SLVSH || Mat Dufresne vs. Jacob Belanger at Level 1 Superunknown '25

Profile and significance

Jacob Belanger is a Québec-born freeski rider whose rapid rise through film projects and jury-selected awards has made him one of the clearest new voices in urban and all-terrain freeskiing. Raised in Lac-Beauport with early laps at Le Relais, he came onto the wider scene via street-leaning web series and youth edits before earning headline recognition with Joey Kraft’s films “Water The Plants” and “The Harvest.” In 2023 he was named Amateur Skier of the Year at the iF3 Movie Awards, then in 2024 stepped up again to take Breakout Skier of the Year—rare back-to-back progression that signals a rider converting promise into consistent, high-level output. He followed that momentum with a Breakthrough Skier of the Year honor at the 2025 Newschoolers Awards, cementing his place among the athletes shaping today’s film-first freeski culture.

Competitive arc and key venues

Belanger’s résumé reads more like a filmmaker’s than a bib-chaser’s, but the venues still matter. “Water The Plants” (2023) paired late-season backcountry with gritty urban, while “The Harvest” (2024) showcased a heavier, more mature street selection and stronger narrative through-line. Those projects premiered on the iF3 circuit and traveled well online, the exact distribution pathway that turns a strong part into a breakout season. Beyond festival screens, his travel-lap fundamentals come from the parks he’s used as laboratories: long, repeatable lines at Whistler Blackcomb after relocating west, compact East Coast rhythms at Mount Snow’s Carinthia terrain parks in Vermont (Carinthia Parks), and the tight, high-repetition snowparks of Québec that reward precision over flash. The result is an athlete who can shift from frozen urban rails to pristine spring jump lines without losing the clarity judges and viewers look for.

How they ski: what to watch for

Belanger’s skiing is built on readable mechanics. On rails he favors a centered stance and quiet shoulders that keep spin-ons, swaps, and pretzel exits looking inevitable rather than chaotic. Approach angles stay conservative until the moment of commitment, which helps him lock on through kinks and gaps and exit with real speed. On jumps—whether a hand-built urban transfer or a maintained park step-down—he places the grab early and holds it, keeping axis and rotation obvious for the camera. That combination of early grab placement, axis clarity, and stacked landings is why his heaviest tricks still “read” on film, and why his lines maintain momentum from the first hit to the ender.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Two seasons in a row of iF3 hardware isn’t a coincidence; it reflects a process. Belanger’s parts show a repeatable workflow—scout and measure, shovel and salt, test speed, adjust angle, then commit—that compresses the randomness of urban skiing into something you can trust. The filming itself doubles as skill acquisition: imperfect in-runs sharpen edge feel; short landings enforce stacked finishes; and the pressure of “we have light for ten more minutes” teaches decision-making that carries into any judged format. His move to Whistler broadened that toolbox with bigger terrain and backcountry days, adding air awareness and line-reading that complements his street DNA. As a result, his segments resonate with both core street fans and park-to-pow viewers who value substance over hype.

Geography that built the toolkit

Place explains a lot about Belanger’s style. Night laps and freeze–thaw rails around Québec, especially at Le Relais, taught timing, speed control, and footwork on steel. The move west opened a wider canvas: long spring lines and park repetition at Whistler Blackcomb for polishing jump timing and linking features at speed. East Coast trips—like sessions in the well-known park program at Carinthia Parks—add the firm-snow discipline that makes rail tricks travel across conditions. This triangle of compact city hills, high-volume destination parks, and real-world urban textures is why his skiing looks composed whether the spot is a municipal stair set or a glacier-fed spring line.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Belanger rides with support from Salomon, and the setup principles visible in his parts are highly transferable. A true-twin park or all-terrain twin mounted near center keeps stance neutral for both-way spins and stable pretzel exits. Edges are tuned consistently with a careful detune at contact points to reduce hang-ups on rails without dulling pop for lip-ons or step-downs. Boots that deliver progressive forward flex while maintaining locked-in heel hold help finish landings stacked when the snow is fast or chattery. None of this is gadget-driven; it’s a repeatable platform that lets the same tricks read clean in different speeds and textures. For progressing skiers, that’s the real gear lesson.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Belanger matters because he makes modern freeskiing easier to read. His edits show how momentum-saving rail choices, full-duration grabs, and clean axes turn a line into something you want to replay. The award trajectory—Amateur Skier of the Year (2023) to Breakout Skier of the Year (2024) at iF3, followed by a Breakthrough Skier honor in 2025—confirms that the approach scales as the stage gets bigger. If you’re learning how to evaluate skiing, watch how he preserves speed through the rail deck so the final feature can carry an ender, and how he chooses rotation and grab combinations that remain obvious from the first frame to the stomp. If you’re building your own projects, study the process behind the clips as much as the tricks. That’s where Jacob Belanger has become a reference: in turning thoughtful decisions into durable footage, year after year.

Profile and significance

Mat Dufresne—often credited as Mathieu “Mat” Dufresne—is a Quebec street and park skier whose profile has grown through short films and rider-led sessions more than traditional ranking sheets. Based around Montréal and the Laurentians, he broke out internationally by winning Level 1’s SuperUnknown XIX in 2022, a milestone that signaled to the wider freeski world that his blend of rail precision, creative spot choice, and effortless style belonged on the global stage. Since then, he has doubled down on street projects including MTL, MTL 2, and the 2024 short “Word to the Wise,” while stepping into high-visibility jam formats like Dew Tour Streetstyle. He matters because he shows what modern freeski progression looks like when it’s rooted in streets and local parks, then pressure-tested at headline events.

Competitive arc and key venues

Dufresne’s most important “result” is cultural: winning SuperUnknown XIX at Mammoth in 2022, which placed his name alongside prior era-defining winners and validated his approach in front of peers and brands. That week unfolded in the Unbound parks at Mammoth Mountain, famous for XXL rails and progressive jump lines that expose any technical shortcuts. In March 2024 he added breadth by qualifying through heats in Men’s Ski Streetstyle at Copper, bringing his street-born timing to a live-event format at Copper Mountain. Away from contest scaffolding, the primary “venues” of his career are the handrails, ledges, walls, and stairsets of Montréal, and the park laps at Versant Avila in the Les Sommets network—two environments that reward accuracy, speed control, and quick resets. His films have screened on the fall festival circuit, including the iF3 tour organized by iF3 Festival and showcases linked to Annecy’s High Five Festival, reflecting growing recognition for his street work.

How they ski: what to watch for

Dufresne’s skiing is built on economy and definition. On rails, he favors stable, locked body positions—backslides and presses that are held long enough to read clearly, then released with minimal arm swing. Watch his early edge set as he steps onto kinks or waterfall features; that pre-emptive pressure management keeps the base flat and lets him exit square. Change-ups tend to be quiet and centered rather than dramatic, which makes the line flow and helps him keep speed for the next feature. On small-to-medium jumps and side hits, the trademark is patience into the lip, grabs established early, and rotations that come from the hips instead of a rushed upper-body huck. The net effect is “replayable” skiing: slow any clip down and you’ll see checkpoints—tall approach, stacked takeoff, neutral shoulders, soft ankles on landing—that progressing skiers can copy.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Street skiing in and around Montréal means thin cover, variable run-ins, and fast decision-making. Dufresne leans into those constraints with smart feature prep and trick choices that read well on camera, turning scarcity into a style advantage. His 2024 short “Word to the Wise,” shot and edited with longtime Quebec filmer-host Xavier Mayrand, distilled a season’s worth of urban sessions into a compact statement about timing and line reading. That project followed earlier MTL and MTL 2 chapters and continued a run of festival recognition, including nominations at iF3. Between winters, he keeps close to the scene via community sessions—think summer laps and pop-up jam days—where he passes on drill-based habits that make his clips look so composed. In aggregate, the films and sessions have made him a reference point for street-first skiers who still want the composure to step into bigger park builds when it counts.

Geography that built the toolkit

Dufresne’s toolkit reflects the places he rides most. The rails and ledges of Montréal sharpen his approach speed and commitment—there’s rarely room to recover once you drop. Repetition at Versant Avila gives him lap volume on tight, feature-dense lines that demand quick feet and balanced exits. Time at Mammoth’s Unbound layered in XXL spacing, long decks, and wind management, while Streetstyle at Copper Mountain brought the pressure of bright lights and one-take runs. Together these environments yield a skier who reads terrain instantly and picks options others miss—an asset whether the spot is a city handrail or a contest rail garden.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Dufresne rides with J Skis, including a collaborative “Poutine” graphic on the playful Vacation platform, and leans on the simple, durable feel of Joystick poles. In his backyard scene he works closely with Axis Boutique, a long-standing Quebec hub for park and street skiers. For riders trying to emulate the look, the gear lessons are straightforward: detune contact points to reduce unexpected edge bite on rails; choose a mount that keeps the ski balanced for presses and switch landings; and prioritize predictable flex over pure stiffness so you can stay centered as you exit features. Off-snow, build the same habits seen in his clips—trampoline timing, balance drills, and deliberate video review—so patience at the lip and quiet shoulders become automatic.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Dufresne is a case study in how strong fundamentals plus good taste can travel from neighborhood rails to major parks. Fans get clean, creative urban clips that hold up to repeat viewing. Developing skiers get a roadmap for building reliable rail and side-hit technique without needing the biggest jumps or deepest snowpacks. In a freeski landscape that values both film parts and event moments, his SuperUnknown title at Level 1, his Streetstyle appearances at Copper Mountain, and his continued film output around Montréal and Versant Avila make him a reliable watch for anyone who cares about rail craft, composure, and creative line choice in modern freeskiing.