schøneben

Profile and significance

Alek Solberg is a park and street-focused freeski rider rooted in the Norwegian scene, part of the new wave of creative jib skiers who are building their name more through web edits, crew projects and alternative contests than through traditional World Cup circuits. He appears as one of the riders in the Capeesh crew’s “Schøneben” project, a high-profile edit filmed during a team retreat in Austria and tied to the long-term filming for Ethan Cook’s movie “Catpiss,” which immediately put him on the radar of dedicated freeski fans following that crew’s output.

Alongside his film work, Solberg is also an am-team rider for the fashion-driven Capeesh brand, officially welcomed to the team in early 2025, which further positions him as part of a carefully curated group of jib and style specialists rather than a broad, results-only roster. His name pops up across core media and social channels, from Norwegian freestyle posts to international park accounts, signalling that he is an emerging skier whose influence comes from style, spot choice and crew association as much as from any leaderboard.

Competitive arc and key venues

Unlike athletes who follow the classic FIS slopestyle pathway, Solberg’s competitive arc is shaped by projects such as Jib League and grassroots events in Norway. At Jib League, an alternative rail-heavy contest series, he has qualified out of the open jam and into the pro session, riding alongside established names in a format that rewards technical rail lines and creativity over rigid spin counts. That qualification is a strong marker of his level, since the event attracts many of the best jib-oriented skiers from Europe and North America.

On the home front, Solberg appears frequently around Trysil, Norway’s largest ski resort, which features multiple snowparks and a dense lift network that lend themselves to lap-heavy progression. Official resort and federation channels have highlighted park contests and podiums at Trysil, including images where national freeski accounts tag him, underlining his presence in the domestic competitive scene even if full result lists are less widely documented. The combination of Jib League exposure and recurring appearances at Norwegian resort events frames him as a rider who thrives in courses built around rails, side hits and creative features rather than in purely jump-driven formats.

Beyond Norway, his edits point to important international venues in his development. In “TRYSIL SYMPHONY,” a park edit hosted on a core freeski video platform, he features in a short project filmed over a week in Trysil, while another edit, “Slushy Strike,” captures a trip to the long, feature-rich park lines of Absolut Park in Austria. These projects show how his skiing travels well from home snow to one of Europe’s most renowned freestyle resorts.

How they ski: what to watch for

Although Solberg is still early in his public career, the contexts where he shows up tell you a lot about how he skis. Capeesh projects such as “Schøneben” focus on creative jibbing on everything from standard park rails to roofs, bins and street furniture, and he fits comfortably into that environment, treating the whole landscape as a potential setup rather than just riding the obvious features. Clips from Austrian sessions at Absolut Park shared by park-focused social accounts highlight his ability to spin big while keeping a relaxed posture, with captions emphasising both rotation and style rather than just the trick name.

In park edits from Norway, his lines typically link multiple rail hits with jumps instead of treating them as separate tasks, a hallmark of riders who grew up thinking in “lines” rather than single-feature tricks. Watching his skiing, you are likely to see him enter rails confidently, hold slides or presses for longer than strictly necessary, and then exit with clean speed into the next feature. On jumps he tends to keep his movements compact and readable, focusing on smooth take-offs and controlled landings instead of exaggerated body language. For viewers, the key things to watch are how he uses speed between features and how he manages balance on rails that offer transfer or gap options.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Being part of the Capeesh crew and the broader “Catpiss” filming cycle means Solberg is working in an environment where the bar is set high, not just for tricks but for overall segment quality. Crews like this typically spend multiple seasons stacking clips for a single film, returning to the same spots in Austria, Norway and beyond until they get shots that stand up next to those of their most established riders. For a younger skier, keeping pace in that setting requires resilience: long days of hiking features, taking repeated impacts and dealing with the mental challenge of landing technical tricks with a camera running.

This filming-first path also shapes his influence. Instead of being known for a single contest run, Solberg’s reputation spreads through edits, social fragments and full-crew projects that get replayed all season by dedicated park skiers. When an edit like “Schøneben” gets covered by freeski media and culture sites, his name sits in the rider list next to big, well-known pros, which naturally makes younger viewers look him up, find his own edits and follow his progression from local park skier to recognised crew member. In that sense, his impact is already larger than his competition résumé might suggest.

Geography that built the toolkit

Geographically, Solberg’s skiing is anchored in Norway but extends into some of Europe’s most important park destinations. Trysil’s extensive network of lifts, varied snowparks and long winter season provide a natural training ground for park riders, with enough terrain variety to build both jump and rail skills on repeat. Regular features of his edits and tags indicate that he spends significant time here, building trick consistency in a resort environment designed for high-frequency laps.

Further south, Austria has become another key piece of his toolkit. Absolut Park in Flachauwinkl is known for its long lines, carefully shaped jumps and dense rail sections, giving him the opportunity to test lines that look and feel more like those in international contests and high-end content shoots. At the same time, the Capeesh crew’s filming retreats in Austria for “Schøneben” push him into more improvised, street-style setups around chalets and resort infrastructure. Add in occasional appearances in content linked to other European hotspots, and you get a skier who is comfortable adapting his park-driven skills to different types of snow, features and locations.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Public information about Solberg’s gear is limited, but one partnership stands out clearly: his place on the am roster for Capeesh, a fashion-oriented freeski brand that operates as much like a design house as a traditional outerwear company. Being chosen for that team suggests that his skiing and personal style align with a strong visual identity centred on rails, street spots and creative park lines. Capeesh pieces are built with frequent contact with metal and hardpack in mind, so durability and freedom of movement are likely priorities in his outerwear choices.

For progressing skiers, the practical lesson is less about copying exact products and more about matching gear to the kind of skiing you want to do. Solberg’s path—heavy on rails, edits and alternative contests—implies a setup built around twin-tip park skis with a flex that allows for presses and butters but still supports bigger impacts, boots that offer solid foot hold for precise edging on rails, and clothing that you are happy to wear all day in both resort parks and more improvised urban setups. His example shows that having a clear identity in how you ski and present yourself can be just as important as the technical details of your kit.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans who follow modern freeski culture care about Alek Solberg because he represents the kind of rider who keeps the park and street side of the sport moving forward beneath the surface of mainstream coverage. He is part of a carefully selected crew, visible in a well-received Austrian edit, active in Jib League sessions and present in independent projects that circulate widely among core audiences. That combination makes him one of the young names to track if you want to understand where jib-driven freeskiing is heading in Scandinavia and central Europe.

For progressing skiers, his trajectory is particularly relatable. Instead of chasing only big federated contests, he builds his profile through consistent filming, strong appearances in alternative formats and a clear stylistic direction that fits with a brand like Capeesh. Watching his edits from Trysil and Austria, and following his role in crew projects, you can see a realistic pathway: focus on your local parks, find a crew that shares your vision, and use smaller edits and creative events as stepping stones toward bigger projects. In that sense, Alek Solberg’s story is less about instant stardom and more about steadily earning a place in the crews and films that define the future of freeski culture.

Profile and significance

Daniel “Dani” Bacher is an Austrian freeski standout whose rapid rise from the Stubai Valley to the sport’s biggest stages made him one of Europe’s most closely watched slopestyle and big air riders. Born in 2004 and based around Innsbruck, he represents Austria’s A-Team and TU Innsbruck in park-and-pipe disciplines, translating junior promise into senior-level hardware with uncommon speed. The headline results arrived early and emphatically: a Big Air bronze at X Games Aspen 2024 at Buttermilk, a World Cup podium with second place at Big Air Chur in October 2023, and Olympic starts at Beijing 2022. Add in double silver medals at the 2021 Junior World Championships and solid Youth Olympic Games finishes in 2020, and the picture is clear: Bacher is a proven contest closer with a style the camera loves and judges reward.

Equally important is how those results were earned. Bacher’s calling card is “playful power”—tail-butter initiations into high-value doubles, precise grabs held long enough to stabilize axis, and a habit of using course architecture in surprising, judge-legible ways. That mix has carried him from local lines on Stubai Glacier to stadium-lit scaffolding and live broadcasts without losing the clarity that drew attention in the first place.

Competitive arc and key venues

Bacher’s pathway tracks cleanly through modern benchmarks. As a teenager he logged sixth in big air and seventh in slopestyle at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, then converted that momentum into two silver medals at Junior Worlds in 2021. The senior leap came fast: he qualified for Beijing 2022 at age 17, finishing 21st in big air and 17th in slopestyle in his Olympic debut. The following season opened with a breakthrough World Cup podium—second at the festival-style Big Air stop in Chur—before he stepped onto the biggest non-Olympic stage with bronze in X Games Big Air at Buttermilk in January 2024. The consistency across formats matters: stadium big air, long-panel slopestyle, and pressure-heavy finals have all yielded high-end runs.

Venues explain the shape of that résumé. Stubai’s autumn parks on Stubai Glacier provided early-season repetitions on large, cleanly shaped features, ideal for dialing speed and takeoff timing. The Chur big air—set in Switzerland’s oldest city—demanded precise approach mechanics on a single, consequential jump under lights and cameras. And Buttermilk, home of X Games, rewarded the full package: rail economy, directional variety on jumps, and the composure to adapt when the broadcast environment adds noise.

How they ski: what to watch for

Bacher’s skiing is instantly readable because he makes deliberate choices that keep a run’s shape intact. On rails, approaches are squared early and body position stays stacked, so lock-ins look decisive rather than dramatic and exits preserve speed into the next setup. On jumps, he favors measured spin speed and deep, stabilizing grabs that let him hold axis through the apex and land centered. The signatures that popped on his X Games bronze run—creative use of the lip with tail taps, and a switch leftside tail-butter double cork 1440 safety—show how he layers difficulty without sacrificing cadence. When he changes direction or stance, the line keeps breathing; there’s space between moves, which is why his runs look smooth to casual viewers while still scoring with technical panels.

Two tells help you evaluate a Bacher lap. First, the grab timing: he commits early and holds long enough to influence rotation, not just decorate it. Second, the way he “borrows” from buttered entries on the snow to set clean takeoffs for high-risk tricks. Those habits are portable across venues and conditions, which is why his contest skiing seems to travel well from one build to the next.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Bacher’s 2023–24 season highlighted composure as much as difficulty. In Aspen he mixed heavy tricks with showmanship—without letting novelty overwhelm execution—and even handled an in-run mishap without losing momentum in the overall performance narrative. That balance has helped him resonate beyond raw results sheets. Brands have taken notice—he rides for Armada Skis and appears on Monster Energy’s roster—and media coverage has emphasized that his creativity is anchored in fundamentals. For younger skiers, his approach validates a modern blueprint: rehearse clean mechanics at home, bring a distinct trick vocabulary to big builds, and let originality live inside a structured run rather than replacing it.

While contests are the spine of his career to date, Bacher’s clips also translate to film. Short pieces and team edits underline the same values—economical body position, held grabs, and smart speed checks—so his skiing remains watchable on replay without slow-motion crutches. That rewatchability is part of his influence; it turns “style” from a vibe into a set of teachable details.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place explains a lot about Bacher’s control. Growing up in the Stubai Valley meant frequent laps on the Stubai Glacier, where the early-season park is famous for consistent lips, honest speed, and firm landings that demand centered technique. Innsbruck’s scene adds dense repetition and community—athletes share lines, coaches emphasize detail, and the calendar offers frequent chances to scale tricks before winter arrives in full. When his schedule pulls him outward, those habits stick: in Chur he manages a single-feature spotlight; in Aspen at Buttermilk he sustains momentum across a deep, televised field.

That geographic loop—home repetitions on glacier parks, European city big airs, and North American major-event venues—shows up in how he visualizes courses. Speed control stays honest, trick choices fit the available runway, and landings arrive over the feet rather than as saves.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

With Armada Skis underfoot and Monster Energy support, Bacher’s kit reflects durability and predictable platform feel—exactly what repeated rail contact and high-risk jump attempts require. For progressing skiers, the actionable lessons are straightforward: choose a symmetrical or near-symmetrical park ski with reinforced edges and a mount point that supports presses without compromising takeoff stability; keep edges tuned to hold on steel but detuned at contact points to avoid surprise bites on swaps; and maintain fast bases so cadence doesn’t depend on perfect weather. Equipment won’t replace technique, but the right platform makes Bacher-style repeatability possible across long contest or filming days.

Beyond hardgoods, look at venue choices as part of the “kit.” Early laps on Stubai Glacier and big-event exposure at Buttermilk create a feedback loop: refine on consistent features, then test under pressure when lights and cameras add variables. That rhythm is a practical template for anyone trying to scale from local parks to international starts.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Dani Bacher matters because he blends creativity with contest-grade clarity. He’s already delivered at X Games, stood on a World Cup podium in Chur, and represented Austria at the Olympic Games—and he did it with runs that make sense in real time. For viewers, that means performances worth rewatching; for skiers, it offers a blueprint built on timing, held grabs, and momentum management rather than on single-use spectacle. If you follow freeski for slopestyle and big air that hold up long after the broadcast, keep Bacher on your radar—the toolkit is proven, and the ceiling is still rising.

Profile and significance

Édouard “Edjoy” Therriault is a Canadian freeski original from Lorraine, Québec, born in 2003, whose blend of creativity and big-ticket execution made him a fixture on World Cup broadcasts and a cult favorite in modern park skiing. After grabbing global attention with big air silver at the 2021 World Championships in Aspen, he added World Cup podiums in both slopestyle and big air, a start at the Olympic Winter Games, and multiple appearances at the X Games. In June 2025, still only 22, he announced he was stepping away from the World Cup start gate to pursue film-forward, art-driven skiing—leaning into the same “frequenski” ethos that has always set him apart. His partners mirror that identity: he rides for Atomic and pours creative energy into projects with Monster Energy, streetwear collective Capeesh Supply, and Québec core retailer D-Structure.

Therriault’s nickname hints at the program. “Edjoy” is both a persona and an instruction: make skiing read like live music. The approach shows up in trick selection, in how he punctuates lines, and in edits that mix painting, filming, and sound design. He is a true crossover—contest-tested yet unmistakably an artist on skis—whose output resonates with park skiers, judges, and casual viewers in equal measure.

Competitive arc and key venues

The progression beats are clear. In 2019 he won junior world slopestyle gold at Sweden’s Kläppen, a venue renowned for shaping world-class park skiers. Two seasons later, at Aspen’s Buttermilk, he landed a clutch final-run switch double bio 1800 to claim silver at the FIS World Championships—Canada’s best big air result at that level at the time. He followed with a first World Cup podium in slopestyle at Font-Romeu in January 2022 and then a big air silver on the stadium jump at Beijing’s Shougang Park in December 2023. Along the way he earned starts at the X Games in Aspen, a setting that rewards both amplitude and personality.

These sites are more than pins on a map. Kläppen compresses decision-making into clean rail work and measured jump speed. Buttermilk demands multi-feature flow under cameras and crowds. Font-Romeu’s Pyrenean light and rhythm emphasize landings that preserve speed. Shougang’s permanent city big air, framed by repurposed steelworks, tests commitment under pressure. As he transitions from tour stops to film missions, expect those habits to translate: precise approaches, trick variety with purpose, and outruns that stay quiet without showy recoveries.

How they ski: what to watch for

Edjoy’s trademark is timing. He commits to grabs early—safety, tail, or blunt to taste—and holds them long enough to calm the axis and keep the shoulders stacked. It’s why his spins, even at 18 and 19 rotations, read as deliberate rather than frantic. Switch entries arrive with proper drift control, not skid; takeoffs are tall and patient; landings finish over the feet with speed intact. On rails he prefers decisive lock-ins and exits that protect line momentum. Nothing feels accidental, yet nothing feels over-coached—the rare balance of skate-inspired looseness and contest-grade precision.

When evaluating a Therriault lap, look for spacing. He leaves room between moves so each trick sets up the next one. Look also at how the grab choice stabilizes the spin instead of decorating it; that discipline keeps axes clean even when the rotation count climbs. The effect is skiing that plays beautifully at normal speed and rewards frame-by-frame rewatching.

Resilience, filming, and influence

World-level highs came early, but the story since 2024 has been autonomy. Injury spells and the grind of qualification reshaped his priorities, culminating in a 2025 decision to step away from World Cup big air and slopestyle. Rather than soft-pedaling, he redirected the same intensity toward projects that merge street features, backcountry booters, and visual art. The result is a rider who still treats difficulty as a canvas, just without the clock. Because he communicates his process—why a certain grab choice steadies a bio axis, how to build speed into short landings—his clips double as teaching material. Younger skiers imitate his patience into lips and his habit of finishing tricks early enough to ride away with composure.

Influence also comes from tone. Edjoy champions style as substance, not garnish. The mantra—be your own jazz—encourages skiers to choose tricks that suit the venue, then execute them with rhythm, not panic. That perspective travels well, whether the setting is an urban kink in Montréal, a spring line on Whistler’s public park, or a single-hit stadium jump.

Geography that built the toolkit

Therriault grew up lapping the Laurentians at Tremblant, where cold Quebec nights and compact snow teach honest edge angles and measured speed checks. As his calendar expanded, the places became teachers: junior world gold at Kläppen reinforced variety and flow; Worlds silver at Buttermilk validated composure on camera; a first World Cup slopestyle podium at Font-Romeu rewarded terrain-reading in variable light; big air silver at Shougang Park proved he could deliver under stadium pressure. Those venues—and the communities surrounding them—explain why his skiing feels centered no matter the build.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Edjoy’s current hardware is straightforward and functional. With Atomic he uses park-capable platforms built for pop and predictable swing weight, ideal for early-grab, measured-spin skiing. Energy and production backing from Monster Energy keeps the cameras rolling when a project needs multiple build days. Apparel from Capeesh Supply and shop support via D-Structure tie him to the creative, rider-run side of the sport.

For skiers trying to borrow from his playbook, the actionable notes are simple. Choose a symmetrical or near-symmetrical park ski and mount so butters and presses feel natural without sacrificing stability on takeoff. Keep edges sharp enough to hold on steel but soften contact points to avoid surprise bites. Pick goggle lenses that preserve contrast at dusk, typical of evening sessions at city-style venues like Chur and in flat light common to alpine bowls. Most importantly, treat the grab as a control input: locking it early stabilizes the axis and keeps landings clean.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Édouard Therriault matters because he reconciles freeskiing’s two big impulses—art and sport—without diluting either. He owns a world championship medal, World Cup podiums, and Olympic and X Games credentials, yet he’s equally committed to film segments that advance style, sound, and story. The skiing itself is readable at full speed, the choices are intentional, and the execution holds up under the brightest lights. Whether you watch for slopestyle craft, big air nerve, or the next wave of street-influenced edits, Edjoy offers a blueprint: creativity first, mechanics tight, momentum preserved. That combination is why he sits near the center of freeski culture even as he steps away from ranking points and leans harder into the work that made his name.

Profile and significance

Ferdinand “Ferdi” Dahl is a Norwegian freeski original whose blend of contest pedigree and culture-building has made him one of the most influential park and street skiers of his generation. Born in 1998 and raised around Oslo, he broke through on the biggest stages with multiple medals at the X Games—slopestyle bronze in 2019, slopestyle silver in 2021, and slopestyle bronze again in 2023—while stacking nine FIS World Cup podiums and two Olympic appearances, including an eighth place in slopestyle at PyeongChang 2018. Those results alone would secure his status. But Dahl’s impact extends further: he co-founded the rider-led Jib League series that reframed what a freeski “contest” could be, and he channels his design sensibility into the apparel label Capeesh Supply. The result is a rare dual footprint—elite competitor and thoughtful scene shaper—whose skiing reads clearly at full speed and whose projects elevate the wider culture.

Today, Dahl’s priorities span performance and stewardship. You’ll still see him under stadium lights at Buttermilk in Aspen during X Games week or dropping mid-winter edits from Europe and North America. You’ll also see him building spaces for others to shine, whether that’s hosting a jam-style Jib League stop with fellow founders James “Woodsy” Woods and Øystein Bråten, or releasing small-batch garments that carry Capeesh’s playful, skaterly aesthetic. He skis for Vishnu Freeski and rides with Monster Energy, a sponsor mix that mirrors his commitment to rider-run creativity and broadcast-level execution.

Competitive arc and key venues

Dahl’s contest résumé maps the modern freeski ladder. Early Europa Cup and World Cup starts led to a breakout Olympic debut at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, staged at Korea’s Phoenix Park, where he placed eighth in men’s slopestyle. World Cup consistency followed, culminating in nine podiums and back-to-back seasons ranked among the very best in slopestyle overall. In Aspen, the X Games medals arrived across four winters, validating a trick vocabulary and run composition that judges reward and fans replay.

Venue context explains why his skiing travels so well. Buttermilk rewards multi-feature flow and line design under heavy camera pressure; Phoenix Park’s Olympic stage compresses everything into immaculate takeoffs and unforgiving landings; Austria’s in-city Nordkette Skyline Park demands cadence on dense rail panels; Sweden’s Kläppen serves long spring laps where measured speed and early commitments separate a good run from a great one. As Dahl pivoted some focus toward film and rider-led events, he didn’t abandon competition; he reframed it. Jib League’s jam format—skier voting, style-forward criteria—moved the needle while keeping the difficulty and clarity that defined his World Cup and X Games success.

How they ski: what to watch for

Dahl’s skiing is a case study in readable difficulty. On rails, approaches are squared early, body position stays stacked, and lock-ins look decisive rather than dramatic. Surface swaps resolve cleanly; presses have shape instead of wobble; exits protect momentum into the next setup. On jumps, he favors measured spin speed and deep, functional grabs—safety, tail, or blunt held long enough to stabilize the axis. That early grab timing keeps shoulders quiet and landings centered, so the outrun breathes instead of becoming a last-second save. Directional variety—forward and switch, left and right—shows up without breaking cadence because every choice serves the line.

Two tells help you “read” a Dahl run in real time. First, spacing. He leaves room between moves, so each trick creates setup for the next one rather than stealing from it. Second, grab discipline. The hand finds the ski early and stays there long enough to influence rotation, not just decorate the frame. That’s why even his bigger spins look calm, and why editors can present his clips at normal speed without resorting to slow-motion rescue.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Longevity at the top level requires adaptation. After years of traveling the World Cup and major-event circuit, Dahl broadened his canvas: spring projects in the Alps, on-camera head-to-heads in SLVSH games, and the co-creation of Jib League with Woods and Bråten. The through-line is composure. Whether the setting is a single-hit scaffolding jump, a multi-feature slopestyle course, or a dense rail garden at Nordkette, he protects speed, commits to control inputs early, and finishes tricks with enough time to ride away clean. That reliability earns trust—from judges tallying slopestyle scores, from peers voting in jam formats, and from filmmakers who want clips that hold up after ten replays.

Influence shows up far beyond podium photos. Jib League’s format centers skiers as voters and storytellers, and its stops have become required viewing for anyone who cares how style and difficulty can coexist. Capeesh, meanwhile, exports the same ethos via apparel drops and creative videos—small teams, rider agency, humor intact. Add in years of high-profile clips and a deep library of World Cup runs archived at Olympics.com, and you have a body of work that doubles as instruction: honest speed, early commitments, centered landings.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place is the skeleton of Dahl’s skiing. Oslo’s compact hills and firm winter snow built edge honesty and quick decision-making; repeated laps discipline the feet and hands. The Alps supplied longer radii and faster in-runs, especially at Nordkette, where dense features reward timing and rail economy. Spring blocks at Kläppen layered in rhythm on creative setups and medium-to-large booters, and the annual pilgrimage to Buttermilk honed broadcast composure. On the Olympic stage at Phoenix Park, he proved those habits survive the brightest lights. Stitch those environments together and you get a toolkit that travels: protect momentum, manage spin speed with the grab, and keep the run’s shape intact from first rail to last landing.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Dahl’s current setup mirrors his philosophy. With Vishnu Freeski he rides a park-capable platform with balanced swing weight and reinforced edges that tolerate repeated rail contact without unpredictable flex. Energy and event support from Monster Energy keeps the spotlight on projects that showcase skier agency, while Capeesh Supply lets him translate taste into design. If you’re looking to borrow from his gear decisions, the lesson is category fit over model names: choose a symmetrical or near-symmetrical park ski, mount it so butters and presses feel natural without compromising takeoff stability, keep bases fast so cadence survives cold or salt, and tune edges to hold on steel yet soften contact points to avoid surprise bites on swaps. Equipment won’t replace timing, but the right platform makes good timing repeatable across long filming days and pressure-heavy finals.

Equally practical is how he structures a season. Early repetitions on consistent parks sharpen approach mechanics; jam-style events test composure under variable pace and crowd energy; and marquee weeks at places like Buttermilk demand the full package—rail clarity, directional variety on jumps, and airtight landings. That rhythm is a template ambitious riders can copy on the path from local edits to international relevance.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Ferdinand Dahl matters because he turns elite difficulty into clarity and then uses his platform to grow the culture around it. He owns multiple X Games medals, deep World Cup credentials, and Olympic finals experience, yet he’s just as committed to rider-run spaces like Jib League and to creative output through Capeesh. The skiing itself is easy to follow at normal speed because the mechanics are honest: early grab commitment, measured spin speed, and landings that preserve momentum for the next move. For viewers, that means segments worth replaying; for developing skiers, it offers a concrete checklist—square the approach, use the grab as a control input, finish the trick early, and let the line breathe. That combination of results, readability, and stewardship is why Ferdi sits at the center of freeski culture today, whether the backdrop is an Olympic venue, a televised course in Colorado, or a rail garden above Innsbruck.

Profile and significance

Jackson “Tito” Jenkins is a Utah-born freeski athlete and street-focused park skier whose name has been circulating in core ski circles since he was a kid. Raised around the Wasatch and now based in the Park City zone, he built a reputation early as a fearless jibber with a raw, DIY attitude, the kind of skier who would show up in broken boots and nearly edgeless skis and still look comfortable on handrails and kinked features. Today he is best known as part of the new-wave jib generation connected with the Capeesh crew, a finalist for Level 1’s SuperUnknown 21, and an athlete riding custom boots with DaleBoot. His path is defined less by traditional contest circuits and more by films, crew edits and an unwavering focus on rail and street skiing progression.

Jenkins has grown from a local “kid who slays” on community forums into a fixture in some of the most talked-about contemporary jib projects. His name shows up in rider lists for independent films and crew edits, from spring park movies to grittier urban-style projects, and he sits in that sweet spot where insiders know exactly who he is while the broader freeski audience is just starting to catch on. For ski fans who care about creative rails, inventive spots and the culture around modern jib skiing, he is one of the young names to watch.

Competitive arc and key venues

Jenkins’ story starts in the local-contest trenches. As a pre-teen he was already turning heads at grassroots events along the Wasatch Front, including a second-place finish at the 2013 SLUG Games “Winter Wizardry” park contest at Brighton Resort, a classic Utah rail-jam style event. Around the same time, discussions on core freeski forums highlighted him as an 11-year-old from Ogden charging rails and jumps with a level of comfort far beyond his age, hinting at a trajectory that could stretch well into his twenties if he stayed healthy and motivated.

Instead of moving into structured slopestyle World Cup programs, Jenkins leaned further into the film and crew environment. That decision paid off in 2024 when he was selected as a finalist for Level 1’s SuperUnknown 21, held at Mammoth Mountain, a proving ground where the global jib community watches very closely to see who will define the next wave. Around the same period, he appeared in “GUNS FOR HIRE”, a spring film shot at Brighton Resort, Park City Mountain and Alta Ski Area, and joined the Capeesh crew on projects that included summer sessions at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and the multi-year Schøneben project leading into Ethan Cook’s film “Catpiss”. These venues—Brighton’s dense parks, Park City’s lines, Alta’s side-hits and Hood’s summer glaciers—form the backbone of his competitive and creative development.

How they ski: what to watch for

Jenkins’ skiing is built around a strong jib toolkit and an eye for lines that feel satisfying to watch on repeat. On rails he favours technicality delivered with calm body language rather than flailing to force tricks around. Expect to see him lock into kinks with solid edge control, hold presses longer than seems comfortable and link multiple swaps and direction changes while still exiting clean and fast. His consistency on metal allows him to experiment with unusual features—short down rails into walls, close-out options, transfers between parallel rails and improvised setups that appear only once in a spot.

On jumps, his trick selection sits firmly in the modern jib canon: spins with authority but not gratuitous spin count, grabs that are clearly visible and often tweaked, and a tendency to treat takeoffs as a canvas for creativity. Side-hits, rollers and quarterpipe-style transitions bring out some of his most characteristic movements, from nose-butter entries into spins to subtle body rotations that let him land looking relaxed instead of rushed. For viewers watching his clips from SuperUnknown, Capeesh edits or Utah park projects, the details worth studying are how early he sets his spin, how quietly his upper body behaves on rails and the way he carries speed from one feature to the next.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Part of Jenkins’ lore comes from his early years skiing on gear that most riders would consider unworkable—stories circulate of him lacing broken Raichle boots together and riding skis with almost no edges left, still finding ways to attack rails with confidence. That rough-around-the-edges phase forged a resilience that shows up in his current work: he is comfortable putting in long days on park laps, street sessions and travel days, knowing that the final film segment will only include a fraction of the attempts and hours invested.

His progression into films like “GUNS FOR HIRE” and his presence in Capeesh projects, including the Schøneben edit and the forthcoming “Catpiss” movie tour, place him inside a creative ecosystem where riders, filmers and designers are constantly pushing each other. These projects reach audiences through premiere tours in cities like Salt Lake City, Montreal, Copenhagen and Innsbruck, and through digital releases that circulate widely among core freeski fans. Jenkins’ role in these crews is not just about tricks; it is about contributing a consistent, recognisable flavour of skiing that elevates the whole project and inspires younger park skiers who see a path from local edits to international film credits.

Geography that built the toolkit

Growing up in northern Utah with a hometown connection to Ogden and a riding base around Park City and the Cottonwood canyons has given Jenkins a powerful geographic advantage. The daily cycle of lapping Brighton Resort, sessioning parks at Park City Mountain and exploring natural jibs and side-hits around Alta Ski Area creates an environment where creativity is almost unavoidable. Short, feature-dense laps and big winter snow totals mean he can try tricks repeatedly in a single day and experiment with new lines whenever storm cycles reshape the terrain.

Summer extends the toolkit. At Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood he joins the migration of park skiers who live on salted lanes and glacier-side rope tows, stacking film clips when most resorts are long closed. Internationally, his involvement with Capeesh takes him to European locations such as Schøneben, where the crew is known for turning everything—from lift infrastructure to parking-lot features—into a potential spot. The result is a rider who is comfortable whether the feature is a perfectly cut park rail, a sketchy stair set in town or a snow-starved early-season setup built by friends.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Equipment-wise, one of the most distinctive relationships in Jenkins’ setup is his connection with DaleBoot, a company specialising in fully custom ski boots. Custom-fitted shells and liners are a significant upgrade from the improvised gear of his early days, giving him the foot hold and flex pattern necessary to land big rail tricks, gap onto features and absorb heavy impacts without sacrificing comfort. For jib-focused skiers, that choice underlines how crucial boot fit is for control on metal and hardpack takeoffs.

On the softgoods and vibe side, he appears regularly with the Capeesh crew, whose fashion-house approach to outerwear and streetwear matches the aesthetic of their skiing. While not every viewer will want or need that exact kit, the takeaway is that gear should support how you ski and how you move through the park: durable pants and jackets that survive close contact with rails, gloves and helmets that can handle repeated impacts, and skis that balance flex for presses with enough backbone for bigger features. Jenkins’ evolution from taped-together boots to tailored equipment illustrates how smart gear choices can unlock more ambitious projects without compromising style.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans care about Jackson “Tito” Jenkins because he represents a pure expression of the jib-scene dream: a kid from Utah who grew up lapping local parks, earning respect in small grassroots contests and internet edits, and then parlaying that dedication into spots in respected films and a SuperUnknown final. His skiing speaks directly to park rats and aspiring street skiers who want to see tricks and spots that feel attainable with hard work rather than just circus-level rotations on the biggest jumps in the world.

For progressing skiers, his career path offers a realistic blueprint. You do not need a national-team pipeline or a perfect training centre to matter in freeski culture; you need creativity, time on snow, a crew that pushes you and the willingness to build your own features when necessary. Watching Jenkins in Utah parks, on Mt. Hood glaciers or in Capeesh’s European segments, it is clear that his influence comes from the lines he chooses and the way he skis them, not just the trick list. That combination of authenticity, resilience and steadily rising profile is exactly why he deserves a place on the radar of anyone who loves modern freeskiing, especially on the park, rail and street side of the sport.

Profile and significance

Joona Kangas is one of the clearest examples of how modern freeskiing can blend contest success with a deep film and street pedigree. Born in 1997 and raised in Finland, he came up through local hills like Himos before settling in Lapland and riding for Levi Ski Club. That northern upbringing, with long winters and floodlit parks, shaped a skier who would go on to win the 2014 FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships in men’s slopestyle and later represent Finland at the 2018 Winter Olympics. For many fans, though, his legacy is just as tied to the gritty, DIY style of the Keesh collective and a steady stream of influential video parts.

Within the freeski community, Kangas is regarded as a style leader rather than a numbers-only contest machine. His best competition years overlapped with his rise online: SLVSH games, Keeshlife edits, and later full parts like “Land of the Darker Sun” turned him into a reference point for skiers looking for a loose, creative but highly controlled approach. That combination of technical depth and effortless-looking flow keeps his clips circulating on social feeds long after individual contest results fade from memory.

Today, Kangas balances life as a professional skier with business studies, using his time at Häme University of Applied Sciences to build skills that support his career off the hill. Supported by multiple international sponsors and still active at the top level of freestyle, he has shifted toward “skiing on his own terms”—fewer World Cup starts, more filming, more invitational events, and more influence on how freeski style evolves.

Competitive arc and key venues

Kangas’ competitive arc moved fast. After dominating junior ranks in Finland, he broke through internationally by winning the 2014 Junior World Championship slopestyle title in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy. That result announced him as one of the strongest young riders in Europe, especially impressive given that it came in only his first handful of FIS events. It also set up his move onto the World Cup circuit, where he began to test his rail-dominant, creative approach against the best in the world.

On the FIS World Cup tour he stacked a series of strong showings in slopestyle and big air. Key highlights include a seventh place in slopestyle at Seiser Alm, Italy, and a ninth place in slopestyle at Quebec City, Canada, in 2017—both results that put him within touching distance of the podium at fully stacked events. An eleventh-place finish at Snowmass, USA, early in the 2017–18 season confirmed that his run construction could earn serious scores when he held it together top to bottom. Those results, combined with his world junior title, were enough to secure Olympic selection.

At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Kangas was the only male slopestyle skier representing Finland. The course favored big, risky rail approaches and heavy trick density—conditions that matched his strengths on paper—but he was unable to land the full package in qualification and finished outside the final. Even so, his presence at the Games, backed by his World Cup top-10s, cemented his status as a world-level athlete before he chose to step away from full-time FIS competition in 2019.

Since then, “events” for Kangas have meant another kind of stage. You are more likely to see him at Jib League stops, SuperUnknown sessions, or invited shootings in parks like Kläppen than at a standard open field World Cup. A 2025 profile from Häme University of Applied Sciences highlighted that he was named best male skier at a SuperUnknown gathering in California, underlining that his peers still view him as one of the sport’s most complete riders even outside the conventional ranking system.

How they ski: what to watch for

Kangas’ skiing is built around three pillars: powerful rail precision, relaxed airtime, and a constant search for slightly different takeoffs and landings. On rails, he is known for centered, locked-on slides and presses that look casual but leave no margin for error. Watch how he uses surface swaps, quick direction changes and subtle nose or tail pressure to create lines that zigzag across an entire rail section instead of simply ticking off one feature at a time.

On jumps, the same attitude shows up as smooth, fully held grabs and spin directions that avoid the obvious choice. Switch takeoffs, off-axis rotations and late tweaks are common in his clips, but they rarely feel forced. Instead, he rides with a medium-high speed and lets the trick unfold slowly in the air, often holding a grab from the lip almost all the way to the landing. That timing, combined with soft, controlled landings, is a big part of why fellow skiers talk about his “feel” for snow as much as his trick list.

Street and backcountry shots reveal another dimension: Kangas is comfortable adapting his park skill set to handrails, wallrides and natural trannies. In these settings he often adds small but memorable details—ollies into kinks, nose-butter entries onto natural rolls, or little drifted pivots on the way out of a pillow line—that reward slow-motion rewatching as much as first impressions.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Choosing to step away from the structured life of the Finnish national team after years of investment took both courage and clarity. Kangas has described the 2012–2019 national-team period, which included Junior Worlds gold and an Olympic start, as a crucial education—but he also wanted more creative control over his skiing. Since that transition he has built a career around projects that reflect his own taste: smaller crews, longer stays in one zone, and an emphasis on filming rather than chasing ranking points.

“Land of the Darker Sun,” released in 2021, is one of the cleanest windows into this phase. Shot in Finnish Lapland, the Swiss Alps and Riksgränsen in Sweden, the short film strings together street, backcountry and resort features into a cohesive portrait of how he likes to ski when there is no start gate involved. Later appearances in Keesh full movies and in K2 team projects like “Rikka,” filmed in Tokyo and Hokkaido, pushed his profile beyond the core freeski audience and underlined his value as a film skier capable of holding down full segments, not just one-off shots.

That filming focus has also made him influential as a stylist. Younger Finnish riders and international park skiers study his Keesh and K2 segments not only for the tricks, but for choices of speed, body position, and how he uses terrain that other people might ignore. In an era when many contest runs look similar, Kangas has become an example of how to keep freeskiing’s improvisational, playful roots alive even at a very high technical level.

Geography that built the toolkit

Kangas’ skiing is inseparable from the places that shaped him. Early days at Himos and other central Finnish resorts introduced him to park skiing on compact, efficient hills where creativity matters more than vertical drop. A family move north brought him to Levi Ski Resort, inside the Arctic Circle, where he still calls home. Long winters, floodlit slopes and the repetition of lapping the same lines night after night helped him develop the consistency you see in his competition runs and film segments.

From there his circle of “home” hills expanded: Finnish resorts like Sappee hosted national-level slopestyle events he won in his youth, while European venues such as Font Romeu, Seiser Alm and Silvaplana became regular stops during his World Cup years. Backcountry trips to Lapland and heli or touring days in the high Alps introduced him to bigger terrain, which now features heavily in his film parts. More recently, projects like “Rikka” have taken him to the deep snow and compact lift-served zones of Hokkaido as well as urban backdrops in Tokyo, further rounding out the environments where his skiing feels at home.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

For viewers who also ski, Kangas’ choice of equipment offers useful cues. As a long-time athlete for K2 Skis, he rides playful, freestyle-oriented skis with enough width to feel comfortable both in parks and in softer snow. Paired with bindings from Marker, his setups are built to handle heavy rail impacts, side hits, and bigger step-down jumps. Soft but supportive boots and a progressive mounting point help explain why his switch landings and butters look so natural even on variable landings.

Outerwear and streetwear from Capeesh Supply reflects the same aesthetic as his skiing: relaxed, functional, and clearly rooted in skate and street culture. While individual gear choices will depend on a skier’s local conditions, riders looking to emulate Kangas’ feel should pay attention to how his setup supports both rail precision and all-mountain versatility. The balance he strikes—park-capable but still reliable for backcountry jumps and natural features—shows in how confidently he moves between urban spots, resort laps and powder.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

For casual viewers, Joona Kangas is simply enjoyable to watch: his tricks are big without looking anxious, his landings are soft, and his lines often include surprising details that make you rewind the clip. For core fans and up-and-coming skiers, he represents a path that values style, creativity and long-term love of the sport as much as podiums. He has proven that you can win world titles as a junior, make an Olympic team, and then deliberately shift focus toward filming, small-crew projects and building a sustainable life around skiing.

If you are a skier trying to progress in slopestyle, big air or urban skiing, Kangas is a particularly good study subject. Watch how he chooses tricks that he can land consistently rather than chasing the biggest possible rotation every time, how he keeps his shoulders calm over rails, and how often he uses speed and line choice—not just spin count—to stand out. Whether he is lapping Levi in midwinter darkness, exploring the high alpine, or drifting through Hokkaido powder with the K2 team, Joona Kangas continues to show that the most memorable freeskiing blends technical difficulty with personality and a clear sense of fun.

Profile and significance

Nikolay Jensen is a young Norwegian freeski athlete born in 2005 who is beginning to leave a clear trace in both the competition scene and the core film world. Competing under the banner of IL Heming, he focuses on slopestyle and big air, building FIS points and experience on European Cup and national-level courses while still in his teens. At the same time, his name appears in one of the most talked-about crew projects in recent years, signalling that he is not just a contest rider but also part of a creative movement in modern freeskiing.

Jensen is one of the younger faces in the Capeesh universe, riding alongside established names in the “schøneben” edit and in the build-up to the Ethan Cook film “Catpiss.” For fans following the new-wave jib and park scene, seeing his name listed next to heavy hitters in that crew marks him as an emerging skier with serious potential. He stands at the point where structured pathways from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation meet the looser, more expressive world of fashion-house crews, street missions and film-driven culture.

Competitive arc and key venues

On paper, Jensen’s competitive résumé is still in the early stages, but it already shows steady progression. The FIS database lists him as a Norwegian freeski athlete specialising in slopestyle and big air, with results from national events and European Cup stops. Recent seasons include starts in FIS slopestyle competitions at Geilo and Trysil as well as European Cup and European Cup Premium slopestyle events, plus big air appearances at the Norwegian National Championships. These starts are the standard building blocks for a young athlete trying to move from national scene to international relevance.

Venues matter because they shape the type of skiing an athlete learns to trust. Trysil, Norway’s largest ski resort and a long-time national freeski hub, has hosted several of Jensen’s slopestyle and big air events. The resort’s interconnected areas and dedicated snow parks give athletes long, feature-packed runs where they can test full contest lines. On the European side, his start list includes LAAX in Switzerland, a resort widely recognised for its world-class snowparks and major freestyle events. Combining Norwegian training hills, national-level courses and one of Europe’s most progressive park resorts gives him exposure to a wide range of jump shapes and rail setups while he is still developing his competitive identity.

How they ski: what to watch for

Although detailed trick lists are less documented for an emerging rider than for long-established stars, there are patterns you can watch for in Jensen’s skiing. In Capeesh projects and social clips tied to “schøneben,” he appears in lines built around rails, wallrides and improvised features rather than classic stadium-style big air only. The crew is known for jibbing everything from standard park rails to chalet roofs and street furniture, and Jensen’s skiing fits that approach: he looks comfortable moving from a clean rail hit into a side-hit or wall feature, keeping runs playful instead of rigid.

On slopestyle courses, that same mindset translates into how he links features. Instead of treating each rail or jump as an isolated job, he works to carry speed and flow from one to the next, blending competition structure with a crew-edit mentality. It is less about the single heaviest spin and more about how the whole line reads from top to bottom. For viewers, the key details to watch are his body position on rails, how early he sets rotational movements, and how he uses small terrain changes between features to add style without sacrificing control.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Jensen’s inclusion in Capeesh projects is significant for such a young athlete. The crew has built a strong reputation as both a clothing label and a creative outlet, curating a tight team that feeds a steady stream of edits and now a full-length film. Sharing screen time with established names in “schøneben” and contributing footage toward “Catpiss” means that he is trusted to deliver clips that stand up next to some of the most respected jib skiers in the game. That is a different kind of pressure than a bib number, but it is pressure all the same.

Balancing filming and FIS events requires resilience. European Cup slopestyle stops can mean long travel days, changing weather and courses that evolve during training and competition. Filming missions, especially with a crew that looks for unconventional features, add heavy repetition and the mental toll of trying the same technical move until it is clean enough for the final cut. Even at this early stage, Jensen is learning to live in both worlds, and that experience should serve him well whether he leans more heavily into contests, films or a mix of both in the future.

Geography that built the toolkit

Jensen’s club, IL Heming, is based in Oslo and is one of Norway’s multi-sport institutions with long roots in skiing. Training through a club system like this typically means structured sessions, regular access to winter facilities and a culture that values skiing as a year-round focus rather than just a pastime. It also places him in a region where short, floodlit slopes and evening park laps are the norm, building the repetition and comfort on rails and jumps that modern slopestyle demands.

From that Oslo base, his competition schedule extends to larger destinations. Trysil’s extensive snow parks and variety of lines create a proving ground for contest-ready runs, while European trips to Trysil’s national-level setups and the big park infrastructure of LAAX expose him to international standards early. Filming retreats with the crew, such as the Austrian sessions that produced “schøneben,” further broaden that geographical toolkit by pushing him to adapt contest-informed technique to rooftops, urban approaches and offbeat transitions.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Public data does not yet list Jensen’s long-term ski and boot sponsors in detail, but one visible partnership is his association with Capeesh. The brand positions itself as a fashion house as much as a ski company, and its team riders are chosen as much for their creative approach as for any specific results sheet. For a young skier, being part of that environment means skiing in outerwear and streetwear designed around frequent contact with rails and concrete, where durability, freedom of movement and a cohesive aesthetic all matter.

For progressing skiers looking at his path, the equipment lesson is less about copying exact models and more about matching gear to goals. A solid twin-tip park ski with a flex that allows for presses and butters while still supporting bigger impacts, boots that hold the foot securely for rail precision, and outerwear that survives repeated falls on metal and snow are the essentials. Jensen’s mix of FIS events and crew filming shows that once those basics are in place, the real progress comes from hours of practice and a willingness to use any available terrain—park lines, side hits, or urban spots—as a training ground.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans of modern freeski culture should keep an eye on Nikolay Jensen because he represents the next wave of riders coming out of Norway’s deep talent pool. He is already visible in two crucial arenas: the official FIS structure, where he is building results and experience in slopestyle and big air, and the creative film world, where he rides alongside some of the most influential jib and park skiers of the moment. That dual presence gives him a chance to influence both the judged side of the sport and the looser, style-driven side that shapes how freeskiing looks online.

For skiers who are still progressing, his trajectory offers a relatable blueprint. Start by building strong fundamentals through local clubs and national events, then look for crews and projects that match your personality and skiing style. Jensen is not yet a World Cup podium regular, but he is already carving out a place in a respected crew and appearing on serious competition start lists. Watching how he continues to develop—whether toward bigger results, heavier film segments or a balanced mix of both—will be a good case study in what it means to be an emerging freeski athlete in the current era.

Profile and significance

Olivia Asselin is a Canadian freeski standout from Québec who blends film-ready style with contest composure. Born in 2004 and raised in the Québec City/Lévis corridor, she rose through Stoneham’s club scene to the national team and broke out internationally with a bronze medal in Women’s Ski Big Air at the X Games in 2022. She followed that with Women’s Ski Knuckle Huck gold in 2024 and, in 2025, a defining weekend at Aspen that delivered Women’s Ski Street Style gold and Slopestyle silver. At the Olympics in 2022, Asselin made both finals, finishing eighth in Big Air and 11th in Slopestyle, underscoring her ability to translate style into major-stage results. World Cup podiums—third in Big Air at Copper Mountain in December 2022 and third in Slopestyle at Tignes in March 2024—round out a résumé that now straddles culture and medals. With partners including Armada, Monster Energy, and Smith Optics, she has become a reference point for skiers who prize clean mechanics and fresh ideas as much as difficulty.

Competitive arc and key venues

Asselin’s arc reveals a rider equally at home in rider-judged street formats and structured courses. The 2022 X Games bronze announced her to a global audience. In January 2024 she won the first Women’s Ski Knuckle Huck, an event that rewards creativity, timing and touch more than raw amplitude. In January 2025 she captured Women’s Street Style gold and Slopestyle silver at Aspen Snowmass, proving she can win on rails under floodlights and then podium on a full slopestyle course the next day. Along the way she stacked results that show breadth: a World Cup Big Air podium at Copper Mountain, a World Cup Slopestyle podium at Tignes, and wins in rider-led formats like Spring Battle at Absolut Park and a street title on the city setup in Innsbruck. Those venues map her progression cleanly. Stoneham taught night-lap repetition; Mammoth Mountain and Aspen demanded XL spacing, wind calls and pressure management; European parks like Tignes and Absolut Park honed rail density and long-line rhythm.

How they ski: what to watch for

Asselin’s skiing reads calm and deliberate. Into the lip she stays tall and neutral, then sets rotation late and locks grabs early so the trick breathes. On jumps, watch how she spins both directions in a run without rushing the set; grabs are defined before 180 degrees and held through the axis, which keeps the body stacked and the landing quiet. On rails, the signature is composure: locked presses and backslides that hold just long enough to be obvious, surface swaps with minimal arm swing, exits with square shoulders to maintain speed. In Street Style and urban-style jams, that economy becomes advantage—she uses the whole setup, hitting transfer options and disaster takeoffs without sacrificing flow. The big-picture tell is “replayability”: slow any clip down and you’ll find the same checkpoints—tall approach, patient pop, early grab, soft ankles on impact.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Asselin’s emergence coincided with a moment when women’s freeskiing expanded its event palette. By podiuming in Big Air, winning the debut of Knuckle Huck for women, and then claiming Street Style gold, she helped define what modern versatility looks like. Film-heavy weeks at events such as Spring Battle sharpened that voice further; the video-based format rewards riders who can craft coherent, stylish lines on their own terms. Her consistency in rider-curated street contests in Innsbruck added another layer of credibility in urban-influenced settings. The through-line is a repeatable movement language—clear setups, decisive presses, and measured takeoffs—that has become a study guide for developing riders. When she steps into televised slopestyle, the same habits make finals runs look composed rather than improvised.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place matters in Asselin’s skiing. The night network and compact laps at Stoneham built edge precision, rail timing and switch comfort; you can see those roots in how confidently she links rail features. Training blocks at Mammoth Mountain added jump cadence, wind reads and the patience needed for longer decks and higher speeds. World Cup stops at Copper Mountain and Tignes layered in contest rhythm and the ability to reset after misses. Europe’s Absolut Park and the urban scaffolds in Innsbruck reinforced her line-reading in feature-dense environments where creativity and efficiency trump brute force. Finally, Aspen Snowmass is the proving ground that now defines her public profile, a place where she has shown she can win under lights one night and deliver medals on a full course the next day.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Asselin’s choices reflect priorities that progressing skiers can copy. With Armada she rides playful, press-friendly park platforms that still feel predictable on big takeoffs; with Smith Optics she focuses on contrast and lens clarity for flat-light park laps; with Monster Energy she aligns with a team deeply embedded in the X Games ecosystem. The practical setup lessons are simple: detune contact points enough to reduce rail bite without giving up edge hold on the lip; choose a mount point close to center so switch landings stay neutral; and keep binding ramp angles that don’t force you into the backseat. Process matters as much as hardware. Build a “knuckle huck toolkit” on smaller hits—hand drags, flat 5s, late shiftys—then scale those touch-based moves into slopestyle where they add style without costing speed.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans care because Asselin is exciting in multiple languages of freeskiing: she can stack a stylish street run under floodlights, thread a long slopestyle line with both-way spins, or float a knuckle trick that looks effortless. For developing riders, her clips are a masterclass in patience and definition. She shows that high-level skiing does not require constant risk escalation; it requires clear plans for each feature, early grab definition, and exits that preserve speed for what comes next. The results—X Games golds in Knuckle Huck and Street Style, X Games silver in Slopestyle, X Games bronze in Big Air, finals at the Olympics, and multiple World Cup podiums—are milestones, but the real takeaway is how she earned them: by pairing creativity with fundamentals that hold up to slow-motion scrutiny.

Profile and significance

Trym Sunde Andreassen is a Norwegian freestyle skier from Kongsberg, born in 2000, who established himself early as one of the most stylish riders in the country’s deep freeski talent pool. He first drew international attention at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, where he won bronze in the boys’ halfpipe and placed fifth in slopestyle, representing Norway with Kongsberg Freestyleklubb and confirming his status as a genuine multi-event threat. While he has not yet converted that junior success into senior World Cup podiums, his blend of halfpipe edge control, slopestyle rail precision and an explicit focus on style over spin-count has made him a respected name among freeski insiders following the Norwegian scene.

Beyond the Youth Olympic medal, Andreassen’s value to the sport lies in the way he bridges competition and culture. He has been part of Norway’s junior national freeski team, started in FIS World Cup big air events and appeared in edits and web videos that show his skiing in a more relaxed, film-oriented environment. For fans and progressing skiers, he represents the powerful middle ground between elite contest skiing and everyday park laps, where technical tricks are executed with clean, readable style rather than pushed to reckless extremes.

Competitive arc and key venues

Andreassen came up through Norway’s strong grassroots competition system, collecting national-level results long before his Youth Olympic medal. As a teenager he won his age class at Norwegian championships and Norgescup events, including younger junior titles and high-profile battles against peers such as Birk Ruud in domestic slopestyle contests. Coverage in Norwegian freeski media highlighted how often podium conversations in younger junior categories came down to “Birk versus Trym,” underscoring just how central he was to his generation.

His breakout on the international stage came at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, with competition held at Oslo Vinterpark. There he delivered a composed halfpipe run to secure bronze in a field that also featured future World Cup and X Games stars. After Youth Olympics, Andreassen progressed into the FIS system with appearances on the World Cup circuit, including big air starts among Norway’s senior men. Articles from later seasons describe him returning to World Cup competition after a multi-year break, a reminder that his path has included both early success and the challenges of transitioning from junior standout to senior-level consistency.

How they ski: what to watch for

Stylistically, Trym Sunde Andreassen is known for prioritising clean execution and aesthetics over the biggest possible rotation. A detailed event report from a Norgescup slopestyle stop at Oppdal described how he won without throwing double flips, relying instead on a “super-stylish” run that combined technical rails with well-grabbed spins and strong amplitude. He has spoken about wanting tricks to look light, easy and fun, and that philosophy is obvious when you watch him ski: landings are clean, grabs are held, and movements are smooth rather than forced.

On rails, Andreassen brings a competition-ready level of difficulty while still keeping his posture relaxed. Switch-on rail entries, pretzel exits and blind-swap variations appear frequently in his contest and edit clips, but he avoids unnecessary arm flailing or awkward rush between features. On jumps, he often opts for stylish off-axis spins such as bio 900s and switch 720s with tweaked safety or Japan grabs, sized correctly for the jump rather than pushed into sketchy overshoots. For viewers studying his skiing, the takeaway is that line choice, trick selection and composure can be just as decisive as adding another 180 degrees of spin.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Andreassen’s story is also one of resilience. Reports from the Norwegian Ski Federation acknowledge that he has dealt with injuries during critical development seasons, including setbacks that affected national team training blocks. Despite that, he reappeared in World Cup start lists after nearly five years away from that level, an impressive return given the pace at which modern slopestyle and big air have progressed. Staying relevant in a country that constantly produces new stars—from juniors to Olympic gold medallists—requires both physical and mental persistence.

In parallel with contests, he has contributed to the culture through edits and appearances in Scandinavian projects. Web clips from parks in Norway and abroad show him riding with other strong Norwegians, appearing in Scandinavian web series segments and taking part in collaborative videos and park shoots. Locally, his influence is visible when he returns to events like Snowstock in Kongsberg, where he not only competes but also shares tips with younger riders in special sessions. For the local kids, skiing rails with a Youth Olympic medallist from their own club is a powerful, tangible form of inspiration.

Geography that built the toolkit

Growing up in Kongsberg, Andreassen built his foundation at Kongsberg Skisenter, a hill whose parks and freeride terrain have produced several notable Norwegian freeskiers. Shorter lifts and compact parks meant repetition, creativity and the ability to dial in tricks under less-than-perfect conditions, from icy evenings to flat light. These repetitions hardened his edge control, rail precision and comfort with switch landings, traits that translated directly into his competition runs.

As he moved into national team structures, his geographic world expanded. Training camps at larger resorts like Oppdal and Hovden, and indoor sessions at facilities such as SNØ outside Oslo, provided bigger jumps and more complex rail setups. Internationally, competition and training trips have taken him to Central Europe and North America, where he could test himself on World Cup-scale features. Yet his skiing still carries the imprint of Kongsberg: efficient lines, confidence in tight courses and a willingness to trust technical rail runs and style rather than chase only the heaviest tricks.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Past season edits list Andreassen as riding with support from O’Neill for outerwear, Völkl for skis and Dalbello for boots. That combination reflects a classic competition-oriented park setup: twin-tip skis designed to balance stability on landings with agility on rails, boots that offer solid support for heavy impacts and off-axis spins, and outerwear designed to handle long, cold sessions in Norwegian parks.

For skiers inspired by his approach, the practical message is not that you need the exact same kit, but that you should aim for a balanced, all-round park setup. Look for skis that feel predictable both on rails and jumps, boots that hold your heel firmly without crushing your feet and clothing that lets you move freely while staying warm in variable weather. Most importantly, Andreassen’s career shows that how you use the gear—hour after hour in your local park—matters more than the logo on the topsheet.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans of freeskiing care about Trym Sunde Andreassen because he embodies a particularly Norwegian blend of competitive success and style-driven skiing. A Youth Olympic halfpipe bronze and domestic victories prove he can deliver under pressure, while his Oppdal win “without a single double flip” remains a standout example of judges rewarding clean, stylish runs over pure difficulty arms races. In an era where some contests can feel dominated by increasingly robotic spin counts, his skiing is a reminder that amplitude, composition and aesthetic execution still matter.

For progressing skiers, Andreassen offers a realistic and inspiring model. He shows that you can come from a relatively small hill, build your foundation in local parks, and climb all the way to a Youth Olympic podium and World Cup starts. His focus on style over reckless progression suggests a sustainable path: push your rails and spins, yes, but keep tricks clean, landings solid and lines well thought out. Whether you ride a small local park or dream of international events, following his example means chasing not only bigger tricks, but better skiing.