Alex Beaulieu-Marchand: Real Ski 2019 Bronze | World of X Games

Profile and significance

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand—universally known as ABM—is one of the defining Canadian freeskiers of his era, bridging elite contests and high-level filming with rare consistency. Born in Quebec City in 1994, he delivered a landmark result for Canada when he earned Olympic bronze in men’s ski slopestyle at PyeongChang 2018. That medal, combined with a haul of five X Games medals across slopestyle, big air, and Real Ski, and a 2019 FIS World Championships big air bronze in Park City, places him among the most decorated all-around freeskiers of the past decade. Just as importantly for fans, ABM is a rare athlete whose style reads as clearly on a slopestyle course as it does in an urban segment, making him essential viewing whether you follow competitions, street skiing, or both.

ABM’s reputation rests on substance more than hype. He first appeared at the Olympics as a finalist at Sochi 2014, overcame major injuries in the seasons that followed, and then returned to the very top of the sport by the end of the decade. His ski IQ—especially on rails—turned into a calling card: clean lock-ins, directional changes with purpose, and landings that keep speed alive for the next feature. That polish helps explain how he could step from podium moments at Aspen into the all-street format of Real Ski and still earn a medal there too. Few riders thread that needle as convincingly.

Competitive arc and key venues

ABM’s competitive arc traces the modern freeski pathway: early World Cups and Dew Tour appearances, a breakout X Games podium, and then a sustained period of podium-level runs at the sport’s headline events. He won slopestyle bronze at X Games Aspen in 2017, followed by the signature moment of his career—the Olympic bronze at PyeongChang 2018. In 2019 he produced one of the strongest single-year résumés of anyone in freeskiing: silver in big air and silver in slopestyle at Aspen Snowmass, bronze in Real Ski, and another big air bronze at the X Games stop in Norway. That same winter he added a World Championships bronze in big air at Park City, cementing his versatility.

Venues matter in how his skiing matured. Aspen has long been the proving ground for ABM’s jump and rail balance, while Breckenridge nurtured his early Dew Tour success and gave him the repetitions needed to scale tricks to XL features. Closer to home, the park culture around Quebec City—including Le Relais and Stoneham—fed his rail precision and urban instincts. It’s a circuit that spans manicured, high-speed courses and gritty winter cityscapes, and ABM has shown he can translate between the two without losing his identity.

How they ski: what to watch for

ABM’s skiing is built around clarity of intent. On rails, he emphasizes early edge commitment and solid center-of-mass control, which allows him to execute technical switch-ups and directional changes without scrambling. His exits are deliberate—he protects speed into the next panel of features, an asset in modern slopestyle scoring where momentum and link-up difficulty matter. On jumps, he’s known for precise takeoff timing and full-value grabs that stabilize rotations. You’ll often see him set rotations early and stay stacked in the air, enabling crisp axis control on doubles and triples and giving him options to alter grab sequences mid-spin.

What to watch in a run: ABM’s ability to vary spin direction and stance while keeping a consistent line speed. He can open rails with a high-difficulty lock-in, carry that speed to a left-spinning jump with a deep grab, then change direction for a switch takeoff on the next hit. The effect is a run that looks smooth to casual viewers but reveals dense technical content to experienced eyes. It’s the same economy you see in his street work—precise approaches, stable body position on impact, and clean outruns that don’t need dramatic recoveries to hold your attention.

Resilience, filming, and influence

ABM’s career includes significant injuries—collarbone, knee—that could have derailed momentum. Instead, those setbacks became inflection points. The comeback culminated in his Olympic bronze and the medal-laden 2019 campaign, but the long-term impact is broader: he demonstrated that a rail-forward technician could thrive in the biggest-air era by leaning into fundamentals and incremental difficulty gains rather than one-off risk. That template has influenced younger riders who prioritize repeatability and line design.

Filming has always been part of ABM’s identity. His Real Ski bronze established his credentials in the all-urban format. Later projects, including the short film “Mirage,” showcase a mature approach to concept and terrain selection, shifting seamlessly from park to natural features while keeping the same commitment to control and trick shape. For brands and fans alike, this duality—contest readiness paired with art-forward filming—makes ABM one of the sport’s most watchable athletes year-round.

Geography that built the toolkit

Quebec City winters shaped ABM’s toolset. Long, cold seasons and consistent snowfall give urban spots staying power, and the local lifts serve up the repetitions that turn rail ideas into habits. Laps at Le Relais and sessions at Stoneham honed timing on smaller, quicker features where approach and exit angles are unforgiving. That background helps explain his composure on World Cup-scale rails and why his street segments feel both ambitious and controlled.

On the contest circuit, Aspen Snowmass offered the clearest mirror for his best form, while Breckenridge remains synonymous with progression blocks where he added jump variety without sacrificing landing shape. The World Championship stage at Park City validated his big-air credentials in a setting known for meticulous jumps and high elevation, a combination that spotlights takeoff discipline and mid-air stability—two of ABM’s strengths.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

ABM rides Völkl skis with Marker bindings and wears Orage outerwear and Auclair gloves. The through-line across that kit is dependable platform feel and durability for both park laps and urban impacts. For progressing skiers using ABM as a model, the practical notes are straightforward: choose a park-capable ski with a balanced flex that allows proper presses on rails but won’t fold on large takeoffs; pair it with bindings that deliver elastic travel and predictable release; and invest in outerwear and gloves that keep mobility high across sub-zero sessions common to Quebec winters and late-night street shoots.

ABM’s gear choices support his style rather than define it. Even in the era of triple-cork arms races, his runs stand out because grabs are held, spin directions alternate, and landings are purposefully centered. Equipment is there to enable those habits; the technique makes them count.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

ABM matters because he shows what modern freeski completeness looks like: an Olympic medalist who can still film an urban segment worth replaying; a five-time X Games medalist whose best traits are accessible to learn from; a technician who treats rails as the backbone of a run and jumps as the canvas for clean, directionally varied tricks. If you’re watching slopestyle and big air to spot runs that age well on rewatch, ABM’s are a safe bet. If you’re a skier refining your own park game, study his line speed, his early grab timing, and how he exits rails with the next feature already in mind. That is the blueprint that took him from Quebec parks and streets to podiums at Aspen, Park City, and PyeongChang, and it’s why his skiing continues to resonate well beyond the scoreboard.