SLVSH || Luke Harrold vs. Frank Wahlstrom at Mammoth

Profile and significance

Frank Wahlström is a Norwegian-Swedish freeski slopestyle and big air specialist who has become one of the standout junior talents in Europe before even reaching his mid-teens. Raised in Örebro, Sweden, but deeply connected to the Norwegian resort of Trysil, he rides for Trysil IL and represents Norway in international competition. His breakout moment came in March 2024, when he won men’s slopestyle at the FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships in Livigno/Mottolino with a 91-point run, taking junior world champion status at just 13 years old. That result instantly placed him in the global conversation as one of the most promising young riders in freeski.

Wahlström’s rise has not stopped at junior level titles. At home he has already claimed double Norwegian championship gold in big air and slopestyle, and on the Continental Cup circuit he has become a fixture on the podium. Across the 2024–25 season he dominated the FIS Europa Cup big air standings, finishing the year as overall big air champion and second in the combined slopestyle/big air ranking. Those results, alongside his selection to the Norwegian junior national team, show that he is not just a one-contest wonder but a consistent force in high-level freeski competitions.

Competitive arc and key venues

Frank’s story starts far from the high Alpine venues where he now competes. He grew up in Örebro in central Sweden and first clicked into skis as a two-year-old during family trips to the Norwegian resort of Trysil, where his family later bought a cabin. Week after week, his parents drove the long round trip from Örebro to Trysil so he could lap the snowpark and gradually move from small jumps and boxes into serious slopestyle lines. That combination of Swedish hometown life and a Norwegian “second home” in Trysil shaped both his riding and his eventual decision to compete for Norway.

As his trick level climbed, the family expanded their training circuit to include summer setups and airbags at Kläppen Ski Resort in Sweden, a mountain known for its dedicated snowpark scene. There, Wahlström spent long days on the jump line and airbag, working through double cork 1620s and 1800s with different grabs and axes. This foundation translated directly into his competition breakthroughs. After a dominant season on the Norwegian freeski cup circuit, he earned enough FIS points to race internationally, then converted that opportunity into junior slopestyle world gold in Livigno and podiums on the Europa Cup tour.

The 2024–25 winter showed how quickly he was adapting to bigger stages. At Corvatsch in Switzerland, on the renowned features of Corvatsch Park, he took second place in a Europa Cup big air event that helped lock in his season-long big air title. At the same time, media and fans began to see more of him outside standard contest formats, such as his appearance in a SLVSH game at Mammoth Mountain in the United States, where he went trick-for-trick against fellow prodigy Luke Harrold on a playful but technical park setup.

How they ski: what to watch for

Wahlström’s skiing combines heavy technical difficulty with a surprisingly relaxed, almost playful body language. Coaches and media often highlight the way he handles very complex rotations with minimal panic: in one widely reported training session at Kläppen, he came out of a double cork 1800 mute with a ski releasing mid-air, but still managed to stay calm, rotate out of trouble and land on his back rather than crashing out of control. That composure is rare at any age and is a big part of why coaches describe him as a “special” talent.

Technically, he is already comfortable spinning both left and right and mixing classical slopestyle spins with more modern off-axis and bio rotations. His favourite trick, a double cork 1440 lead Japan, says a lot about his approach: he cares as much about tweak, line and style as about the sheer number of spins. Judges have praised his junior world championship slopestyle run for its balance between difficulty and execution—he chose a slightly less-technical right 1080 instead of a 1440 on one feature due to speed issues, but did it with such cleanliness and control that it scored higher than many riders forcing harder tricks.

On rails, his riding is clean and precise rather than overly wild. He makes good use of change-ups, switch entries and technical exits, but usually inside a run that still flows naturally from top to bottom. For viewers trying to learn from him, it is worth watching how early he sets his grabs and how long he holds them. Instead of snatching at the ski at the last second, he often gets the grab in early, tweaks it, and then finishes the spin, which makes his doubles and 16s look smooth rather than frantic.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Behind the contest results is a demanding routine. Wahlström’s development has involved years of long car journeys between Örebro and Trysil almost every weekend, with school on Fridays, skiing all weekend, then the drive back on Sunday nights. In interviews, his father and coach Jonas describes days at camps where Frank gets in 30–40 jumps, filming each hit and reviewing the footage together after every lap to refine timing, grab position and rotation speed. That relentless repetition explains why he is able to manage such big tricks at such a young age.

His progression has also started to spill into the broader freeski culture. Clips of him working on switch double bio 1600s on the airbag, carving smooth lines in Trysil’s park and competing at top-level junior events circulate widely on social media, attracting attention from older pros and national team coaches. The SLVSH appearance at Mammoth, in particular, is a sign of how fast he is moving into the core freeski conversation: the series tends to feature riders who combine technical depth with creativity, and Wahlström fits naturally into that mix.

As a result, he has become a reference point for younger Scandinavian skiers who see in him proof that you can come from a relatively flat region, use weekend missions to a resort like Trysil, and still reach the sharp end of international freeski slopestyle and big air. He is not yet a film veteran or a full-time urban/street skiing specialist, but his contest clips and training edits already influence how junior riders think about spinning both ways, tweaking grabs and pushing big air progression responsibly.

Geography that built the toolkit

The mountains that shaped Wahlström’s skiing are a mix of Norwegian and Swedish terrain. Trysil is Norway’s largest ski resort, with multiple linked areas and a dedicated park scene under the SkiStar umbrella. Its variety of jump lines and rail features, plus reliable winter snow, gave him a consistent place to build core park skills from early childhood. Lapping the same lines weekend after weekend helped him refine speed control and trick selection far more than a handful of scattered trips ever could.

On the Swedish side, Kläppen has become his main summer and shoulder-season base, especially for airbag and dry-slope training. The resort is known as Sweden’s largest family-owned ski area with a strong freestyle infrastructure, and Wahlström has used that setup to stack repetitions on his big doubles and 1600–1800-level tricks with reduced risk. On the international calendar, venues like Livigno’s Mottolino snowpark and Corvatsch Park in Switzerland have introduced him to bigger, more high-profile stages and different styles of slopestyle and big air courses, forcing him to adapt his run construction to varying jump shapes, snow conditions and judging expectations.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Wahlström rides for Swiss-born freeski brand Faction Skis, whose freestyle shapes are designed specifically for park, pipe and big air progression. For a rider who spends so much time on large jumps and technical rails, that means a twin-tip platform with a consistent flex and reliable pop, tuned for icy landings as much as for soft spring days. On the vision side, he uses goggles and eyewear from Oakley, taking advantage of lenses built for variable light and flat-light park sessions.

Closer to home, he receives support from Norwegian retailer Sport Lodge’n in Trysil and Swedish-based interior and retail specialist Nitton93, reflecting the tight-knit nature of his Scandinavian support network. Profiles in Norwegian media have also noted travel support from Red Bull, underlining how early major action sports backers have taken notice of his potential. For progressing skiers, the useful lesson is not just to chase the same logos, but to understand why his setup works: stable, park-focused skis that stay predictable at high speeds, quality boots and bindings dialled for impact, and goggles that keep vision sharp when speed and landings matter most.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans are drawn to Frank Wahlström because he embodies the new wave of freeski talent emerging from Scandinavia: technically advanced, stylish, and composed well beyond his years. Junior world championship gold in slopestyle, double national titles in big air and slopestyle, and a Europa Cup big air overall title give him a contest résumé that already stands out among junior riders. At the same time, his skiing still carries the fun and looseness of someone who genuinely loves being in the park, whether that is at Trysil, Kläppen or a European competition venue.

For riders who want to progress in slopestyle and big air, watching Wahlström closely offers clear takeaways. His habit of spinning both ways, emphasising long, tweaked grabs and choosing runs that balance difficulty with clean execution is exactly what modern judges reward. His path—weekend commuting to a favourite resort, relentless repetitions on airbags and jumps, and step-by-step movement from national cups to Europa Cups and junior worlds—shows a realistic roadmap for other motivated teenagers. While he has not yet reached World Cup podiums or the Olympic stage, his trajectory suggests that the story of Frank Wahlström is still in its early chapters, and that makes him one of the most exciting young freeskiers to follow in slopestyle and big air right now.

Profile and significance

Luke Harrold is a New Zealand freeski prodigy born in 2008 in Christchurch and based in Lake Hāwea, already regarded as one of the most exciting halfpipe talents in the world. Specialising in freeski halfpipe with additional starts in slopestyle and big air, he became the youngest Kiwi freeskier ever to stand on a World Cup podium when he finished second in the Beijing freeski halfpipe World Cup in December 2023 at just 15 years old. Only weeks later he underlined that breakthrough by winning Youth Olympic gold in halfpipe and bronze in big air at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, confirming that his Secret Garden result was no one-off.

Harrold learned to ski through the Hāwea Flat Primary School programme and developed his park and pipe skills at Cardrona Alpine Resort, progressing into Snow Sports NZ’s development structures and then onto international circuits. By 2023 he had already claimed major Continental Cup wins in both North America and Europe, and in 2025 he finished a remarkable fourth place in men’s halfpipe at the FIS Freestyle World Championships at Corvatsch in Switzerland. Backed by partners such as Red Bull New Zealand, Atomic and The North Face Australia & New Zealand, he now sits at the leading edge of a new generation of Kiwi park and pipe skiers heading toward the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Competitive arc and key venues

Harrold’s competitive story began on home snow. After starting to ski at Cardrona through school, he entered the New Zealand Junior Freestyle Nationals in 2016 and quickly gravitated toward the halfpipe and park. His potential was recognised early; in 2018 he was identified as a talent by Snow Sports NZ and invited into the National Development Team. Over the next several seasons he moved from junior domestic events into FIS competition, steadily collecting results in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.

The international breakthrough came in 2023. That year he dominated the halfpipe on the Continental Cup circuit, winning the overall FIS North American Cup in Aspen Snowmass and the European Cup Premium event in the famed superpipe at LAAX. He also finished second in slopestyle at the World Rookie Tour Finals, showing that his skill set extended beyond the pipe. In December 2023 he stepped up to the World Cup level at Secret Garden’s Yunding Snow Park in China, site of the Beijing 2022 Olympic pipe, and stunned the field by taking second place in his debut World Cup, immediately entering New Zealand’s record books.

The momentum carried into the 2023–24 northern winter. In January 2024 Harrold travelled to the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea, where he delivered on the biggest junior stage in the sport. He won the men’s freeski halfpipe with a 94.25-point run and added a bronze medal in freeski big air, making him one of the standout athletes of the Games. By 2025 he was no longer just a rising prospect; at the FIS Freestyle World Championships at Corvatsch he qualified second into the men’s halfpipe final and finished fourth overall, narrowly missing a senior world medal but firmly establishing himself among the very best. In October 2025 his selection for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games was confirmed, giving him the chance to translate all that experience into his first full Olympic appearance.

How they ski: what to watch for

Harrold’s skiing is defined by a rare blend of amplitude, technical variety and composure for an athlete still in his teens. In the halfpipe he typically builds five or six hits per run, using both walls aggressively rather than simply surviving the transitions. Fans should watch for the way he combines direction changes and different axes of rotation: left and right spins, switch entries, and off-axis cork variations that keep judges engaged from top to bottom. His Youth Olympic winning run and his World Cup podium performance both showcased this pattern, with clean take-offs, fully held grabs and smooth transitions between tricks rather than rushed, last-second adjustments.

Even when he is pushing difficult combinations, Harrold maintains a calm, stacked stance that keeps his upper body quiet while his legs and edges do the work. That makes his landings look controlled rather than desperate, a key factor in scoring at the highest level. In big air and slopestyle appearances, the same qualities appear on single features: his spins are set early, his grabs are visible and secure, and he uses the full landing to absorb impact. For viewers who want to learn from him, slow-motion replays of his pipe runs reveal clean edge changes on the vertical, patient rotations and a clear sense of where he is in the air at every moment.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Behind the highlight reel, Harrold’s rise has demanded serious resilience. Balancing full-time school at Mt Aspiring College with year-round training, Southern Hemisphere winters at Cardrona and Northern Hemisphere competition blocks requires discipline uncommon even among older professionals. His 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons compressed travel to China, Europe, North America and Korea into tight windows, with long days in the halfpipe followed by gym and tramp work to keep his trick vocabulary growing.

That work ethic shows up in the way he responds to pressure. To arrive at a first World Cup, drop into a pipe built for Olympic champions and leave with second place suggests not just talent but the capacity to deliver when it counts. The same applies to his Youth Olympic performance, where he converted qualifying speed into a near-flawless gold-medal run. While he is still at the beginning of his filming career compared to older pros, edits from training at Cardrona and international camps already circulate widely in the New Zealand freeski community, and his Youth Olympic and World Cup highlights have been shared across official channels. For young Kiwi skiers watching from Wānaka, Queenstown or the North Island hills, Harrold’s path offers a very tangible model of what focused progression can achieve.

Geography that built the toolkit

Harrold’s skiing is deeply shaped by the places that raised him. Born in Christchurch but based around Lake Hāwea, he grew up with ready access to the Southern Lakes region and its resorts. Cardrona Alpine Resort became his main training ground, providing a world-class superpipe, multiple terrain parks and a long Southern Hemisphere winter that anchors his annual training cycle. The combination of organised coaching through Cardrona’s high-performance programmes and the local community of freeskiers meant he could learn advanced tricks in an environment that also fostered creativity and fun.

From there, his geographic world expanded quickly. LAAX exposed him to one of Europe’s most progressive halfpipes and park setups, while Aspen Snowmass offered the classic Colorado mix of high-altitude superpipe and slopestyle venues. Secret Garden’s Olympic pipe in China challenged him with the same transitions that had tested the world’s best at Beijing 2022, and Corvatsch gave him a taste of Swiss high-alpine pipe competition at World Championships level. Moving between these venues has forced him to adapt his runs to different pipe shapes, snow textures and judging preferences, accelerating his development far beyond what a single home hill could provide.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Harrold’s partnerships mirror his status as a serious high-performance athlete with global ambitions. His connection with Red Bull New Zealand places him alongside a selective group of action sports athletes, providing support for travel, training and off-snow performance work. On the hardware side, he rides for Atomic, one of the leading ski manufacturers in freestyle and race skiing, using their freestyle platforms to balance edge grip on icy pipe walls with enough pop to reach the amplitude his runs demand. Outerwear and technical layers from The North Face Australia & New Zealand help him cope with everything from frigid night training in the Southern Alps to variable spring conditions on European glaciers.

For progressing skiers, the gear lesson is not to copy every logo but to understand why his setup works. A dedicated pipe and park ski with a reliable, consistent flex profile lets him trust his take-offs and landings; well-fitting boots and tuned bindings give him precise control on the vertical walls of the halfpipe; and outerwear built for long training days keeps him comfortable enough to focus on progression rather than survival. Harrold’s story also shows the value of building relationships with brands that share your long-term goals, whether that is contest success, filming or a mix of both.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans care about Luke Harrold because he represents the future of New Zealand freeskiing at the very highest level. In just a few seasons he has moved from junior national events to Continental Cup dominance, a World Cup podium, Youth Olympic gold and a top-five finish at the senior World Championships. Yet his skiing still carries the hallmarks of the Southern Lakes parks where he grew up: a playful attitude, visible joy in the pipe and a focus on style as much as on raw difficulty.

For progressing skiers, his trajectory offers a clear roadmap. He shows how starting with a strong local programme, committing to consistent training at a resort like Cardrona and then stepping gradually through Continental Cups to World Cups can lead all the way to the Olympic stage. Watching his runs carefully—how he links tricks, controls speed in the pipe and holds his grabs—can teach as much as any clinic. As he heads toward Milano Cortina 2026, Luke Harrold is not just another name on a start list; he is a young athlete reshaping what is possible for Kiwi freeskiers on the world stage.