Valerie Festavan
Park City, Utah | Active public record: 2019-present | Known for: Kings & Queens of Corbet’s 2026, FWT Challenger win, LINE Skis projects, freeride and freestyle versatility | Current: LINE Skis, 686, 805 Beer, Magick Co., ANIMA Merx
Corbet’s With The Crowd Below
The lip of Corbet’s Couloir looked raw above Jackson Hole, rock walls framing the drop while cold snow held in the landing. Valerie Festavan had to leave the edge clean, absorb the impact, and keep enough direction for the run to survive the couloir.
In 2026, that first appearance at Kings & Queens of Corbet’s ended with second place in women’s ski. Piper Kunst won the ski category, Festavan finished second, and Wynter McBride took third. For Festavan, the result moved her from a freeride-qualifier name into a wider creative freeride conversation, because Corbet’s rewards more than a judged line. It rewards commitment, air awareness, style, and the ability to turn a famous entrance into personal skiing.
Park City Before The Freeride Push
Festavan’s public identity is tied to Park City, Utah, but her skiing is not locked to one lane. Jackson Hole’s athlete profile describes her as coming from Park City and moving through freeride, freestyle, ski racing, street skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, art and youth coaching. That background matters because it explains the mixed language in her skiing.
Her early public contest marker was the 2019 Shred Fest Rail Jam, which she won before shifting more attention toward freeride competitions. A rail jam and a freeride line ask for different instincts, but the overlap is visible: strong edges, fast adjustments, clean takeoffs, body control and the nerve to improvise when the terrain is not perfectly built.
Snowbird, Woodward And Alta On The FWT Page
The Freeride World Tour profile lists Festavan as a United States ski women athlete, 25 years old, with Snowbird, Woodward and Alta attached to her rider page. Those places give her development a precise Wasatch shape: steep powder at Alta, exposed freeride venues at Snowbird, and freestyle repetition at Woodward Park City.
That combination is useful for a skier trying to bridge freeride and freestyle. Snowbird and Alta build line choice, snow reading, sluff management and confidence in consequential terrain. Woodward adds air awareness, rail timing, park habits and repeatable movement. Festavan’s current profile sits directly between those systems, which is why her clips can move from big-mountain turns to playful takeoffs without feeling disconnected.
Kicking Horse Turned Points Into Position
The 2026 Kicking Horse IFSA Challenger Stop #3 became her strongest official freeride result so far. Freeride World Tour lists Festavan first in ski women at that event, with 3,500 event points. The same profile places her ninth in the FWT Challenger Americas ranking after that stop.
Kicking Horse is not a soft venue for a breakout result. The British Columbia terrain carries steep alpine faces, cold snow, exposed entries and landings that can change with light and wind. Winning there shows a freeride profile based on more than park adaptability. It shows that Festavan can choose a line, manage speed, use natural features and make the run count under Challenger-level pressure.
The Turn Before The Takeoff
Festavan’s strongest skiing should be watched through the turn before the feature. A pure park skier can sometimes hide behind a trick. A freerider cannot. The approach, the snow texture, the direction of the last check turn and the landing choice all become part of the score and part of the clip.
Her best public moments point toward versatility rather than one signature trick. She can use freestyle movement, but her current record is freeride-led: cliffs, couloirs, line choice, air control, speed, and recovery after impact. That is why Corbet’s made sense. The venue does not separate style from consequence. It forces both into the same second.
LINE Skis And The Valemount Project
Festavan’s film record includes work with LINE Skis. In 2024, LINE announced What’s Your Number?, a Freeride Team art project filmed in the northern Rocky Mountain Trench around Valemount, British Columbia. The athlete list included Dylan Siggers, Garrett Capel, Ben Richards, Rachael Anderson, Ana Eyssimont, Jake Hopfinger, Jonnie Merrill, Kate Targett, Liam Morgan, Wing Tai Barrymore and Val Festavan.
The project was built around sled skiing, big-mountain charging, powder slashes, backcountry booters and down days with the crew. That setting fits Festavan’s current direction. It is not a scored contest run and not a short park edit. It is a team film environment where weather, snowpack, sled access and group trust decide what can be filmed.
Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself
Her most personal public video marker is Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself, described in the YouTube listing as a two-year personal season project put together by LINE athlete Valerie Festavan. The description also says she had been competing in Freeride World Tour events, which matches the path shown by her qualifier and challenger results.
That project gives her page a stronger editorial angle than results alone. Festavan is not only waiting for a tour ranking to define her. She is building a self-directed archive around skiing, community and personal movement through the sport. For skipowd.tv, that makes her video page useful beyond standings, because the clips can show how a freeride athlete carries park history, art, coaching and crew energy into bigger terrain.
686, LINE Bacon 108 And Corbet’s Gear
Jackson Hole lists her 2026 Kings & Queens sponsors as LINE Skis, 686, 805 Beer, Magick Co. and ANIMA Merx. The Inertia’s gear breakdown from the same event adds specific equipment context: Line Bacon 108 skis, men’s Lange Shadow 120 boots, 686 outerwear and goggles, an Arva avy bag and a DB rollerbag.
Those details match the way her skiing is currently presented. A 108-millimeter ski gives enough platform for soft snow and landings while still allowing freestyle movement. The Arva bag points toward freeride safety context, and 686 connects her outerwear to a brand that sits comfortably between snowboarding, freeskiing and creative mountain culture.
From Challenger Rankings To A Bigger Start List
The next factual marker is the Challenger path. Festavan’s FWT profile shows the Kicking Horse win, 3,500 points and ninth place in the Americas Challenger ranking. That keeps her close to the Freeride World Tour qualification conversation, but it does not yet make her a full Tour regular.
Her current archive should be filed with Park City, Alta, Snowbird, Woodward, Kicking Horse, Kings & Queens of Corbet’s, LINE Skis, What’s Your Number?, Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself, freeride, freestyle and women’s ski. The page should track new Challenger results, future Corbet’s appearances, and any next LINE project that shows how her freeride and freestyle sides keep crossing.
