not bring a final. It brought a marker. The Sydney-born skier had returned to the green and gold, won The Remarkables in his first Australian-flag event, and stepped into the same start lists as the best slopestyle and big air skiers in the sport.

From Sydney To Japan To British Columbia

Martin’s public story is unusual for an Australian freeskier. Snow Australia describes him as Sydney-born, with time living in Japan before his family settled in British Columbia for his senior schooling. That pathway gave him both an Australian identity and a Canadian development environment.

The British Columbia chapter matters because Whistler became the practical base for his skiing. A skier chasing slopestyle needs repeated access to rails, large jumps, air awareness, and changing park builds. Whistler gives that in volume. Martin later told Snow Australia that he expected to train mostly out of Whistler during the World Cup season once the park was ready, then follow the best snow and park conditions later in the winter.

The Canadian Nor-Am Apprenticeship

Before the Australian switch, Martin’s FIS archive was built through Canada and the Nor-Am circuit. His early public results include Nor-Am starts at Le Relais, Stoneham, Calgary, Aspen Snowmass, Mammoth Mountain, Copper Mountain, WinSport Calgary, and Aspen / Buttermilk. That is a real contest apprenticeship: different judges, different jump shapes, and enough travel to learn how runs change from venue to venue.

The 2022 Stoneham stop gave him a first major marker in big air, where FIS lists him first in the Nor-Am Cup Freeski Big Air. A year later, Stoneham became even more important: first in Nor-Am big air and third in Nor-Am slopestyle across the same March 2023 weekend.

Stoneham When The World Cup Door Opened

The 2022/2023 Nor-Am season put Martin close to a World Cup quota. FIS’s Nor-Am recap recorded Jérémy Gagné leading the men’s slopestyle and big air standings with 220 points, just ahead of Kai Martin on 210. Freestyle Canada also reported Martin’s big air win at Stoneham, where he beat James Kanzler and Gagné.

That point battle explains why Martin’s next move mattered. He was already close to World Cup level before switching representation. The Stoneham results showed two sides of his skiing: single-jump execution in big air and multi-feature run building in slopestyle.

The Remarkables In The First Australian Start

Martin’s first event under the Australian flag was immediate proof that the switch could work. Snow Australia reported that he won men’s freeski slopestyle at The Remarkables in August 2023, his first event representing Australia. FIS lists the result as an Australian New Zealand Cup slopestyle win with 140 FIS points and 100 cup points.

The Remarkables is a different test from Stoneham or Whistler. The New Zealand winter brings southern-hemisphere light, exposed alpine weather, and park builds used by international athletes before the northern season begins. Martin used that moment to put himself at the front of the ANC standings and give Australia a new park-and-pipe name to track.

Chur, Stubai, Beijing, Copper And The First World Cup Loop

Martin’s World Cup debut came in October 2023 at Chur, where FIS lists him 40th in Freeski Big Air. The rest of the season brought a fast education: Stubai slopestyle, Beijing big air, Copper Mountain big air, Laax slopestyle, Mammoth slopestyle, Tignes slopestyle and big air, then Silvaplana slopestyle.

Those results were not podium-level yet, but they gave him a full World Cup reference map. Stubai demands precise rails and large jumps in an early-season Austrian setting. Beijing and Chur focus pressure into big air. Laax and Silvaplana are slopestyle standards where rail choice, jump control, and execution quality decide whether a run survives qualification.

Tignes And The First World Cup Points

Tignes gave Martin his best confirmed World Cup finish of the 2023/2024 season. FIS lists him 23rd in Freeski Slopestyle on 16 March 2024, with eight World Cup points. Snow Australia and Mountainwatch both framed Tignes as his first World Cup points result and a key moment in his return to Australian colours.

The result matters because Tignes is not an entry-level field. A slopestyle run there needs rail precision, jump landings, and enough difficulty to stay near athletes with deeper finals experience. Martin did not make the podium or final, but he crossed the first World Cup scoring threshold.

The 2024 Award And Australian Park Status

Snow Australia named Martin its Male Freeski Park & Pipe Athlete of the Year for 2024. The awards page lists him as the winner in that category, while the announcement describes the season as his strongest international year to that point.

That award is important for his skipowd.tv profile because it confirms his role inside the Australian program. He is not just a Whistler skier with an Australian passport. He became one of the main male freeski park-and-pipe athletes representing the country during the 2023/2024 cycle.

Whistler Clips Between Contest Starts

Martin’s video trail keeps the profile from becoming only a result sheet. WHISFILES 2024 lists him in Max Hagerman’s Whistler Blackcomb park edit with riders such as Jérémy Gagné, Charlie Beatty, Aidan Mulvihill, Deston Swift, Mattheus Heslop, Misha Litvinenko NDiaye, Lucas Ball, Tate Garrod, and Joel Macnair.

SPEEDTRIP adds a filmer credit rather than a rider credit. The clip features Aidan Mulvihill, Jérémy Gagné, and Mac Forehand across Whistler and Cardrona, with filming by Max Hagerman, Kai Martin, and Will McInnes. WHISFILES 2025 brings Martin back into the rider list beside a large Whistler crew that includes Aidan Mulvihill, Finn Bilous, Mac Forehand, Hunter Henderson, Joel Macnair, Emerson Raffler, and others.

How Martin Builds A Slopestyle Run

Martin’s public results point toward a balanced park skier rather than a one-event specialist. His archive includes halfpipe starts early in Nor-Am, then a clear move into slopestyle and big air. The technical language around him should stay practical: rail slides, switch takeoffs, jump grabs, big-air rotation control, speed checks, clean landings, and full-run composition.

The strongest clue is his ability to convert both formats. Big air at Stoneham required one jump under pressure. Slopestyle at The Remarkables required rails, transitions, and jumps in sequence. Tignes required World Cup-level execution in a deeper field. That mix makes him a contest-first profile with a Whistler video layer.

The Current Marker Is Australia, Whistler And World Cup Starts

The safest current frame for Kai Martin is Australian slopestyle and big air skiing developed through Whistler and the Nor-Am circuit. His public path runs through Canadian starts, Stoneham Nor-Am wins, The Remarkables ANC victories, Chur World Cup debut, Tignes World Cup points, Snow Australia’s 2024 freeski award, and Whistler video appearances in WHISFILES and SPEEDTRIP.

For skipowd.tv, Martin should sit in the competitor / contest category with a secondary creative-video angle. The strongest tags are Kai Martin, Australia, Sydney, Whistler, The Remarkables, Cardrona, Stoneham, Chur, Tignes, Laax, Silvaplana, Nor-Am Cup, Australia New Zealand Cup, World Cup, slopestyle, big air, WHISFILES, SPEEDTRIP, Max Hagerman, Aidan Mulvihill, Jérémy Gagné, and Mac Forehand.