HOTLAPS • LEVEL 1 • SUPERUNKNOWN XXI

Wanaka, New Zealand | Active competition record: 2011-2021 | Known for: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Dew Tour silver, Junior World titles, Wells Brothers films | Current focus: filmmaking, park skiing, creative freeski projects PyeongChang Snow With A Medal One Run Away The halfpipe at Phoenix Snow Park cut a blue-white trench under Korean winter light. Beau-James Wells dropped into his third Olympic final run needing amplitude, clean doubles and enough composure to make the judges look twice before New Zealand’s medal story closed. 60 at PyeongChang 2018 put him fourth in men’s freeski halfpipe, one place behind Nico Porteous and just outside the Olympic podium.... Read more on the Athlete page

Block Island, Rhode Island / Los Angeles, USA | Active: FIS record listed as not active | Discipline: street skiing, urban filming, halfpipe background, directing | Verified: 2016 X Games Real Ski bronze, For Lack of Better, FIVE, The Creep, Greenpoint Pictures | Current: filmmaker and selective street-ski projects Boston Concrete After Midnight The parking garage in Boston was wet, loud, and half-lit, with shoveled snow packed against concrete like a temporary runway. Clayton Vila waited for the winch pull, clicked into the dark, then sent himself toward a feature nobody had built for skiing. That is where Vila’s skiing makes the most sense: not under X Games lights, not inside a halfpipe wall, but in the stolen margin between a city object and a camera position.... Read more on the Athlete page

Lorraine, Quebec, Canada | Active: FIS status active; World Cup step-back announced June 2025 | Discipline: freeski big air, slopestyle, rails, creative filming | Verified: 2021 World Championships big air silver, 2019 Junior Worlds slopestyle gold, Beijing 2022 Olympian, World Cup podiums | Current: Edjoy creative ski path Aspen When The Headstand Said Everything The Buttermilk big-air jump sat under Colorado floodlights, with the landing glazed by heavy impacts and the crowd waiting for scores. Édouard Therriault had kicked a ski on takeoff, still completed the trick, then fell through the landing with the kind of chaos that made people keep watching. At X Games Aspen 2022, his rookie appearance did not end with a medal, but it gave Edjoy a clear international image.... Read more on the Athlete page

Wānaka, New Zealand | Active: 2013-present public record | Focus: slopestyle, big air, creative ski films, Wells Brothers projects | Current: Wells Brothers producer/skier and Monster Energy-supported rider Cardrona Low Tide And Southern Light Cardrona’s spring snow ran thin over brown New Zealand ground, with wind crust in the shadows and soft takeoffs catching late Southern Hemisphere light. Jackson “Wacko” Wells pushed into the line anyway, skiing the low-tide mess with the same looseness that once carried him through Olympic slopestyle and X Games big air. In recent Wells Brothers films, the setup rarely looks perfect.... Read more on the Athlete page

Portland, Maine, USA | Active: 2012-present public ski record | Discipline: Street Skiing, Urban Freeskiing and Creative Park | Known for: SuperUnknown XIII, Habit, X Games Real Ski, Slim to None, TRYHARD Moscow Concrete After The SuperUnknown Call The street spot in Moscow looked cold, gray and badly suited to clean skiing. Concrete sat under the snow, metal edges rang against rails, and Keegan Kilbride had to turn a Level 1 opportunity into proof. In 2016, after winning SuperUnknown XIII, the skier from Portland, Maine earned more than a handshake.... Read more on the Athlete page

Ivalo, Finland | Active: 2016-present international record | Known for: slopestyle, big air, first 2160, Dream, Ruka style | Current: Finland national team / Armada athlete Livigno With Bare Arms In February The Livigno Snow Park course sat bright under Olympic sun, with cold air cutting across the rails and jump line. Kuura Koivisto dropped into qualification wearing a tank top, black gloves, and the Finnish bib, turning a pressure run into a piece of personal theatre. That moment at Milano Cortina 2026 did not create his identity.... Read more on the Athlete page

Lac-Beauport / Quebec City, Canada | Active: FIS status active, listed injured from 09-01-2026 | Discipline: freeski slopestyle, big air, knuckle huck, street style | Verified: 4 X Games medals, Beijing 2022 Olympic finalist, 3 World Cup podiums | Current: Canadian national-team skier with Armada profile Buttermilk When The Wall Ride Became A Score Buttermilk was loud under January lights, the street-style rails shining through cold Aspen air. Olivia Asselin pressed into the wall ride, stayed compact through the metal, then snapped a backside 450 out while the landing snow sprayed behind her skis. X Games Aspen 2025 gave Asselin the clearest image of her current identity.... Read more on the Athlete page

S. Grand Prix history, and Main Park progression | Season: November to June in typical years | Best for: park riders, halfpipe skiers, spring crews, storm skiers, and athletes chasing repeatable West Coast training laps Eleven Thousand Feet Above The Eastern Sierra Mammoth Mountain rises to 11,053 feet above Mammoth Lakes, with a 7,953 foot base, 3,100 feet of vertical rise, and 3,500 plus skiable acres on the eastern side of California’s Sierra Nevada. That altitude is the first reason the resort matters to freeskiing.... Read more on the Location page

American action camera and snow filming brand | Founded 2002 by Nick Woodman | Known for: HERO cameras, MAX 360 capture, HyperSmooth stabilization, Quik editing, helmet mounts, chest mounts and ski pole POV systems | Focus: helping skiers, riders, athletes and film crews capture immersive first person skiing from resort laps to Freeride World Tour faces and backcountry film segments. 2002 surf frustration that became the default ski POV GoPro is not a ski manufacturer, crew or traditional film studio. It is an action camera brand that changed how skiing is recorded, shared and remembered.... Read more on the Sponsor page

Ski-focused follow-cam studio and social media channel | Led by filmmaker Andrew Gayda | Known for: ultra-close park follow cams, long flowing lines, raw snow sound, Cardrona edits, Mammoth clips, Stubai sessions, Mount Hood projects, Kimbo Sessions, SuperUnknown and athlete-led park content | Focus: bringing viewers inside modern freeskiing by skiing with the athlete instead of watching from the fence. Andrew Gayda and the follow-cam language behind HOTLAPS HOTLAPS is not a ski manufacturer, outerwear label, resort pass or traditional film studio. It is a ski media identity built around one of the most difficult and recognizable forms of modern freeski filming: the follow cam.... Read more on the Sponsor page

American ski film production studio | Conceived in 1999 by Josh Berman and based in Denver | Known for: annual freeski films, SuperUnknown, Romance, Turbo, Refresh, Pleasure, Zig Zag and Full Circle | Focus: documenting freestyle skiing with rider first cinematography, street creativity, park progression, backcountry travel and a talent pipeline that keeps new voices visible. 1999 Denver origins and the camera pointed at newschool skiing Level 1 is one of the defining production studios in freeskiing. Conceived in 1999 by Josh Berman, the company was created to document the rise of freestyle skiing at the exact moment twin tips, terrain parks, urban rails and newschool style were changing the sport.... Read more on the Sponsor page

American energy drink and action-sports sponsor | Launched in 2002 by Hansen Natural | Known for: black-and-green claw logo, X Games visibility, Monster Army, freeski athletes, street edits, park contests and backcountry film projects | Focus: funding athletes, amplifying ski media and turning freestyle, freeride and youth culture into a global sports platform. 2002 cans, black-and-green branding and the rise of the claw Monster Energy is not a ski manufacturer, crew or film studio, but it has become one of the most visible sponsor brands in modern freeskiing. Launched by Hansen Natural in 2002, the brand entered action sports with a loud identity: black cans, green claw marks, heavy event branding and a marketing language built around intensity rather than traditional beverage advertising.... Read more on the Sponsor page