Mathieu Dufresne

Montréal, Québec | Active Public Record: 2019-present | Known for: SuperUnknown XIX, MTL, MTL 2, Word To The Wise, Seasons, J Skis Poutine collab | Current: Montreal street skiing and Xavier Mayrand film projects

Montréal Concrete With Barely Enough Snow

The rail sat above Montréal concrete with just enough snow to make the run-in possible. Mat Dufresne, known across the street-skiing scene as Mat Duf, had no clean mountain landing, no park crew resetting the feature, and no safety margin from perfect winter conditions. The shot depended on timing, commitment, and the kind of quiet confidence that has become central to his skiing.

Dufresne’s profile is not built around Olympic starts, X Games medals, or a long World Cup résumé. His public record runs through a different part of freeskiing: Montréal street films, SuperUnknown, J Skis projects, IF3 nominations, and repeated collaborations with filmmaker Xavier Mayrand. That makes him one of the clearest modern examples of a skier whose influence comes from clips, spots, and film language rather than contest standings.

The FIS Name Before Mat Duf

FIS lists him formally as Mathieu Dufresne, a Canadian freestyle skier born in 1999, with FIS Code 2533366 and a non-active status. That official entry gives the public record a competition anchor, but it does not explain why people in freeskiing know his name now. The later identity, Mat Duf, belongs much more to streets than start gates.

That shift is common in Québec freeskiing. Many riders pass through park and contest systems before finding a stronger voice in urban filming. Montréal rewards a different skill set: rail pressure, spot preparation, winch use, shovel work, patience during kick-outs, and the ability to turn architecture into skiing. Dufresne’s best-known work lives in that city system.

MTL And The First Montréal Statement

MTL gave Dufresne one of his first major film markers. Forecast Ski described the project as Xavier Mayrand’s street skiing exploration of Montréal with Vince Authier and Mat Dufresne, supported by Surface Skis, J Skis, Newschoolers, Axis Boardshop and Brasseurs de Montréal. The film also reached iF3 and High Five Festival official selection.

The production context matters because MTL was not only a trick reel. Mayrand framed it around the city itself: classic spots, new discoveries, winter constraints, and the process of filming urban skiing in Montréal. Dufresne said he had been thinking about making a street segment for a while, but Mayrand’s timing and concept finally pushed the project into motion.

Covid Curfews, Injuries, And A Six-Kink Rail

The first MTL season was not smooth. Forecast’s interview notes that Québec’s Covid curfews prevented night filming, the early-season snow situation was poor, and Dufresne injured himself on the first spot, taking almost three weeks off. That is the practical reality behind many street parts: a clean final clip can hide weeks of interrupted plans.

The film’s six-kink rail became a useful symbol of that process. Mayrand described a January day after a slow snow start, with Dufresne returning from injury and facing a massive new rail that could have taken all day or never worked at all. Street skiing often lives inside that uncertainty. The spot decides how much time the rider gets.

SuperUnknown XIX At Mammoth

In 2022, Dufresne won Level 1’s SuperUnknown XIX at Mammoth Mountain, sharing the title year with Tereza Korábová. Level 1 described the finals as a week with a creative group of finalists and a Mammoth Unbound park built for the event, with riders voting for the winners after the session period.

That win changed his profile. SuperUnknown has long acted as a bridge between underground video talent and the broader freeski industry. For Dufresne, it proved that his skiing could work beyond Montréal’s streets. He could enter a high-level park environment, ski among an international finalist crew, and still have his style recognized by the other riders.

MTL 2 And The Urban Nomination

MTL 2 expanded the Montréal project in 2024. Newschoolers and Downdays list the film as another street skiing exploration of Montréal, directed by Xavier Mayrand and starring Mat Dufresne, Phil Boily-Doucet and Paul Vieuxtemps. It was supported by J Skis, LINE Skis, Newschoolers and Axis Boardshop.

The film reached official selection at High Five Festival 2023 and iF3 Festival 2023. It was also nominated for Best Urban Segment for Mat Dufresne at the iF3 Movie Awards. That nomination fits the way his skiing is evaluated. The point is not only trick difficulty; it is how a rider reads a city, links spots, handles impact, and makes a segment feel complete.

Word To The Wise In A Bad Snow Year

Word To The Wise pushed the format tighter. Freeskier and Forecast describe it as a short street skiing film starring Mat Dufresne, directed by Xavier Mayrand, and shot in Montréal. The project came after a difficult 2024 season, with poor snow, personal challenges, conflicting schedules, and little room for error.

Dufresne described the season as spontaneous because he and Mayrand often had to find a spot, work fast, and make the most of limited conditions. Mayrand said much of the film was made with the bare minimum snow needed to get shots done. That context gives the final edit more weight: the skiing is clean, but the winter behind it was messy.

How Mat Duf Reads A Spot

Dufresne’s public skiing is best described through street decisions. Watch for direct approaches, patient speed checks, quiet upper-body movement, controlled rail pressure, and exits that preserve balance instead of forcing recovery. His clips often feel calm because the trick choice fits the feature, rather than trying to overpower the architecture.

That does not mean the skiing is simple. Montréal street spots can involve tight run-ins, concrete landings, bridge rails, wallrides, limited snow and security pressure. A rider has to know when to commit, when to leave, and how many attempts the setup can survive. Dufresne’s strongest footage makes those decisions feel settled before he even leaves the takeoff.

J Skis, Poutine, And A Québec Graphic

Dufresne’s J Skis collaboration gave his profile a rare product marker. The Vacation “Poutine” was released as a Mat Dufresne x J Collab limited-edition ski, with 200 made and an August 2024 release date. J Skis linked the graphic to Canadian poutine culture and used imagery from Dufresne filming for MTL 2.

The ski itself sits in the Vacation line, listed with a 104 mm waist and a playful all-mountain freestyle personality. For Dufresne, the collaboration makes sense because his skiing blends park control, powder tolerance and street abuse. A Montréal street skier still needs a ski that can slide rails, survive hard landings, and handle whatever snow the city gives him.

Seasons And The Mayrand Continuity

Forecast later introduced Seasons as the next chapter after three consecutive projects between Dufresne and Mayrand: MTL, MTL 2 and Word To The Wise. The article describes the previous run as smooth compared with the harder winter that followed, but says they still completed the new project.

That continuity is now part of Dufresne’s identity. He is not attached to only one viral clip or one contest result. His profile has grown through repeated winters with the same filmmaker, the same city, and the same commitment to making Montréal street skiing look precise. That is how a rider becomes part of a scene’s visual memory.

Where Mat Dufresne Fits Now

Mat Dufresne belongs to Québec’s modern street-skiing line: Montréal architecture, Xavier Mayrand films, J Skis support, SuperUnknown recognition, IF3 urban nominations and a calm style that stands apart from louder park personalities. His archive is strong enough for a creative profile, but it should not be inflated into a contest biography.

The accurate frame is film-first street skiing. Dufresne’s strongest public markers are SuperUnknown XIX, MTL, MTL 2, Word To The Wise, Seasons, the Poutine J Collab, and the Montréal spots that keep shaping his work. His skiing matters because it shows how much can be built from a city, a filmer, a shovel, a rail, and one precise attempt when the snow is barely there.