"We're a Little Out of Our Element Here" | Skiing the Tordrillo Mountains (2025 Extended Cut)

Profile and significance

Ben Richards is one of the standout new-generation freeride skiers, a Kiwi based in Wānaka whose racing background and creative big-mountain lines have pushed him rapidly to the sharp end of the Freeride World Tour. Born in California and on skis from the age of two before moving to New Zealand’s Southern Lakes region, he spent years in alpine gates before realizing that fatter skis, deeper snow and playful terrain were where he really belonged. That switch from ski racing to freeride during a formative working holiday in Revelstoke turned into a full commitment: within a few seasons he had stacked Freeride World Qualifier wins, filmed his own road-trip movie “HYSTPOE” and arrived on the World Tour as one of its most complete rookies. With a win at the 2024 Fieberbrunn Pro, third overall on the 2024 Tour, Rookie of the Year honors and multiple podiums in 2025, Richards has already established himself as a reference name in modern big-mountain freeskiing.

Competitive arc and key venues

Richards’ competitive story starts in race suits rather than bibs on freeride faces. After his family relocated to Wānaka, he built strong technical foundations on New Zealand’s Southern Lakes hills, learning edge angles, pressure control and speed management in alpine courses before he ever dropped into a judged freeride venue. A move to Canada in 2019, where he chased storm cycles around Revelstoke, nudged him firmly into freeride; he began entering Freeride World Qualifier events and quickly proved he could translate race discipline into fast, fluid big-mountain runs. Wins at high-level FWQ events, including a four-star victory in Verbier and a second place at a major four-star event at The Remarkables, secured his promotion to the elite tier. In 2023 he finished third overall on the Challenger tour, punched his ticket to the 2024 Freeride World Tour, then made that rookie season count: a landmark win at the Fieberbrunn Pro, third overall in the final standings and the Tour’s Rookie of the Year title. In 2025 he doubled down with podiums at Baqueira Beret and Kicking Horse, confirming that his 2024 breakout was not a one-off spike but the beginning of a sustained run at the top.

How they ski: what to watch for

Watch Ben Richards for two things above all: race-bred edge control and a willingness to throw real tricks in places where most riders are just trying to hang on. His stance is compact and powerful, with a quiet upper body and a strong platform over his outside ski, so when he lets the skis run the line looks clean rather than frantic. On tour venues he tends to choose direct, high-speed routes that link several features rather than hunting a single headline cliff; judges and fans have learned to expect a run that starts fast, adds a technical mid-section and finishes with a statement hit. Technically, he brings full-on freestyle to that structure. Big, forward-flying front flips, smooth 360s and stylish cork variations show up on features that are far from park-perfect, and he has a knack for spotting takeoffs that keep his line in the fall line even while spinning. The most impressive detail is what happens after landing: he consistently absorbs impact, re-centers almost instantly and rolls straight back into carved turns, which keeps his runs feeling like one continuous idea instead of a string of disconnected stunts.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Richards’ rise has not been a straight line, and that’s part of why he resonates with freeride fans. His transition from racing to big-mountain skiing happened just as the competitive landscape was disrupted by the COVID era, forcing him to juggle travel uncertainty, limited events and the need to support himself with coaching and seasonal work. Instead of derailing his progress, that period seems to have given him a grounded sense of perspective: he now coaches freeride kids in New Zealand between his own competitions, using their training to sharpen his own fundamentals, and speaks openly about how much he enjoys sharing the mountains rather than just chasing personal results. On the media side, his self-directed projects have been equally important for his profile. “HYSTPOE,” a three-week road film created with Garrett Capel and presented by Line Skis, showed him moving between resorts and backcountry zones with a small crew and big energy, while the more recent “Fickle Business” project with fellow Kiwi Ben Barclay gives a wry, honest look at life chasing powder and lines through New Zealand’s notoriously volatile conditions. Add in widely shared clips from Kings and Queens of Corbet’s, where he took the 2023 People’s Choice Award, and he has quickly become one of the most visible faces of modern freeride to audiences well beyond the contest circuit.

Geography that built the toolkit

Geography is central to how Ben Richards skis. His earliest turns at Mammoth Mountain in California gave him a taste for big open faces and lift-accessed vertical, but it was the move to Wānaka that truly shaped his skiing brain. The Southern Lakes region offers a mix of steep chutes, wind-affected ridges and big storm cycles, and mountains like Treble Cone, Cardrona and The Remarkables provided a natural laboratory where he could combine race training with sidecountry exploration. Later, time spent in Revelstoke and interior British Columbia layered on a different kind of mountain education: deeper snowpacks, longer fall lines and complex tree zones that demand constant micro-adjustments at speed. On the Freeride World Tour, European venues have added yet another layer. The long, varied face at Fieberbrunn, the rock-lined couloirs above Verbier, the exposed ridges of Kicking Horse and the new La Bamba face above Baqueira Beret have all tested his ability to read terrain he’s never seen in person until inspection day. That combination of Southern Hemisphere home turf, Canadian storm skiing and World Tour venues means that wherever he clips in now, he has a mental archive of similar features to draw on.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Richards’ sponsor lineup tells you a lot about how he approaches the mountains. On his feet he rides for Line Skis, gravitating toward freeride-oriented models like the Optic 114 that balance high-speed stability with enough agility for spinning and directional changes in tight spots. Those skis are typically paired with Marker bindings, including touring models when he heads beyond lifts, giving him a setup that is solid enough for big compressions yet efficient on the skin track. Protection comes from Sweet Protection helmets and goggles, while outerwear and layering are handled by The North Face, whose Australia–New Zealand team he joined as his career accelerated. For skiers watching from the outside, the key takeaway is less about copying logos and more about understanding the system he has built: a stiff, confidence-inspiring platform underfoot, retention he trusts when committing to large airs and technical gear that keeps him warm, dry and focused during long days in mixed weather. If you are looking to learn from his approach, study how his equipment choices support the way he skis rather than trying to reverse-engineer his tricks without that foundation.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans are drawn to Ben Richards because his story blends underdog energy with rapid, undeniable results. In just a few seasons he has gone from being a relatively unknown New Zealand racer-turned-freerider to a Freeride World Tour winner, Rookie of the Year and consistent podium threat, all while maintaining an easygoing, self-deprecating presence in interviews and social clips. His runs capture what people love about modern freeride: high speed, clear line vision and real freestyle thrown into consequential terrain, but with enough control that it never feels purely reckless. For progressing skiers, he offers a concrete blueprint: build strong technique first, learn to read different snowpacks and faces, then layer on tricks in places where you are genuinely comfortable rather than chasing viral moments. Whether you discover him through a World Tour webcast, a Line Skis heavy-hitters edit or a The North Face film from the hills around Wānaka, following Ben Richards gives you a close-up view of how a thoughtful, technically grounded skier can rise quickly to the top of big-mountain freeskiing without losing the fun that started it all.

Profile and significance

Sam Cohen is a professional freeskier and ski mountaineer from Utah whose life has been shaped by Little Cottonwood Canyon and the deep snow of Alta Ski Area. Born in 1992 and raised in a ski-obsessed family as the son of renowned powder photographer Lee Cohen, he was on skis almost as soon as he could walk and never really stepped away. Today he is best known as a longtime member of the Scott Sports freeride team, a skier who blends big Alaskan faces, technical human-powered lines and playful Wasatch storm days into one coherent style. Rather than chasing a traditional contest career, Cohen built his name through big-mountain segments, webisodes and projects that highlight long approaches, serious terrain and the kind of “type 2 fun” he openly says he enjoys.

Within modern freeski culture, Sam sits in that influential space between local legend and film star. Early edits with the Dubsatch Collective turned Little Cottonwood storm days into cult classics, while later roles in Scott’s Cottonwood Project and multi-episode “Freedom to Explore” series showcased him as one of the most productive backcountry workhorses in the Wasatch. More recently, appearances in Matchstick Productions movies such as “Anywhere From Here” have introduced his skiing to a global audience, reinforcing his reputation as the guy who will happily bootpack, skin and climb for hours if it means one more clean fall-line shot when the camera finally rolls.

Competitive arc and key venues

Cohen’s path ran through competition but did not stop there. As a teenager he started traveling from the Wasatch to junior big-mountain events across the West, logging notable results on IFSA-style venues that rewarded strong legs, clean airs and confident line choice. Guides and coaches who worked in the region still point to that era as the time he learned to ski fast in consequential terrain, earning enough recognition that brand support and film opportunities soon followed. Once he realized that his real motivation lay in deep backcountry missions rather than bib numbers, he gradually stepped back from the circuit and devoted his winters to filming, photo shoots and exploratory trips.

The venues that define Sam’s career read like a greatest-hits list for big-mountain skiing. At home he laps the steep, avalanche-prone faces above Alta and Snowbird, moving easily between resort ridges and the sidecountry lines that spill deeper into Little Cottonwood Canyon. Scott’s “Cottonwood Project” and “Peak of Ill Repute” films followed him to Alaska’s Fairweather Range, where he and partners hunted stable windows among towering coastal peaks. Other projects such as “In the Meadow,” shot from a hut near Golden in British Columbia, and ski-mountaineering missions into Washington’s North Cascades have broadened his map. Whether it is sled-accessed powder in interior Canada or multi-day approaches into remote glaciated terrain, he has made a habit of choosing venues where logistics and commitment are almost as demanding as the skiing itself.

How they ski: what to watch for

Sam Cohen’s skiing is built on speed, fall-line commitment and a calm presence in places where hesitation would be costly. He tends to ski with a slightly forward, powerful stance, shoulders quiet and eyes locked down the mountain, which lets him absorb terrain changes without looking rushed. In deep snow he favors big, arcing turns that keep his skis high in the fall line, then snaps into tight, reactive moves when the slope funnels into chokes, rock bands or blind rollovers. Viewers watching his lines in Utah or British Columbia will notice how little he scrubs speed; he prefers to manage momentum with terrain rather than abrupt sideways slides.

In the air, Cohen mixes classic freeride straight airs with modern spins and tweaks, but the emphasis is always on where the landing puts him for the next move. Many of his best shots show him floating a relatively simple air into an exposed zone and then immediately threading three or four more turns through cliffs, trees or spine walls. He has the ability to stay relaxed even when visibility is flat or snow is exploding around his head, and he is deliberate about skiing with partners and photographers in ways that keep the entire crew safe. For skiers studying his footage, the real lesson is not just the tricks, but how early he sets up each decision so that fast, confident skiing still leaves room for exit options.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Building a career almost entirely on backcountry footage demands resilience, and Cohen has quietly shown a lot of it. Years of long storm cycles, predawn starts and heavy packs inevitably bring crashes, close calls and the need to balance ambition with humility. He has dealt with injuries and seasons where conditions or logistics shut down key objectives, yet he continues to return to the same steep canyons with undiminished energy. Interviews around projects like Scott’s “Cottonwood Project” emphasize that he actually enjoys the suffering: cold mornings, long bootpacks and the slow grind of waiting out weather windows are part of what keeps the work meaningful for him.

His influence flows through a mix of web edits, brand films and bigger-budget productions. Early Dubsatch clips gave younger skiers a raw, homegrown look at life chasing storms in Little Cottonwood, while pieces such as “All In,” “Freedom to Explore” and “Peak of Ill Repute” showcased longer-form narratives about hut trips and Alaskan expeditions with fellow Scott athletes. A widely shared SnowBrains feature on his hut-based film “In the Meadow” highlighted his ability to turn a small, remote lodge near Golden into a playground of pillows, chutes and technical lines. When Matchstick Productions dropped his athlete edits and promoted him as “the most interesting man in skiing,” it was less hype than recognition of a skier whose lifestyle—guiding, climbing, ski mountaineering and film work—embodies the modern all-in mountain pro.

Geography that built the toolkit

To understand Sam Cohen’s approach, you have to start with Little Cottonwood Canyon. The narrow glacial valley above Salt Lake City funnels storms onto the slopes of Alta and Snowbird, creating a snowpack that is at once deep and notoriously avalanche-prone. Growing up there meant learning to respect terrain traps, understand rapid loading events and make conservative decisions even when the powder is all-time. His father’s photography work required being in the right place at the right time, and Sam absorbed that same sensitivity to snow, light and timing from years spent as both subject and observer.

Beyond Utah, his skiing has been shaped by a collection of high-demand ranges. Trips to Alaska’s Fairweather Range for “Peak of Ill Repute,” hut-based winters in the Selkirks and Purcells near Golden, and ski-mountaineering objectives in places like the Picket Range of the North Cascades have exposed him to every kind of snow and terrain structure. In each of these zones the consequence level is high, and storms can reshape objectives overnight. That experience shows in how he moves through new mountains: probing carefully at first, then opening up once he trusts the snowpack. For fans watching his segments, it is clear that the calm confidence on screen is backed by years of reading complex terrain in some of the most serious snow climates in North America.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Cohen’s long relationship with Scott Sports means his equipment is tightly integrated around backcountry and big-mountain needs. He rides Scott freeride skis and uses their boots, poles and goggles, leaning on lightweight but powerful setups that can handle multi-thousand-foot lines without feeling punishing on the climb. For layering and next-to-skin comfort, he works closely with merino specialist Ridge Merino, whose “Layer Like a Pro” features break down how he stays warm and dry during long days where conditions can swing from boilerplate to blower. As an ambassador for Dermatone and a guide with Utah Mountain Adventures, he also represents the less glamorous but crucial side of big days: sun protection, safety systems and professional-level mountain judgment.

For progressing skiers, the takeaway is that his kit is built for reliability first. His skis are wide and stable enough to handle high-speed slough management, yet light enough that he can put in long skin tracks without burning out before the descent. Thoughtful layering lets him move efficiently without constant wardrobe changes, and his guiding work means avalanche tools and communication systems are non-negotiable, not accessories. Watching his edits with an equipment lens helps underline a key point: before chasing his kind of lines, it is worth investing in a trustworthy touring setup, functional clothing and the avalanche education to use them properly.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans connect with Sam Cohen because his skiing feels both aspirational and authentic. He is clearly capable of stepping onto the biggest stages in ski film, yet much of his story is grounded in familiar rhythms: early-morning canyon drives, watching the avalanche report, digging snow pits, joking with partners and then finally opening it up when everything comes together. Segments filmed at Alta, in British Columbia huts or on remote Alaskan faces show a skier who genuinely loves the whole process, not just the final hero shot. The fact that he still spends a large part of his life guiding, climbing and exploring on his own terms only adds to the appeal; this is a career built around mountains first and cameras second.

For progressing freeriders and backcountry skiers, Cohen offers a clear model of how to grow into serious terrain without losing the playful joy that drew you to skiing in the first place. His background in junior competitions, his years of Dubsatch edits with friends and his evolution into a trusted guide and film athlete all reinforce the same message: strong fundamentals, respect for the snowpack, and a willingness to work hard in the mountains are what make the biggest lines possible. Watching his clips with that in mind turns each segment into more than entertainment; it becomes a blueprint for balancing ambition, safety and long-term love for the sport.

Profile and significance

Sam Smoothy is one of New Zealand’s most influential big-mountain skiers, a freeride specialist who has moved from Freeride World Tour podiums into full-scale ski mountaineering and film projects in some of the world’s most serious ranges. Raised between Cromwell and the mountain town of Wānaka, he was immersed in the outdoors from birth; his mother famously skied at nearby Treble Cone the day she went into labour, and he was back on the hill in a backpack only months later. A promising junior ski racer, he eventually pivoted to freeride, chasing winters between New Zealand and Verbier in Switzerland and working his way onto the Volkl international team. Over two decades of chasing storms he has stacked Freeride World Tour wins, film segments with some of the biggest production houses in skiing and a reputation as one of the sport’s most charismatic, thoughtful voices.

What makes Smoothy significant is not just a single result or clip, but the breadth of his career. He has won marquee freeride events, including Freeride World Tour stops in Kappl and Vallnord-Arcalís, finished second overall on the 2014 Tour and helped redefine what a “competition line” can look like with his all-time Andorra run that many fans still replay as one of the best ever ridden in contest history. As the years rolled on he evolved again, joining the global athlete roster for The North Face, starring in feature films and gradually shifting his focus toward long, committing ski mountaineering projects in the Southern Alps. Few skiers have combined World Tour success, high-end filming and serious alpinism as coherently as he has.

Competitive arc and key venues

Smoothy’s competitive arc starts in traditional racing programs around Wānaka before he discovers freeride as a more natural outlet for his appetite for speed and risk. Early wins at the New Zealand Open and the Engadinsnow event in Switzerland signaled that his aggressive, race-honed approach worked well in big-mountain venues. Those results, combined with standout performances on the emerging freeride circuit, earned him a full-time spot on the Freeride World Tour. Across multiple seasons he became a fixture at the top of the rankings, highlighted by a vice-champion overall finish in 2014, where only Loïc Collomb-Patton finished ahead of him in the men’s ski standings.

Two competition moments stand out in his story. The first is his win in Kappl, Austria, where he came back from an emergency appendectomy just before the season and still managed to take victory only weeks later, kicking off a remarkable run of results. The second is his legendary Vallnord-Arcalís line in Andorra, a fast, creative route laced with huge airs and fluid transitions that judges and commentators described as one of the greatest comp runs the sport had seen. These venues, along with classic stops like Verbier, became the proving grounds where he showed that “fast and loose” could still mean controlled, intelligent skiing when the stakes were highest.

How they ski: what to watch for

Sam Smoothy’s skiing is built on speed, fall-line commitment and an ability to read terrain at a glance. He skis with a powerful, slightly forward stance, driving his shins into the tongue of his boots and letting long, confident turns set the tone for a run. Where many freeriders rely on frequent check turns, he prefers to keep his skis engaged and the line as direct as conditions allow, using the terrain itself—rollers, convexities and natural benches—to manage momentum. On film or in competition, the first thing to watch is how little he hesitates: once he drops, he tends to link decisions into one continuous flow.

Feature choice is another signature. Smoothy often identifies transfers, cross-court airs and double-stage drops that others overlook, then hits them at speeds that would make most skiers uncomfortable. In the air he mixes big, controlled straight airs with the occasional spin or tweak, but the trick is always in service of the line rather than a standalone stunt. Landings are decisive; he absorbs impact low and strong, immediately re-centers and rolls back into the fall line with no visible panic. For viewers trying to learn from him, this is the key takeaway: his most spectacular moments rest on a foundation of timing, edge control and terrain reading developed over thousands of laps.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Resilience is a constant thread in Smoothy’s career. Years on the Freeride World Tour meant heavy crashes, close calls and the mental strain of performing in no-fall zones under a worldwide broadcast. One of the most discussed episodes came while filming for Teton Gravity Research’s “Winterland,” when he triggered a slide in Austria and took a terrifying fall through rock-studded terrain. That incident, which won a “Best Crash” award at the iF3 festival, became a stark illustration of the risks behind the polished segments and underscored how quickly a dream shot can turn into a survival situation.

Despite those setbacks, he continued to push into new realms of the sport. With Teton Gravity Research, he appeared in films like “Winterland,” bringing his blend of speed and personality to big-budget projects in Alaska, Norway and British Columbia. With Red Bull he joined Xavier De Le Rue and Nadine Wallner in “The Sky Piercer,” taking on the challenge of skiing New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook, and showing a global audience the scale of his home mountains. Recent work with Matchstick Productions, including appearances in “After the Snowfall,” has further cemented his influence as an athlete who can carry both heavy action and nuanced storytelling. Off the snow, his essays, interviews and blogs reveal a reflective, often humorous voice that talks openly about fear, risk and responsibility, making him an important cultural figure as well as a physical one.

Geography that built the toolkit

Understanding Smoothy’s skiing means understanding where he learned to move in the mountains. The Wānaka region, anchored by Lake Wānaka and ringed by the Southern Alps, is a training ground where wind, variable snow and steep faces are normal. At Treble Cone, his home hill, long fall-line runs, natural halfpipes and exposed ridgelines offer a perfect laboratory for the high-speed, big-turn style he favors. Storm days in the trees, chalky chutes and springtime corn all show up in his segments because they are simply part of his everyday environment.

Beyond his backyard, Smoothy’s map extends across the world’s serious mountain ranges. Winters spent in Verbier honed his skills on classic European freeride faces, while film trips with TGR to the coastal mountains of British Columbia, the Chugach in Alaska and the Alps demanded new levels of decision-making under pressure. Back home, his growing focus on ski mountaineering has led him into the heart of Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, where he has been working on a long-term project to climb and ski all of New Zealand’s 3000-metre peaks. That combination of lift-served freeride, heli-access terrain and self-propelled missions on glaciated summits gives him an unusually broad toolkit for reading snow and slope angles in almost any setting.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Smoothy’s sponsor lineup reflects both his freeride roots and his current life as a ski mountaineer. On his feet he rides for Völkl, typically choosing freeride-oriented skis with enough width and stiffness to stay composed at very high speeds while still remaining maneuverable in technical couloirs. Those skis are paired with bindings from Marker and boots from Dalbello, a combination that emphasizes reliable release, strong power transfer and comfort on full-day missions. As a long-time member of The North Face athlete team he relies on technical outerwear and insulation designed for serious alpinism, spending as much time in harnesses and crampons as he does lapping powder.

For skiers looking to take lessons from his approach, the exact models matter less than the system thinking behind them. Smoothy’s setup is built to perform in deep snow, mixed conditions and no-fall terrain without forcing constant compromises; his skis are supportive enough for big airs and variable landings, yet not so heavy that long bootpacks and skin tracks become impossible. Durable outerwear, functional layering and a full kit of avalanche and mountaineering gear are non-negotiable. Watching his segments with an eye on equipment makes it clear that his trust in his tools is part of what allows him to ski “fast and loose” while still maintaining a margin of safety.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans are drawn to Sam Smoothy because he embodies the full arc of a modern mountain career: racer, freeride contender, film star and, increasingly, dedicated alpinist and storyteller. His contest wins and famous Andorra line gave freeride skiers a benchmark for committed, creative competition skiing. His film work has shown what happens when that energy is unleashed on remote faces around the world, and his recent focus on New Zealand’s highest peaks offers a more reflective, long-view form of progression that resonates with anyone who has grown up with the sport.

For progressing skiers, his path is both inspiring and instructive. He built solid technique in gates, transferred those skills into freeride, learned to operate in complex avalanche terrain and, after heavy crashes and close calls, openly reassessed how he wanted to balance risk and reward. The message is clear: speed and big lines are built on years of learning, strong partners and a willingness to keep evolving. Whether you are watching his historic Freeride World Tour run in Vallnord-Arcalís, his near-death crash and recovery in “Winterland” or his careful turns on glaciated slopes around Aoraki, Smoothy offers a living blueprint for how to keep chasing bigger mountains while staying honest about the costs, the preparation and the joy that make it all worthwhile.

Profile and significance

Xander Guldman is part of the new generation of big-mountain freeskiers who have turned Freeride World Tour starts and heavy film segments into a single, coherent career. Raised in Truckee, California, he grew up lapping the steep, playful terrain above Donner Summit, cutting his teeth with the Sugar Bowl Ski Team and later Sugar Bowl Academy before becoming one of North America’s standout junior freeriders. After winning the overall North American IFSA junior title and earning a podium at the Freeride Junior World Championships, he briefly stepped away from competition to study at UC Davis, then returned with a more mature outlook and an even deeper love for big-mountain skiing.

That return has reshaped how people talk about him. In 2023 he made his debut on the Freeride World Tour, finishing 12th overall in the Ski Men field with solid performances at Baqueira Beret, Ordino Arcalís and Kicking Horse. At the same time, he was quietly stacking some of the most talked-about segments in modern ski cinema, including appearances in Matchstick Productions’ “The Land of Giants” and the HEAD team film “Unified.” Those performances helped him earn the iF3 Breakout Skier of the Year award and established him as a skier whose blend of technicality, creativity and composure puts him near the top of the contemporary freeride conversation.

Competitive arc and key venues

Guldman’s competitive arc starts early. As a kid in Tahoe he began entering junior freeride events around the region, steadily climbing from local podiums to national-level dominance. His breakthrough on the youth stage came when he won the overall North American IFSA title in 2015 and then claimed third place at the Freeride Junior World Championships the following year. Along the way he picked up the IFSA Mayor of Freeride award for community spirit, a nod to the way he combined results with humility and support for fellow competitors.

After aging out of juniors, he chose a different path than many peers: he paused competition to focus on university and work as a river guide, then relaunched his ski career on the Freeride World Qualifier circuit. In 2022 he finished second overall in the Americas FWQ standings, securing a coveted spot on the 2023 Freeride World Tour. There, he delivered a strong rookie campaign with 12th overall, including an 8th place at Ordino Arcalís and another 8th at Kicking Horse, where his now-famous screamin’ seamen 360 became one of the most replayed tricks of the season. Even without an FWT podium, the combination of consistency and flair marked him as a long-term threat whenever he clips into a start gate.

Key venues trace the outline of his style. At home, Sugar Bowl Resort and the surrounding Donner Summit terrain have shaped his instincts for natural airs, tight trees and fall-line speed. On tour, faces like Baqueira Beret in Spain, Ordino Arcalís in Andorra and the rugged ridges of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in British Columbia have given him canvases to mix freestyle tricks with big exposure. Those mountains, combined with film trips to Alaska, Norway, Japan and interior British Columbia, show why his line choices feel both playful and high-consequence at the same time.

How they ski: what to watch for

Watching Xander Guldman ski is a lesson in how modern freeride can absorb park influence without losing respect for the terrain. He tends to ski with a compact, athletic stance and a very calm upper body, letting his skis and subtle hip angulation do most of the talking. On steep venues he favors direct, fall-line lines, linking airs that build in size and commitment as the run unfolds. Rather than hunting one giant cliff, he often stitches together a sequence of features that keeps the pace high and leaves little room for hesitation.

Trick-wise, Guldman is best known for stylish 360s and off-axis spins thrown in places where most riders would be content just to survive. His screamin’ seamen 360 at Kicking Horse, for example, showed how comfortable he is twisting his legs into a complex grab even above serious exposure. In films, he brings the same approach to spines, pillows and couloirs, often squeezing a grab or tweak into a takeoff that many skiers would treat as purely functional. For fans and aspiring freeriders, the details to watch are his landings: he consistently absorbs impact, re-centers over his skis and immediately rolls back into the fall line, which keeps his runs flowing and judge-friendly even when the tricks are unconventional.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Resilience runs quietly through Guldman’s career. Stepping away from competition in his early twenties could have meant drifting out of the sport’s spotlight, but he used that time to build other parts of his life: studying pre-med courses, guiding multi-day river trips and thinking carefully about what kind of ski career he actually wanted. When he came back to the FWQ and then the Freeride World Tour, he did so with a clearer sense of purpose and an emphasis on long-term health rather than short-lived fireworks.

His influence has expanded rapidly through film. In Matchstick Productions’ “The Land of Giants,” he went from relative unknown to audience favorite, standing out in a cast full of established legends with fast, creative lines in some of the world’s most photogenic ranges. In HEAD’s “Unified” and later “Out of the Ordinary,” he helped anchor the brand’s big-mountain storytelling, showing how a race-bred company can express pure freeski culture. More recently he has stepped into a director’s role with “Form,” a short film built around skiing on Donner Summit and an improvised jazz score performed live by his brother’s quartet. Projects like the Noise Ordinance tour, which combine live music and ski films, underline his interest in expanding what a ski premiere can feel like, not just stacking banger shots.

Geography that built the toolkit

Guldman’s skiing is inseparable from the geography of Lake Tahoe and the northern Sierra Nevada. Growing up in Truckee meant regular storms, heavy coastal snow and terrain that flips quickly from open bowls to tight timber and rock-lined chutes. Long days exploring around Donner Summit and the backcountry near Sugar Bowl Resort taught him how to read complex avalanche terrain, manage speed in variable snow and find creative hits where others see only traverse tracks. Those habits show up every time he steps onto a new face: he looks for ways to play with the mountain rather than simply ticking off the obvious fall line.

Film and tour travel have expanded that toolkit. “The Land of Giants” alone brought him to zones such as Idaho’s Smoky Range, Alaska’s Chilkat Range, the Niseko Range in Japan, Norway’s Lyngen Alps, the Sierra back home in California, Utah’s Wasatch and multiple ranges in British Columbia. Alongside Freeride World Tour stops in Spain, Andorra and Canada, plus South American trips with partners like Stellar Equipment, he has experienced everything from deep maritime storms to firm continental chalk. The result is a skier who looks just as comfortable threading a rocky spine in low light as he does lacing turns down a perfectly filled-in Alaska face.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

On the gear side, Guldman rides for the HEAD freeski program, using skis from HEAD paired with bindings from Tyrolia. His outerwear comes from Stellar Equipment, while goggles and helmets are supplied by Smith Optics. In avalanche terrain he relies on tools from Backcountry Access, and he continues to represent his home hill through an ambassador role with Sugar Bowl Resort. Taken together, his sponsor mix reflects a focus on durability, safety and all-conditions performance rather than hyper-specialized park gear.

For progressing skiers, the practical message is clear. Guldman’s skiing works because his equipment is built as a system: stable, directional freeride skis that can still be thrown into spins, bindings and boots tuned for aggressive but controlled landings, and avalanche gear he knows intimately from countless backcountry days. Viewers studying his runs can see how this setup lets him commit to creative tricks in serious terrain without second-guessing his tools. It is a reminder that before trying to copy his tricks, riders should invest in reliable safety gear, a solid big-mountain ski underfoot and the avalanche education to back it up.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans gravitate toward Xander Guldman because he embodies a modern, multidimensional version of a pro skier. He is competitive enough to charge on the Freeride World Tour, stylish enough to anchor segments in major films and thoughtful enough to build projects that link skiing to music and storytelling. His iF3 Breakout Skier of the Year award was less a surprise than an acknowledgement of what many viewers already felt: he is one of the riders redefining what “big-mountain freeskiing” looks like right now.

For aspiring freeriders, his path offers a realistic roadmap. He built strong fundamentals on a local team, learned to move confidently in the backcountry, embraced a break from competition when he needed it and came back with renewed energy rather than burnout. He shows that it is possible to value community, creativity and long-term health while still skiing at the very edge of what is possible. Whether you are watching a Freeride World Tour replay, a Matchstick Productions premiere or a small-venue screening of “Form,” following Guldman gives you a front-row seat to how thoughtful, imaginative big-mountain skiing is evolving season after season.