Lucy Leishman

Profile and significance

Lucy Leishman is a Canadian freeride skier from Nelson, British Columbia, representing the new wave of athletes coming out of the Powder Highway. She grew up skiing at Whitewater Ski Resort, clicking into skis at two years old and spending much of her youth on the local alpine race team before gradually “racing to freeride.” That switch paid off quickly: after moving into freeride, she won the Junior North American Championships and earned a ticket to the YETI Freeride Junior World Championships in Kappl, Austria, where she posted a top-ten finish in Ski Women U-18. Still in her early twenties, she now appears on the Freeride World Tour Qualifier and Challenger circuits, building a résumé that marks her as one of the most promising young big-mountain skiers in Canada.

Leishman’s profile extends beyond start lists. Listed as one of the hometown athletes for Whitewater, she is part of the same Nelson ecosystem that has produced several of British Columbia’s most respected film skiers. Sponsors like K2 Skis, technical outerwear label Beringia and local shop Village Ski Hut back her projects and competition seasons, while collaborations with brands such as The North Face and POC Sports appear in her media presence. Add in a growing film footprint, including an all-women’s Japan project, and she stands out as an emerging voice in North American freeride rather than just another name on the rankings page.

Competitive arc and key venues

Leishman’s competitive arc traces a clear path from alpine gates to freeride start gates. As a junior she held a national race license with the Whitewater Ski Team, building timing and edge control against the clock before the lure of off-piste terrain drew her toward freeride. Once she joined the Whitewater freeride program, she quickly adapted her racing background to steeper faces and natural features, climbing the IFSA junior ranks and eventually winning the Junior North American Championship title in the 15–18 women’s category. That result secured her spot at the 2023 YETI Freeride Junior World Championships in Kappl, where she represented Canada on one of the biggest stages in junior freeride.

After aging out of juniors, Leishman stepped into the adult field on the Freeride World Tour Qualifier and Challenger circuits. On the FWT Americas Qualifier ranking she has already collected solid results, including a fifth place at the Revelstoke IFSA Qualifier and a sixth at RED Mountain, alongside additional starts at Kicking Horse. Those venues—Revelstoke’s big-vertical faces, the rockier lines above RED Mountain, and the classic in-bounds freeride terrain at Whitewater—have become the proving grounds for her transition into the senior ranks. Her stated goals for the 24/25 winter include returning to the FWT Challenger series and continuing to push her skiing while staying closely connected to her home team at Whitewater, a balance of ambition and community that defines much of her trajectory so far.

How they ski: what to watch for

On snow, Lucy Leishman skis with the composure of someone who grew up in race boots and the looseness of a skier who now lives for freeride. Her lines tend to respect the fall line: rather than traversing across the face to hunt for a safe landing, she generally drops into the main pitch, links a sequence of medium-sized features and keeps her speed rolling from top to bottom. That style rewards strong legs and quick decision-making, traits that show up clearly in her junior world championship run at Kappl and in her qualifier results around British Columbia.

Technically, her skiing is compact and centered. Years of alpine training show up in how quietly her upper body behaves; even when the snow is choppy, her shoulders stay level while her feet absorb the terrain. She often uses a small slash or pre-hop to fine-tune her entry into a drop, then levels the skis in the air and lands in a balanced stance that lets her immediately roll into the next turn. When you watch her footage from IFSA and FWT events, look closely at how rarely she brakes aggressively mid-run. The control comes not from shutting down speed, but from choosing a line she can ski fluidly at pace and trusting her technique to keep everything together.

Resilience, filming, and influence

At this stage of her career, Leishman’s resilience is defined less by dramatic comebacks and more by steady, year-on-year progression through demanding pathways. Shifting from racing to freeride meant learning how to read complex faces, manage avalanche awareness and perform when a single mistake could end a run. Working through IFSA juniors, then into the Freeride World Tour Challenger and Qualifier systems, also meant balancing travel, finances and training with everyday life in a small mountain town. The Junior North American title, junior world championship start and early Challenger results show that she has been willing to grind through that process rather than expecting overnight success.

Her influence is starting to show in film and community projects as well. In the short film “Slipstream,” presented by POC Sports, she joins Alex Armstrong, Estelle Pensiero and Catty Agnew on a women’s trip to Japan that explores both powder skiing and the emotional weight of high-level sport. The project frames skiing as a way to rediscover joy and community after burnout, and Leishman’s segments underline how comfortably her freeride style translates to deep, playful snow and tree terrain. Back home, she talks about wanting to host a Coldsmoke clinic at Whitewater to inspire younger skiers, emphasizing fun, friendship and personal growth as much as results. That emerging mentorship role, paired with her own competitive push, positions her as an important figure for the next generation of Nelson and Whitewater athletes.

Geography that built the toolkit

Nelson and Whitewater are central to understanding Leishman’s skiing. Nelson is a compact mountain town in interior British Columbia, perched along the region’s famed Powder Highway and surrounded by rugged Selkirk terrain. From there, it is a short drive to Whitewater Ski Resort, a mountain known for deep snow, limited grooming and a strong emphasis on off-piste culture. Growing up with that terrain as her backyard meant early exposure to steep glades, natural drops and storm-day visibility challenges that force skiers to develop strong instincts early on.

Her competitive travels have expanded that geographic toolkit. Events at Revelstoke, Kicking Horse and RED Mountain expose her to bigger vertical, more exposure and different snowpacks across interior British Columbia, while junior worlds in Kappl added European avalanche conditions and alpine faces to her experience. The Japan trip for “Slipstream” layered in yet another environment: coastal storms, deep tree skiing and the unique rhythm of long, rolling pillows and wind lips. Taken together, those locations have produced a skier who looks at home whether she is dropping a chalky line above a Canadian chairlift, threading a couloir in the Tyrolean Alps or surfing bottomless turns between birch trees on Hokkaido.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Leishman’s equipment choices mirror the demands of modern freeride. On her feet are skis from K2 Skis, typically freeride-oriented models that balance stability at speed with enough looseness in the tips and tails to slash, pivot and land small airs without feeling locked into a race stance. For outerwear and insulation she works with Beringia, a brand that focuses on technical fabrics suited to long, cold days in interior British Columbia. Local partner Village Ski Hut keeps her connected to the Nelson ski community and helps fine-tune her setup, while collaborations with The North Face and POC Sports round out her kit with protective gear and layers designed for freeride conditions.

For progressing skiers, the practical takeaway is less about copying her exact gear list and more about understanding why it works. Freeride competition asks a lot from equipment: skis have to stay predictable on firm entries yet float when the snow is deep; bindings must hold up to drops without pre-releasing; helmets and back protection need to be comfortable enough that you forget you are wearing them until you need them. Leishman’s choices reflect a desire for a single, trustworthy setup that can handle qualifiers, film trips and storm days at home without constant tinkering. Emulating that philosophy—building a durable, confidence-inspiring system rather than chasing the lightest or trendiest piece—is a smart move for anyone who wants to push into bigger terrain.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans and younger riders are starting to care about Lucy Leishman because she represents a relatable but ambitious freeride path. She did not skip directly to the top; she put in years of racing, switched disciplines, ground through junior and qualifier circuits and only then earned her way into Challenger fields. Along the way she has stayed rooted in her home hill, remained closely connected to local sponsors and mentors, and spoken openly about wanting to give back through clinics and community events.

For progressing skiers watching from small programs or local hills, her story is proof that growing up on a community-oriented mountain like Whitewater can be the start of an international freeride career. Her lines show what disciplined technique looks like when you let it breathe in natural terrain, and her film appearances highlight the joy and camaraderie that keep people in the sport long after podium photos fade. As she continues to stack Challenger results and creative projects, Lucy Leishman is becoming a name to watch for anyone interested in where women’s freeride is headed next.