Who is The Ultimate Whistler ski bum in 2024 ? | Je Pac

Profile and significance

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand—universally known as ABM—is one of the defining Canadian freeskiers of his era, bridging elite contests and high-level filming with rare consistency. Born in Quebec City in 1994, he delivered a landmark result for Canada when he earned Olympic bronze in men’s ski slopestyle at PyeongChang 2018. That medal, combined with a haul of five X Games medals across slopestyle, big air, and Real Ski, and a 2019 FIS World Championships big air bronze in Park City, places him among the most decorated all-around freeskiers of the past decade. Just as importantly for fans, ABM is a rare athlete whose style reads as clearly on a slopestyle course as it does in an urban segment, making him essential viewing whether you follow competitions, street skiing, or both.

ABM’s reputation rests on substance more than hype. He first appeared at the Olympics as a finalist at Sochi 2014, overcame major injuries in the seasons that followed, and then returned to the very top of the sport by the end of the decade. His ski IQ—especially on rails—turned into a calling card: clean lock-ins, directional changes with purpose, and landings that keep speed alive for the next feature. That polish helps explain how he could step from podium moments at Aspen into the all-street format of Real Ski and still earn a medal there too. Few riders thread that needle as convincingly.

Competitive arc and key venues

ABM’s competitive arc traces the modern freeski pathway: early World Cups and Dew Tour appearances, a breakout X Games podium, and then a sustained period of podium-level runs at the sport’s headline events. He won slopestyle bronze at X Games Aspen in 2017, followed by the signature moment of his career—the Olympic bronze at PyeongChang 2018. In 2019 he produced one of the strongest single-year résumés of anyone in freeskiing: silver in big air and silver in slopestyle at Aspen Snowmass, bronze in Real Ski, and another big air bronze at the X Games stop in Norway. That same winter he added a World Championships bronze in big air at Park City, cementing his versatility.

Venues matter in how his skiing matured. Aspen has long been the proving ground for ABM’s jump and rail balance, while Breckenridge nurtured his early Dew Tour success and gave him the repetitions needed to scale tricks to XL features. Closer to home, the park culture around Quebec City—including Le Relais and Stoneham—fed his rail precision and urban instincts. It’s a circuit that spans manicured, high-speed courses and gritty winter cityscapes, and ABM has shown he can translate between the two without losing his identity.

How they ski: what to watch for

ABM’s skiing is built around clarity of intent. On rails, he emphasizes early edge commitment and solid center-of-mass control, which allows him to execute technical switch-ups and directional changes without scrambling. His exits are deliberate—he protects speed into the next panel of features, an asset in modern slopestyle scoring where momentum and link-up difficulty matter. On jumps, he’s known for precise takeoff timing and full-value grabs that stabilize rotations. You’ll often see him set rotations early and stay stacked in the air, enabling crisp axis control on doubles and triples and giving him options to alter grab sequences mid-spin.

What to watch in a run: ABM’s ability to vary spin direction and stance while keeping a consistent line speed. He can open rails with a high-difficulty lock-in, carry that speed to a left-spinning jump with a deep grab, then change direction for a switch takeoff on the next hit. The effect is a run that looks smooth to casual viewers but reveals dense technical content to experienced eyes. It’s the same economy you see in his street work—precise approaches, stable body position on impact, and clean outruns that don’t need dramatic recoveries to hold your attention.

Resilience, filming, and influence

ABM’s career includes significant injuries—collarbone, knee—that could have derailed momentum. Instead, those setbacks became inflection points. The comeback culminated in his Olympic bronze and the medal-laden 2019 campaign, but the long-term impact is broader: he demonstrated that a rail-forward technician could thrive in the biggest-air era by leaning into fundamentals and incremental difficulty gains rather than one-off risk. That template has influenced younger riders who prioritize repeatability and line design.

Filming has always been part of ABM’s identity. His Real Ski bronze established his credentials in the all-urban format. Later projects, including the short film “Mirage,” showcase a mature approach to concept and terrain selection, shifting seamlessly from park to natural features while keeping the same commitment to control and trick shape. For brands and fans alike, this duality—contest readiness paired with art-forward filming—makes ABM one of the sport’s most watchable athletes year-round.

Geography that built the toolkit

Quebec City winters shaped ABM’s toolset. Long, cold seasons and consistent snowfall give urban spots staying power, and the local lifts serve up the repetitions that turn rail ideas into habits. Laps at Le Relais and sessions at Stoneham honed timing on smaller, quicker features where approach and exit angles are unforgiving. That background helps explain his composure on World Cup-scale rails and why his street segments feel both ambitious and controlled.

On the contest circuit, Aspen Snowmass offered the clearest mirror for his best form, while Breckenridge remains synonymous with progression blocks where he added jump variety without sacrificing landing shape. The World Championship stage at Park City validated his big-air credentials in a setting known for meticulous jumps and high elevation, a combination that spotlights takeoff discipline and mid-air stability—two of ABM’s strengths.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

ABM rides Völkl skis with Marker bindings and wears Orage outerwear and Auclair gloves. The through-line across that kit is dependable platform feel and durability for both park laps and urban impacts. For progressing skiers using ABM as a model, the practical notes are straightforward: choose a park-capable ski with a balanced flex that allows proper presses on rails but won’t fold on large takeoffs; pair it with bindings that deliver elastic travel and predictable release; and invest in outerwear and gloves that keep mobility high across sub-zero sessions common to Quebec winters and late-night street shoots.

ABM’s gear choices support his style rather than define it. Even in the era of triple-cork arms races, his runs stand out because grabs are held, spin directions alternate, and landings are purposefully centered. Equipment is there to enable those habits; the technique makes them count.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

ABM matters because he shows what modern freeski completeness looks like: an Olympic medalist who can still film an urban segment worth replaying; a five-time X Games medalist whose best traits are accessible to learn from; a technician who treats rails as the backbone of a run and jumps as the canvas for clean, directionally varied tricks. If you’re watching slopestyle and big air to spot runs that age well on rewatch, ABM’s are a safe bet. If you’re a skier refining your own park game, study his line speed, his early grab timing, and how he exits rails with the next feature already in mind. That is the blueprint that took him from Quebec parks and streets to podiums at Aspen, Park City, and PyeongChang, and it’s why his skiing continues to resonate well beyond the scoreboard.

Profile and significance

Jérémie “Je Paq” Paquette is a Canadian freeride skier whose story combines classic ski-bum grit with rapidly growing big-mountain credentials. Raised in Quebec and now based in Whistler, British Columbia, he has built a reputation for charging hard, taking creative lines, and keeping the stoke high whether he is dropping cliffs or sleeping in the back of his car. A former park and slopestyle competitor from the Mont Orford scene in the Eastern Townships, Paquette has transitioned into full-throttle freeride, earning a place on the Freeride World Tour Challenger circuit and stacking strong results on steep venues across western Canada.

Paquette’s standout contest result so far is a second place at a four-star freeride event at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, a venue known for sustained pitch and unforgiving exposure. That podium helped secure his role on the Challenger tour, where his rider profile lists both Mont-Orford and Whistler Blackcomb as home mountains. Beyond results, he has become widely recognized thanks to viral clips, including a headline-grabbing triple front flip off the backside of Whistler and a big corked 720 off the famous Air Jordan feature. In parallel he has stepped into brand and film projects, joining the athlete roster for glove specialist Auclair and starring in the short documentary “Ascent,” backed by ski and boot brands like Völkl, Marker and Dalbello.

Competitive arc and key venues

Before he was known as Whistler’s triple-frontflip guy, Paquette was a rising park skier from Magog, Quebec, cutting his teeth with the Orford Freeriders club. Articles from his early years describe him winning multiple gold medals in regional slopestyle events at hills like Belle-Neige and Le Massif du Sud, and chasing a ticket to Canadian championships. That park background gave him confidence with spins, grabs, and air awareness, but he was also drawn to the looser, more natural style of freeride. Over time, he shifted from shaped park jumps to wind lips, cliffs, and natural takeoffs, blending his competition fundamentals with a love of improvisation in the terrain.

The move west to Whistler was a turning point. Life became about long seasons on Whistler Blackcomb, lapping Peak-to-Creek top to bottom, sending classic features and hunting storm cycles. From there, Paquette stepped onto the Freeride World Qualifier and then Challenger circuits, targeting steep, technical venues built for high-consequence skiing. His second place at the four-star event in Kicking Horse Mountain Resort marked his arrival as a serious freeride contender, showing he could combine freestyle moves with controlled exposure in big terrain. Challenger tour starts, “Born Cold” moments at events, and consistent strong finishes at Canadian venues have cemented him as one of the more exciting new-school faces pushing into the top tiers of contest freeride.

How they ski: what to watch for

Paquette’s skiing is an energetic blend of freestyle tricks and classic freeride fall-line commitment. When you watch his competition runs or inbounds clips, the first thing that stands out is his comfort with speed. He rarely side-slips into features; instead he approaches from high above, commits early, and uses subtle edge sets to control takeoff timing rather than big, obvious checks. That approach is what makes lines like Air Jordan so memorable in his hands: he clears the entrance with confidence, regroups quickly, and uses the remaining terrain to set up a clean, corked trick into the run-out.

On airtime, you see the park background immediately. Paquette keeps his body compact, grabs held long, and head tracking the landing rather than twisting through the air. Rotations are decisive but not frantic; even on the viral triple front flip backside of Whistler, the motion is powerful but organized, with a strong pop, tight tuck and clear spotting phases. Between features he skis with a low, athletic stance that lets him absorb terrain and re-center quickly, an important detail for anyone learning from his footage. For aspiring freeriders, focusing on his speed management, takeoff discipline and ability to stay composed after big impacts is more useful than just copying the trick list.

Resilience, filming, and influence

Part of what makes Paquette such a compelling figure is his willingness to live the lifestyle as fully as he attacks his lines. In interviews and on the Low Pressure Podcast, he describes long stretches of living in his car in Whistler, drying gear in improvised ways and planning days around where to park, charge a phone, and find a sauna after skiing from bell to bell. That kind of commitment has helped him stack more time on snow than most, and it gives his public persona a grounded, relatable feel: he is not just dropping enormous lines, he is doing it from the classic ski-bum starting point.

The short film “Ascent,” directed by Ulysse Guay, captures a different side of that story: the aftermath of injury and the mental work required to come back. Billed as a comeback documentary and featured on the Pangea Collective Freeride Film Tour, the film follows Paquette as he returns from a serious setback to chase his dream life as a professional skier around Whistler. Instead of focusing only on highlight tricks, “Ascent” leans into rehab, self-doubt, and the patience needed to rebuild confidence in big terrain. For younger riders, it is a reminder that sendy skiing and long-term durability must coexist if you want to stay in the game.

Geography that built the toolkit

Paquette’s skiing is stamped by the contrast between his home mountains. On the Quebec side, Mont-Orford offers tree lines, short but intense pitches, and plenty of icy, variable days. Growing up there means learning to set edges precisely, manage speed on firm snow, and get creative with smaller features. Early competition results at resorts like Belle-Neige and Le Massif du Sud show he learned to make the most of modest vertical by packing a lot of action into each run, a habit that still shows in how densely he loads technical moves into a freeride venue.

On the West Coast, the vast scale of Whistler Blackcomb changed what was possible. Suddenly lines like Air Jordan, big back bowls and long fall-line faces became daily training grounds instead of rare opportunities. Top-to-bottom laps from the alpine to the valley, deep-storm tree skiing and easy access to sidecountry features all pushed his comfort zone. Add in road trips to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and other big-mountain venues, and you get a skier who reads terrain with both Eastern precision and Western looseness. That geographic mix is a big part of why his freeride lines feel powerful but still controlled.

Equipment and partners: practical takeaways

Gear-wise, Paquette’s visible partnerships line up with his style of skiing. As part of the athlete roster for Auclair, he relies on durable, high-warmth gloves built for long, cold days when you are not going inside between runs. In “Ascent,” the project support from Völkl, Marker and Dalbello reflects a freeride-focused setup: modern freeride skis with stable platforms, robust bindings and boots that can handle repeated big impacts and variable snow without folding or blowing out. For viewers, the takeaway is not that you must ride the same brands, but that building a dependable big-mountain kit matters just as much as the tricks.

If you are progressing toward cliffs, natural jumps, or contest-style faces, Paquette’s approach suggests a few priorities. Aim for a ski with enough width and backbone to stay composed when you land slightly off-balance or in chopped snow. Pair it with bindings set to a release value that matches both your weight and how aggressively you ski, and boots that hold your heel firmly while still letting you flex forward. Add in reliable gloves and outerwear, and you get the kind of comfort and security that makes it easier to focus on line choice and technique instead of cold hands or nervous feet.

Why fans and progressing skiers care

Fans gravitate to Jérémie Paquette because he represents a very current version of the freeski dream. He is not an Olympic medalist or long-time World Cup racer; he is a dedicated skier who left home, lived out of a vehicle, and used sheer time-on-snow to carve out a place in the sport. Viral clips like the triple front flip might be what first catches people’s attention, but over time his consistency on freeride venues, his comeback story in “Ascent,” and his everyday presence on Whistler’s lifts and ridgelines are what keep viewers invested.

For progressing skiers, his path offers both inspiration and practical lessons. It shows that a mix of park fundamentals, small-hill creativity and big-mountain mileage can add up to a recognizable style in front of cameras and judges. It also underscores the importance of resilience: injuries, tight budgets and long seasons in cramped living situations are all part of the story, not reasons to stop. Watching Je Paq ski is entertaining, but studying how he manages speed, engages takeoffs and keeps the fun front and center turns his footage into a real learning tool for anyone who wants to push their own freeride game.