Pat Goodnough - Off The Leash Video Edition (2024)

Profile and significance

Pat Goodnough is a Colorado-based freeski rider whose career traces the evolution of park and urban/street skiing from the mid-2000s forum era to today’s film-first landscape. Long associated with Armada Skis and visible in projects alongside Tanner Hall, he built his name on Summit County park laps at Breckenridge and Keystone, then carried that polish into rail-heavy contests and rider-driven films. Goodnough isn’t a medals-and-ranking storyline; his impact comes from the way he made technical rails and clear jump axes read at real speed, whether on a televised street course or in compact, replayable web segments.

Two touchstones bookend his public arc. Early features and Level 1 spring shoots put him on the map as a Breck/Keystone stalwart, while Armada’s “Project Pat” edits—capped by “Project Pat 2.0” in 2021—reintroduced a wider audience to a rider whose style had matured without losing edge. Between those markers, he became a reliable presence in Tanner Hall’s film runs, from “Triumph” and “Here After” to the Summit County–shot “Eternal” and the later “XL” release, cementing his status as a go-to collaborator when a segment needs technical credibility and smooth continuity.

Competitive arc and key venues

Goodnough’s competition story lives where rails and creativity are the headliners. He cut his teeth at War of Rails, Bear Mountain’s freestyle proving ground, going head-to-head with some of the most accomplished jib skiers on the planet at Bear Mountain. The format—fast-paced, transfer-heavy, with lines built to reward commitment—fit his strengths. He later carried the same instincts into Dew Tour’s Streetstyle offerings, where conservative approach angles, decisive lock-ins and momentum management are the difference between a make and a missed round.

Venue choice explains the consistency. Long, groomed lines at Breckenridge and Keystone taught him to keep runs alive after small mistakes. Oregon’s year-round rhythm at Timberline and Mt. Hood Meadows supplied the repetition that turns both-way spins and pretzel exits into muscle memory. When the cameras rolled for Summit County-based shoots, those habits translated into street segments where the first clean hit had to be the keeper.

How they ski: what to watch for

Goodnough skis with economy and intent. On rails, he favors a centered stance and quiet shoulders, keeping spin-ons, swaps and pretzel exits deliberate rather than forced. Approach angles stay conservative up to the moment of commitment; lock-ins ride through kinks and small gaps, and exits land with glide so the next feature still has room to breathe. The result is continuity on multi-rail decks—nothing dies on the flat, and the ender can still carry meaningful rotation.

On jumps—whether a compact step-down in the streets or a spring booter—he emphasizes axis clarity and grab duration. Grabs go in early and stay there, making rotation readable at broadcast speed and on raw film. He scales spin to the day’s speed window instead of forcing late corks, which is why his heaviest clips look inevitable rather than lucky. If you’re learning to evaluate freeskiing, his runs are a case study in how small, consistent decisions add up to high-scoring, rewatchable lines.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Most of Goodnough’s progression is on camera, where the constraints are real: short in-runs, imperfect landings, limited light. His segments with Tanner Hall and Armada show the same repeatable process—scout, measure, test speed, adjust angles, and commit only when the make will cut clean—applied across backcountry step-downs, city rails and resort features. That discipline made him a trusted collaborator for projects like “Triumph,” “Here After,” “Eternal,” and “XL,” in which his clips connect scenes and keep a film’s pacing intact.

The influence is practical as much as cultural. In Summit County he became shorthand for how to turn everyday parks into durable footage, and his street appearances reminded younger riders that clarity—held grabs, tidy axes, stable landings—travels better than one-off Hail Marys. He helped anchor an era when many competition skiers took cues from web films, bringing park precision to urban textures and back again.

Geography that built the toolkit

Summit County formed the base layer: high-frequency laps at Breckenridge and Keystone built speed control and run construction under changing light and snow. Summer blocks on Mount Hood—glacier mornings at Timberline, midwinter variety at Mt. Hood Meadows—added the repetition that makes difficult tricks look casual. Trips to Southern California for War of Rails at Bear Mountain tested those habits on transfer-heavy builds. Stitch the three together and you get a toolkit that reads the same on a handrail at dusk and under bright spring sun.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Goodnough’s long association with Armada Skis—including the brand’s outerwear years—matches his style: true-twin shapes mounted near center for both-way spins and stable switch landings, with balanced swing weight for long rail slides. Eyewear support from SPY Optic has been visible around his Summit County and Mt. Hood seasons. The transferable gear lessons are simple. Keep a consistent tune with a careful detune at contact points to reduce hang-ups on steel without dulling pop for lip-ons. Choose boots with progressive forward flex and firm heel hold so landings finish stacked when the snow is fast or chattery. Set bindings for predictable release across repeated impacts. Predictable, neutral, and repeatable is the recipe—and it’s the backbone of his park and street output.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Pat Goodnough matters because he made modern freeskiing easier to read without making it easy. His lines teach momentum management on rails, early-and-held grabs on jumps, and calm upper-body mechanics that keep axes obvious at real speed. For viewers, his parts in Armada and Tanner Hall projects are the kind of clips you save and replay when you want a reference for clean execution. For skiers building their own segments, his approach is a blueprint: measure the spot, pick tricks you can reproduce when speed changes, and let clarity—not chaos—carry the day.