I’d heard whispers about Sugar Bowl, tucked at the end of Donner Lake, and how good it is for freeskiing, and how it’s mainly locals who dominate the mountain, not Aussies or hordes of internationals that head to other larger ski areas scattered around Tahoe. Finally, I made it here with my intro being a morning tearing into cord with the local crew on massive groomers, spying short steep spines from the chair. First impressions – uncrowded, unassuming and a sweet spot to skip the hustle and come back to play on a powder day.

Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest ski resorts in California, home to the state’s first chairlift, the west’s first gondola and a rich storied past with ties to Austrian ski culture, Hollywood and Walt Disney. It’s also one of the last independent ski resorts in North America and is owned by the village.

Bridget Legnavsky, the new (ish) President and CEO of Sugar Bowl has just launched Tahoe’s biggest freestyle park and training facility, filling a surprising gap given the vast number of resorts, the population and vibrant culture of freestyle in the snow industry in this part of the world.

“Sugar Bowl is a community for its kids that love to ski and ride. We are super proud of what that actually stands for, and what that actually means in today’s world.” And now, home to the most progressive freestyle program in Tahoe, thanks to the efforts and direction of Bridget and a passionate team determined to bring the vision to life.

I met Bridget in Wanaka back in the early ‘90s. She worked her way up from being an instructor, becoming the general manager of Cardrona and then further up the chain as the Chief Experience Officer for Real Journeys after the amalgamation of Cardona and Treble Cone. For numerous years Bridget was the NZ Extreme Skiing Champion and we’d often 

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Inside this year’s edition, we’ve packed stories that reach from local hill laps to far-flung backcountry dreams — a full celebration of skiing in all its messy, joyful, unpredictable glory. We kick things off at home with young Aussie freeride phenom Finn Jacobsen, whose rise through the junior freeride ranks is the kind of story that makes you stop and wonder what the next generation is really capable of.

From there, it’s a deep dive into some of the season’s standout moments: Billy Lloyd-Blainey’s double backie over the Charlotte Pass road gap; Kai Jones’ emotional comeback from a brutal injury; and a look at what it took for Charles Beckinsale and his crew to build Australia’s biggest jump and a world-class superpipe — right in the middle of one of the lowest-snow years in memory.

But it’s not all local. We went global too. To Hakuba, where the storms kept rolling in and the powder was as deep as it gets. To Chamonix, where big mountains meet bigger consequences. To BC’s Powder Highway, chasing cold smoke turns through Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, and Fernie — a reminder that the road trip remains the purest form of ski adventure.

And if you’re just here for the gear, we’ve got you covered. Our Chillfactor Picks section is back with some of the best new kit for the 2025 season — jackets, skis, boots, and tech from trusted brands, plus insights from those who’ve put it all through the wringer.

This is our 26th year telling the stories that matter to Aussie skiers. From seasoned tourers to stoked groms just finding their edges, Chillfactor 2025 is for anyone who knows that even an average snow season can hold some unforgettable days. All you’ve got to do is show up.Available now in newsagents across Australia and New Zealand — or head to subscribe.chillfactor.com to subscribe and have it delivered straight to your door.

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The Jib League’s process is simple. There is an open day that anyone can enter with skiers hitting the park in a jam session watched by the organisers. Seven skiers are chosen form that session to join 15 invited skiers for the pro sessions. That involves three different sessions over three days on three different elements.

The sessions are films and screened at a local venue that night, the skiers voting for whoever they thought was the best skier on the day. The skier with the most votes after all three sessions wins.  

Perisher skier Martin Longhitano took time out from his annual guiding gig in Italy and headed to Innsbruck in February for the first event with a pair of 2002 Dynastar Concept twin-tips skis over his shoulder. He progressed through the open day to the pro sessions where he finished fourth overall after the three days. It seems the 20-year-old skis didn’t hinder his performance.

“I found the skis in the Jindy Op shop,”

Martin told Chillfactor. “They were the skis used by the generation of skiers I looked up to as a kid. They’re lots of fun but very different to a modern ski. The dimensions are 103/72/95 and they have a very light swing-weight. I thought Jib League was the event to use the old school twin tips.” 

It is early days, but there is talk of the Jib League potentially heading to the southern hemisphere with Cardrona a likely venue. But who knows, it’s an event an Australian resort could easily host. “I have mentioned it to them,” Martin said. “It would be amazing.”

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Day in, day out there’s a myriad of questions the clients pepper Tucker and his team with; “What’s the weather doing, what’s the snow doing, what are we going to get to ski on?” And eventually everyone asks (probably as they reconsider their life choices and the desk job they are about to head back to…) “so, how did you get into this business?”

Tucker laughs heartily and says, “My answer is probably the same one you’d get if you asked any guide. We just want to ski!” 

“It started with an early introduction to travel, experiences and a love of surfing, skiing and being outside as a child. I studied business at college, achieved a degree and during that process I picked up an entrepreneurship. They said, “What are you excited about?” and my answer was “I have this idea of starting an adventure travel company.” I didn’t have any money, I didn’t have any clients and I didn’t know how to do it but that was the idea that stuck in my mind.”

“I wrote a business plan with these contingencies and I had to go and figure it all out. I found myself in New Zealand, South America, Japan and Antarctica – doing all the things I loved to do – surfing, fishing and skiing. The original idea for my own business probably started as a concept when I was 18, and maybe even earlier, but it hadn’t manifested itself into a clear vision at that point. And then once I got into it, I thought, ‘this is crazy… I can’t believe this could actually be possible.  To travel and do all the things that I’ve been dreaming about – and make it my life.”

“Alaska has been the one constant in my life for the last 20 years. It was one of those places that I just knew I was always going to go back to. No question. I realised I was going to base my season around this place and work everything else in my life around it. Once I got to the point where I was ready to really try to make my business dream happen, I said to myself “I’m going to focus on one thing and I’m going to put everything into it I can.” It was 15 years of work to get to the point where I was even ready to step off and say, “I don’t know everything, but I know enough that I want to try”. 

“I was also just newly married. [My wife] Molly was supportive and said, “you need to go and do it”. So, it got real and I started. I approached it by putting myself in the guest’s shoes in every aspect and thinking about how I could do it best, how I could create something unique and drawing on all those pieces of my experiences from over the years.”

“Running a heli ski operation is all about challenges. It’s continually figuring out problems. It’s running through walls. I don’t think I could do it without starting at the bottom where I washed dishes and learned to refuel helicopters, progressed into following and guiding and literally did every role. It was important to me as I worked up the original feasibility and business plan that I had a clear grasp on each role and how it’s done. I took it to the level that I would work construction in summers to understand building concepts and kept taking classes and courses to fill gaps in my knowledge about snow science and weather. It was a commitment to the process so that if the opportunity presented itself to build this operation I’d been dreaming about – I would be ready.  It was a commitment to working continually towards that goal.”

“There’s a tonne of moving parts in a heli-ski operation. Everything has to be dynamic, just like skiing itself. You have to continually make clear and detailed plans and be ready to shift and change them up when weather or logistics or any number of factors can throw it all up in the air.”

“What we get to take our clients out to ski is based around two key things – what the mountains will give you and what the snow-pack is doing. We’re always watching the weather, we’re always watching the snow. There’s no one size fits all, but we’re going to make it as perfect as we can for the guests on every run with what we have.”

“When booking a heli ski trip, my advice is that the ideal scenario (and this isn’t marketing) is to pull together eight people and buy it outright – then it’s just you and your buddies in a private ship. The next best would be a group of four and then you have a guide and it’s essentially you roll as a semi-private. If you come up as an individual, we’ll work to fit you with the right group, so you have a great time. What’s really important to us is that we want the right people coming on the right weeks with the right expectations and the right group dynamic.”

And Tucker’s closing thoughts, “To me, Alaska is the pinnacle of skiing, and I would take one day in Alaska over a week anywhere else. There’s no place in the world to ski like here, the feeling simply can’t be replicated anywhere else. In my opinion it’s the ultimate ski destination on the planet”.   Which is probably why he’s built his life around it.  If you’re curious, maybe you should think about joining him sometime.

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Over the past year, the organisation has grown from four volunteers to over 40, delivering several fundraising efforts over the 2023 winter season where we raised $65k. With this money, we have invested in a new climate change impact report in conjunction with the Australian National University’s Mountain Research Facility. 

READ: Moments from an Australian winter

The first of its kind, this report shows the at-risk nature of Australian winters and investigates the broad range of impacts that a lack of snow coverage will have on snow sports in Australia, the businesses that surround it and the broader regional communities that rely on snow run off. 

Who is impacted by climate change?

Australia’s snow sports industry is the largest in the world at direct and short-term risk as a result of climate change. What we call for is not only greater action at the community level when it comes to combatting our own carbon footprints, but also greater coordination to make government and society realise the substantial impact that climate change has the potential to have on our environment, livelihoods, and regional communities. 

Our vision is for a future where our alpine playground and the communities and businesses that depend on it still exist. 

How is Protect our Winters fighting climate change?

Protect our Winters first and foremost is a community-based organisation. We are grounded in the team of individuals that support us to spread our message and develop new ideas to advocate for greater climate change action. This exists in the Protect our Winters Jindabyne local alliance which we set up last year and will continue to run this year, but also exists in the communities built around ski lodges, university clubs, competitive snow-sports, local businesses, schools and so much more. 

Through fundraisers, awareness-raising and having those conversations with the communities we’re all a part of, we can start to shift the dial in creating greater awareness of how critical climate change action is to our mountains. 

READ: The affects climate change is having on skiing in the alps

In 2023, we delivered our biggest year yet. This year, we go further. Through fighting for cultural change in our community and raising awareness of climate change, lobbying government for greater recognition of its impacts on our communities, and partnering with businesses, we take steps towards protecting the unique alpine environment we love. 

Our goal this winter is to truly unite our community and the many organisations that are its building blocks to fight for more action against climate change. For that we need your help. By following us on social media, buying our merch, donating, volunteering your time or simply talking to the people around you, you help us in achieving our goals for the 2024 season and beyond. 

More from Australian Winter 2024 Season:

Best ski gear from 2024
The anatomy of a ski turn
The freeride force is strong in the youth

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They wanted to travel to a region off the beaten track, one with good terrain, reliable snow where they could experience a different culture and produce a film documenting the trip. 

They decided a backcountry ski trip to the Racha Range in Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains more than meets that criteria, so they travelled across the world to spen six nights in an old Soviet-era hut. The hut is surrounded by “untouched snowfields, towering peaks, and peaceful valleys, everything you need for fun and adventure, but with geopolitical tensions high in the surrounding areas, the trip took on a more serious tone. 

Bert Seaton caught up with Jack for a quick chat about trip and what he discovered along the way.

Georgia is a long way from Australia. How was the trip and what were your first impressions?

Racha is in Georgia, a small Eastern European country south of Russia. We flew to the capital [Tbilisi], and after a big layover in Dubai, we were there. I expected more Soviet Union grunge, with big concrete buildings, but it ended up being quite a historic European setup – turns out Georgia is one of the one of the oldest civilisations in the area, with a rich history before Soviet influence.

Was it a mission getting to the mountains? The Racha range is a long haul from the capital.

Our guides picked us up from Tbilisi in a four-wheel drive Delica van, and all of us crammed in, putting our board and ski bags on the roof. We cruised through the countryside, through various wine regions (wine is huge in Georgian culture), and naturally, we stopped off at a winery and grabbed five litres of amber wine to take into the backcountry. We drove the whole day and stopped at these cool huts that our guide Tamta called, ‘Babushka stops’ which are stopovers on the side of the road where they cook traditional meals. The drive kept getting more and more remote, and eventually we came into this tiny rural town called Ghebi at the base of the mountains, and from there we hiked eight hours to the hut.

An eight-hour hike – so obviously pretty isolated, no phone, no internet, no connection to home. How’d you adjust to that?

On the first day I was caught up in what I’d left behind, like, “what have I missed for work… what am I doing?” and then we settled into this nice rhythm of focusing on nothing. Waking up, making coffee, cooking food, collecting water, chopping firewood, looking at the map of where to ski for the day, and for Andy and me, we were thinking about taking photos – and occasionally throwing down some amber wine and shots of Cha/Cha [a wine-based spirit]. But yeah, we settled into this slow mountain pace that follows the sun – because once the sun’s down you’ve got nothing to do, so it gives you a reason to go to bed and then a reason to wake up.

The Ukraine war has made that part of the world pretty unstable and Georgia has had its own experience with war with Russia. What was the feeling in Georgia, with the locals you spent time with, toward Ukraine and what is happening now?

You hear about the Ukraine war, but until I got to Georgia it just felt like a news item. As soon as we arrived in Tbilisi though, there were Ukrainian flags everywhere, every coffee shop had a flag hanging, they may even have a statement on their door saying, “don’t come in if you support Russia” … Then going to one of the ski towns and meeting some local ‘snow bums’ was interesting. In Australia ‘snow bums’ don’t usually have much to care about – they’re just partying and skiing and stuff, which is a cool lifestyle, but these people were highly involved in politics in their country (out of necessity). 

One of the guides, who would usually have guided us, was away fighting in Ukraine – it impacted his life enough for him to go and fight in an army, so that was confronting. And the head ski guide Luka, he grew up going to these mountain regions with his father, but he can’t go to them anymore, because they’re now occupied by Russia. He loves the mountains, it’s part of his identity, so it had this personal impact that I don’t know how to describe. It wasn’t like being back in Australia where you just read the news and go, “oh, I’m educated, I’m upset with what’s happened in the world”, to these guys it impacts their lives.

In the film you guys made about the trip, you mention that the skiing felt insignificant. But it seems like this trip, and the skiing, gave you a better understanding of the bigger picture.

Yeah, well you ski around and you’re in the mountains and it’s great, but you feel silly because these people are dealing with real stuff. You’re often reminded by bits of conversation about some protest or the fact that someone’s lost land. So, it felt silly that we were just skiing around, but… also cool, because the skiing is what brought all of us together. That’s why we ended up finding out about these people’s lives. Without that we’d just have jumped on the tourist train and cruised around without this experience. By doing something we’re passionate about, we ended up in a situation where we were able to become closer with people. We got this real experience from real Georgians about what’s happening and how they feel about it.

You can check out the film by following Andy or Jack on Instagram @andrewhardy and @jacksmitharthur 

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Chamonix France is a zone that tends to deliver on the promise of snow, but that’s just the half of it.  There are many reasons I am in awe of this place and if I had to choose one spot in Europe for the rest of my life this would be it. 

Chamonix France may not be the most family friendly, nor the most inter-connected ski destination in Europe, but it is the most dramatic and inspiring ski zone for my money. It’s a real town, with schools, ice hockey matches and the everyday stuff of normal life going on as well as a pulsing culture of alpinism up and down this majestic valley.  For me, and many skiers who seek out this place for their adrenaline dose, the fact it is not a ‘resort’ is part of the appeal.  Then there’s the terrain. It’s taken no prisoners here once you head beyond the managed pistes.

READ: Moments from an Australian Winter

One of the bucket list ski lines you’ll find here is the legendary Vallée Blanche which stretches from the top of Aiguille du Midi down to the valley floor into Chamonix France.  The vertical drop is almost 3 kilometres and you’ll have skied around 22kms by the time you reach the base – however doing the whole Vallée Blanche has been a pipe dream recently as the lower altitudes haven’t held snow.  A telecabine (gondola) was built at what used to be the base of the ice field in the 1980’s and would return skiers to the Montenvers station where the famous little red train would link back to town.

This iconic destination provides a stark example of what’s happening to glaciers in the Alps.  In the early 1990’s three steps were added to connect the bottom station of the lift from the ice field as it receded.  By the early 2000s 118 steps were needed to bridge the yawning gap and as climate change has accelerated so has the rate at which new steps were required with the total growing to a staggering 550+ steps by the early 2020s.  These changes underline what my own memories and eyes have been telling me – we are losing fragile ice fields at a rate that is anything but ‘glacial’ in pace. 

In February this year a new ‘La Mer de Glace’ gondola opened as part of a 53 million euro investment by the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc to enable skiers, snowboarders and sightseeing visitors to access this magnificent natural wonder.  The new lift extends to the bottom of the valley where it’s hoped the snow-pack will remain, allowing a ski connection to the base station for years to come.  

READ: Chillfactor’s top gear picks from winter 2024

So the good news, “hot laps” (for those fit enough) are now back on the table without a massive hike back up. It’s now technically possible to do 2 or 3 runs in a day.  

Although the Vallée Blanche is skied without guides by those with the knowledge, a ski partner and a plan, guided tours are available and are a must for those not well versed in off-piste glaciated terrain. It’s a very long descent, with numerous routes that can lure you into dead ends. You will be skiing over crevasses with sometimes very fragile snow bridges and this is a wild and untamed place.  A great day skiing can become lethal or at the very least turn into a scary-mad line.  It’s worth remembering most locals and pros here can tackle terrain better than you ever could. Staying humble and making smart choices will mean you get to share your story over après and do it again. Google “extreme ski” and “ Chamonix France ” to see what people get themselves into here. 

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We’d decided to spend January skiing in Europe and to head somewhere we’d not visited before. It’s an investment of time and money to do the Europe thing, so there were a few non-negotiables on our list, mainly around snowfall and terrain mix with accessibility and accommodation options also high priorities. A deep dive into the long-range forecast and a decision to seek high-altitude for snow confidence made Les 3 Vallées our pick.

You’ve likely heard of this place because Les 3 Vallées (L3V) is the largest ski area on the planet, by an insanely leg-burning margin. L3V encompasses seven individual ‘resorts’ taking the stats to mind-blowing levels – we’re talking 600kms of runs and 1,500 hectares of piste. It’s also reassuring as we face the threat of low-snow seasons is that 85% of the ski area is perched above 1800m and the areas are connected by lifted linkages high on the ridges, not on the valley floor.  The five largest ski areas in the US can all fit inside Les 3 Vallées trail map, so you get the idea of the scale of this place. It’s 20kms as the crow flies from Courchevel in the east across to Orelle (technically in the fourth valley) across in the west. 

The trail map is a lot to take in and the marked pistes are just the start. When the conditions permit there is so much off-piste and side country you’d need to stay for the season, or move here permanently, in order to ski it all.

For serious skiers this place is the real deal. Steeps, off piste, ear-popping gondola rides to high peaks and options to explore couloirs with plenty of très difficile options. As you take each trail down and ride up each lift your head is constantly on swivel as you try to take in the countless options laid out all around you. Harro connected with some impressive locals and was blown away by what they had to show him, and where a few short (and longer) hikes could lead. We scored a good dump within days of arriving and two days later there were still untracked morsels to be found, testament to how big the area is.

For the rest of us skiing mortals who maybe aren’t going to tear into the famed Grand Couloir or drop cliff bands, the sweep and scale of terrain here means you’ve got more mountain than you likely have ski-legs. Another plus, the majority of the well-heeled guests staying in Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens are happiest cruising the groom in their designer threads in short stints between long lunches so aren’t fighting it out for the freshies.

We based ourselves in the ‘heart’ of the three valleys, in the higher reaches of the Meribel valley in a hamlet called Meribel Mottaret which sits around 1850m. The flexibility to duck home to swap out camera gear and being in a sweet spot with lift access up and over in either direction to the other valleys earned our stamp of approval. Mottaret is low-key, more chalets and apartments than glitzy hotels, with a handful of spots for après and dinner. We embraced the morning routine of getting fresh baguette at the market and practicing our bad French, then taking a short gondola ride home with our groceries each evening. 

If you’re after a bit more glamour and the chance of running into royalty or celebrities you’ll want to be in Courchevel where you’ll be spoiled with Louis Vuitton, Prada and Dior along the swanky shopping strip and your choice of Michelin starred dining spots. It’s here you have to take a moment in the middle of the ski area to stop and watch the mesmerising take offs and landings at one of the most extreme airports in the world. The short, steep runway is only for the most experienced pilots and it’s an amazing show as the private planes and helicopters buzz in and out. 

Wherever you base yourself in this huge resort area the lifting network has you covered and the different villages all offer their own distinct feel. Want to party? Val Thorens. Want something chill and friendly for kids, La Tania. Looking for a better deal, the friendly Les Menuires.  

The other thing we enjoyed was that it feels properly French here. Cigarette smoking, Pernod sipping and obsessed with their dogs kind of French. This is real European skiing and as soon as you get out of Geneva airport and around the shores of Lake Annecy you are blown away by the centuries of history, stone farmhouses, ancient churches and giant looming granite massifs. Sure, there are folks who can speak plenty of English (and pockets of English tourists) but part of the experience is taking in the rhythms of French life and language and not hanging in an enclave of Aussie tourists – why fly halfway around the world to feel like you could be in Manly?  

This is the perfect place to lean into all things involving bread and cheese and wine – ideally all three. You’re in the proud culinary heart of the French Alps so if there was a time and place to say ‘oui’ to fondue, try a pierrade and that strange looking sausage at the deli counter – it’s here.

And make sure you give yourself enough time. Jet lag is a thing and anything less than seven days will barely be enough. In addition to the skiing, skiing, skiing and cheese eating you’ll want to try things like a tandem parapente flight, the crazy sled runs (Meribel has one that is 3kms long), the intense zip line across the Val Thorens ski area and of course an afternoon dancing on the tables drinking champagne at La Folie Douce.

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You can only get to Alaska’s state capital by air or ferry and you’d be forgiven for not realising Juneau is technically a city. The vibe here is small town, and in the winter months it’s not exactly bustling. 

The main street has a rustic charm and you get the feeling it doesn’t look a hell of a lot different now to when the hunt for gold brought prospectors, including Joe Juneau, this way back in the 1880s when the town was established. Indigenous Tlingit (pron: clink-it) and Haida (pron: high-da) Indian tribes have been fishing these salmon-rich waters for centuries and as you walk through town Tlingit names are on signs, buildings and maps. 

As I’m exploring the main drag I’m trying to picture what’s it’s like in summer when half a dozen cruise liners pull in each day and tourists swarm through town. I’m definitely here in the off-season – and that’s how I like it. 

I feel like I’m getting in on a well-kept secret, because just over the bridge on Douglas Island there’s a rad ski mountain, and this whole area is surrounded by amazing heli-accessed terrain and there is barely anyone here. I made my first visit to ski Eaglecrest – they call it a ski hill, it’s 640 acres with 1620 feet of vertical – last year and I’m fired up to be back so soon. 

Could this be a unicorn; a seriously good ski destination that hasn’t been overrun (yet?)  What it doesn’t have ticks a lot of my boxes – no lift lines, no traffic snarls on the 22-minute drive from town, no parking dramas, no wanker attitude and no frills. What it does have is darn good skiing, friendly locals, a huge almost empty ski area and at the end of the day plenty of great old school bars and places to get a great meal back in town. 

I’m not going to spin some line or say the snow is always epic – it gets it all here; deep dry powder, creamy dreamy soft snow, a bit of crust and crud and the occasional dollop of mashed potatoes and a smattering of hard pack. As skiers we are all gamblers, but I’d put a bet on this place any day.  And that’s why after my first taste I was keen to get back, and I brought a few mates with me.

Our group of skiers and boarders from Mt Buller consisted of Moz Bardas, Mal and Harry Hart, Mt Buller legend Hannes Grimus and his Austrian mountain guide mate Peter Breitfuss – and it was certainly an eye opener for everyone.

It was Hannes’s first trip to Alaska and as we planned this mission he was frothing on every detail. When he’s not freeskiing or running the ski shop in his family’s business, Pension Grimus on Mt Buller, Hannes spends his life around ski race courses, initially as an FIS alpine racer and more recently as a World Cup/Olympic coach. Hannes convinced his mates Moz and Mal to join the trip. Both Moz and Mal are seasoned Alaskan heli skiers who have scored both hits and misses on heli skiing trips up this way. When you’re working with Mother Nature, the Alaskan wilderness and helicopters you know you are buckling into a rollercoaster ride that can be the biggest thrill of your life or an expensive and frustrating disappointment. Most heli trips require a willingness to accept a level of risk and reward in equal measure – but the good news for our group was, we found a way to tilt the odds a little more in our favour.

Most heliski operations in Alaska are tucked out in remote locations. A helicopter, its pilot and engineer are out in these far-flung spots every day of the heli season – which is a cost to the operation. It doesn’t matter if the heli doesn’t leave the ground, there are fixed expenses and they are passed on to clients. No surprise there.

Alaska Powder Descents are a little different because the helicopters they use are based out of Juneau airport and they only pay for the time they fly. For us, it meant instead of sitting in a heli lodge waiting anxiously for those fly-days we had tonnes of options that made for an epic week’s stay. When we weren’t getting in turns at Eaglecrest we were poking about in downtown Juneau, slotting in some hunting and fishing adventures and getting up to retail mischief in the epic outfitter stores (more Carhartt and guns than you could ever imagine). It’s pretty extraordinary to have a heli trip with such low ‘skunk factor’ in the mix, and the ‘local ski hill’ here is a big part of that insurance.

Eaglecrest’s inbounds terrain is a seriously good time and on their (Alaskan) rating has about 40% advanced terrain with another 40% intermediate. Then you take a peek at the side and backcountry and realise you need a lot more time here. Once you set your sights beyond the generous amount of groomed runs and steep off-piste terrain within the marked ski area, you are tempted with a smorgasbord of big, steep, Alaska-sized peaks and terrain features where short hikes or a tour from the top of the Ptarmigan lift will put you into some of the best terrain any serious freeskier could imagine. As a bonus, you get to ski back to the lift. 

I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb to say this place is a legit adventure ski destination that I would put high on any North American list, if not at the top. The fact that it’s completely off the radar only makes it more off the hook. 

Anyway, I’m getting you distracted, from the main event – the promise of heli lines that brought our posse of powder-seekers all the way from Australia. In the case of Moz, Mal and Harry they’d literally just landed when we got the call that it was on. Hannes and Peter had at least had a couple of days to get their AK bearings, but for the others we scooped them from the arrival hall fresh off their international flight and made the short drive 500m to the Temsco Heli base where Alaskan Powder Descents (APD) were ready to deliver us to the top of some fresh lines.

APD are a small operation and it gives them the advantage of being really nimble. When conditions align they can act fast. Our group hustled into action, the sky was blue, there was powder in the mountains waiting and no better way to shake jetlag than a whiff of Jet-A, the scream of a turbine and face shots to boot.

It’s such a dance with the weather and terrain in Alaska as you strive for that ‘goldilocks’ alignment of snow falling and weather clearing and the hope that blasting wind doesn’t undo it all. It can often happen that as the low-pressure storm system moves out high pressure can build in the interior. This pressure imbalance will suck in frigid arctic air that funnels down valleys at a blistering speed, hammering whole swathes of terrain turning dreams of powder turns into nightmares. These weather events also send the mercury plummeting making for insanely cold days. Despite this exact scenario happening during our window we struck gold, just like those early pioneers, with a number of drainages that had escaped the onslaught of the wind. We feasted on bountiful, long powder filled runs in dead-calm conditions to the valley floor. The bliss of being in these sheltered seams of powder while witnessing the gale force winds stirring up a swell on the Lynn Canal below us was mesmerizing.  

After three days of flying and gorging on untracked vertical another North Pacific storm system made its way to us. It was time to say goodbye to our rotor-spinning ways and get our kicks finding fun off the Ptarmigan chair at Eaglecrest. Good times were had exploring the terrain, and fair to say that ‘local ski hill’ has plenty going for it as we slayed tree lines and kept the stoke levels sky high. I was hoping to get the boys out past “The Ridge” on to Hogs Back and over to Mt Stewart but the weather had other ideas.  I guess we’ll just have to do that next time.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to kick along Colorado Street in Telluride, Elk Avenue in Crested Butte or Main Street Park City back in the days when they were still low-key ski towns before winter tourism really took hold and changed them into the destinations they are today.

I feel pretty lucky to be strolling down South Franklin Street in Juneau, rolling into an old-school bar with no line outside and no fancy cocktails inside. It’s cool to experience somewhere special before everyone else cottons on to what a gem it is. If you like your skiing solid and simple and are up for the kind of untamed adventure that Alaska offers this might be something you’d like too – just don’t go telling too many people.

PS: The local tourism website shares a cautionary message that ‘once you visit you may not want to go home’. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The post Is this the last undiscovered ski town in America? appeared first on Chillfactor.

At the mercy of mother nature, like Jekyll and Hyde, the mountains can be stunning one day then completely uninhabitable the next.  Then there’s the issue of risk and how much is too much.    

Having spent my entire life on skis, the lens through which I view these concepts continues to evolve over time. That’s the beauty of skiing. It’s one of the few sports that allows for participation as we move through time.  Multi-generational if you like. A rare activity that can be enjoyed by one, two or even three generations all together. Parents can ski with their parents and the parents of parents can ski with their grandchildren.  Huh?    

As a kid I played all the conventional sports but still to this day, none produce the same sense of fulfilment I get from sliding on snow. Most sports are governed by rigid rules and regulations. Run here, tackle there, don’t overstep the line, yada, yada, yada.   

Maybe it’s the anti-conformist side of free skiing that appeals to me. The feeling of going against the grain and pushing the boundaries (which comes back to risk).  Picking the right moment to dial it up to eleven, or knowing when to listen to environmental and human factors playing it safe.  

When I think of skiers past and present who’ve influenced today’s interpretation, they all blazed their path in different ways. That’s the thing about boosting around on a pair of skis, it’s different. It allows for expression in so many ways. Essentially if there’s snow, you can ski on it. Sometimes there doesn’t even have to be snow, just ask Candide.

Within reason, a skier can turn their skis wherever they want. Perhaps an exception being the icy race tracks of the World Cup circuit or the Olympics. But then even Bode Miller found ways to challenge the establishment, finding speed in places no one else dared to. 

This brings us back to the ‘true ski centre’ of this discussion.  Does the ‘perfect turn’ exist?  After all, the ‘turn’ is at skiing’s very core.  It has been since the start and still is now.  Whether it’s big mountain freeriding, powder, park and pipe, moguls or simply ripping around the resort with your friends, it can’t be done without turning your skis.  It’s the one constant across all forms of the sport.

The notion of the ‘perfect turn’ is tricky to comprehend given there’s so many different settings to consider.  Is it achieving max angulation on the piste with a perfect body position?  Feeling the ski bend as pressure is progressively applied.  Or is it a ripping pow slash with no edges or textbook required as snow billows up into the atmosphere.  

A free-skier floating effortlessly through an open powder field is going to interpret their surroundings differently to a World Cup Racer tackling a terrifying downhill track. The heightened senses of a Freeride World Tour athlete staring down the Bec des Rosses will analyse the complex terrain differently to a weekend warrior.

And there-in lies the quandary of the search for the ‘perfect turn’. The juxtaposition if you like. Long vs short, powder vs crud, groomers vs a World Cup Mogul course.  It’s comparing the incomparable. Maybe we shouldn’t even try.  

Maybe the ‘perfect turns’ are the ones made in our subconscious mind on the eve of a powder day. Dreaming of making a bee-line to your favourite run. The secret stash at your home resort, the one only you and a select few know about.  

Imagining the contours of the terrain, the texture of snow. Each ‘perfect turn’ envisioned in sequence. One, two, three, feel the snow and the rebound it provides.  Letting it rip turn after turn, long, short, shallow or deep. Skis, body and mind perfectly in sync. It’s the peaking arousal of the senses, the ultimate rush.

Last winter was definitely no world beater here in Australia, feeling like the eternal spring as El Nino did its thing.  

Challenging conditions for laying down the ‘perfect turn’ although on the right equipment, and with the right attitude, maybe it can be done. This brings us back to the original question. Who’s to say what the ‘perfect turn’ looks like and more to the point, does it really even matter? As long as you’re living in the moment, absorbing only what’s in front of you.

At Hotham we were fortunate to have some of the most talented skiers in the world turn their skis however they wanted. Olympian Harry Laidlaw scored the best powder day of the season in July. One of Australia’s leading GS skiers, Harry skis with grace and power and is equally at home off piste as he is on. I was fortunate to be skiing with Harry this day and it was a privilege to witness him strap the wide boards to his feet and rip some powder turns wherever he wanted.

Around this time offered the best conditions of the season which also saw the homecoming of Hotham big mountain skier and World Extreme Champion Andrea Binning and her family. Andrea’s Norwegian husband Stian Hagen needs no introduction, having been at the forefront of the international free-skiing and mountaineering scene for decades also.  

Together with their kids Aksel and Camile, they’re the epitome of an adventure family. A great example of how the love of skiing and a life in the mountains can be passed on and enjoyed by multiple generations. To see Andrea and Stian out ripping around the resort with their family it was obvious the future of skiing is in safe hands.  

So, what’s the underlying theme or take-home message? Maybe there isn’t one, other than any day skiing is better than not skiing. Sure, nothing beats bottomless powder, but if we only skied the deep days we’d miss out on so much. Mountain life fosters friendships spanning a lifetime.  

This winter take the singles line and strike up a conversation with a stranger on the chair. It’s amazing the connections that can be made when forced to share a confined space with someone you’ve never met in a raging blizzard! It’ll usually start with ‘how good’s today!’ or ‘gee, I like the look of those skis, what are they?’ For those few minutes polar opposite lives collide, swapping stories with a common interest. Skiing.               

Maybe the ‘perfect turns’ exist, maybe they don’t. It could be as simple as they’re the ones we’re making at the time no matter the conditions. Everyone’s ‘anatomy of a turn’ will be different and that’s ok. Our own individual brushstrokes on the canvas of skiing.  If you ever do stumble across the ‘perfect turn’ bottle the feeling and savour it. In the meantime, we can all have fun searching.

The post Skiing How To: The Anatomy of a Turn appeared first on Chillfactor.

For an upcoming contingent of young competitive Australian freeride athletes they can relate to the old phrase about diamonds being formed under pressure. They are honing their craft in sometimes challenging or limited conditions but when they get to go toe to toe with the world’s best in the Freeride World Tour Junior events in New Zealand, Europe and North America, these young athletes are holding their own in an increasingly tough game.

Freeride is the fastest growing winter sport in the world, originating as a snowboarder only contest, at the 1996 Xtreme Verbier. An invite–only event, it was devised to give riders an opportunity to showcase their skills against one another in the crucible of The Bec des Rosses in Verbier. Thirty years later the finals are still held each year on this same awesome zone. Freeride is growing with roughly 6,000 participants world-wide across 200+ organised events but it’s only just beginning to poke its head through the clouds.

It started out as a counterculture movement of sorts. The explorers, daydreamers and thrill seekers created something that was wholly theirs and shared it with anybody who would think to come looking.

“There’s not too many things in life where you can put yourself in a position where you have to concentrate on one thing and one thing only. It’s a wonderful part of being alive, to be able to experience something like that.”  Steve Classon – Xtreme Verbier Legend 

There’s a deep tradition of exploration and adventure in our unique alpine playground. Local legends and the anonymous alike have spent many years scouring the many ridges and gullies of the Australian Great Dividing Range, sharpening their tools and skillsets, searching for new ways to challenge themselves. Athletes like Nat Segal (3rd place, Revelstoke FWT, 2013), Michaela Davis Meehan (First Australian to win an FWT) and Vaughn Hardwick (2nd place, FWTJ World Championships, 2023) have taken it to the biggest stage and proven the humble hills of Australia can be proving grounds for global success stories. 

Described as ‘a vertical free-verse poem on the mountain, the ultimate expression of all that is fun and liberating about sliding on snow in wintertime’ (FWT) this sport has captured the imagination of the youth. Young ski racers who don’t want to ski between the lines anymore and young freestylers enticed by the freedom of choice are jumping ship and joining freeride clubs globally. The sport is growing so fast that the FWT Junior events in Canada have had to limit the number of competitions an athlete can enter during a season to ensure all athletes have opportunities to participate. 

Freeride is a judged discipline where athletes earn points based on their line choice, technique, control, fluidity and air and style. A high scoring run will have painted a smooth but challenging line on the face, skied fast and in control, demonstrated style in the air and confidence on their feet. A set of criteria for which the Australian mountains offer an ideal training ground. 

Lifts may only spin down here for half the days that our Northern Hemisphere competition have access to. Ah well, we get what we’re given and it’s about what we do with each of those moments when they arise. Opportunity isn’t linear though, it favours the hungry and committed.  The talent and success emerging from our Australian junior clubs in freestyle and moguls’ pathways over the past decade makes it clear; we have the facilities to train world class athletes and there is a passion and drive in young Aussie skiers making them serious contenders for places on podiums anywhere on the planet.

The sometimes-vexing variability of the Australian snowpack is an unexpected advantage for our athletes giving them a leg up against much of their international competition. The shift from ice to powder to bumps to slush in the space of half a dozen turns we often experience at home mimics the upside-down conditions that are often dealt out in freeride events. Forced to make the most of it, Aussie athletes tend to not only cope in those unpredictable conditions, they shine.

Finn Jacobsen of the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, cut his teeth as a junior freeride/freestyle athlete in club programs at Mt Hotham and now sits as the top ranked freeride junior in the world. Having just spent the winter with the newly formed Higher Freeride program following the European FWTJ series, Finn is holding the Australian flag high. Taking wins in Baqueira Beret, Spain and Montafon, Austria, Finn is proving to the world the fertility of our soil, qualifying for the Freeride World Junior Championships in January 2025.

Finn is just the tip of the iceberg; there’s a growing posse of young Aussie talent strutting their stuff on the global stage. Harry Rowden, Jackson Bayliss and Theo Lansbury showed their skills in Europe this season, Harry pushing the podium on multiple occasions. In America, Jasper Rogers has taken it all the way to the North American Freeskiing Championships and on the Freeride World Qualifiers while Zanna Farrell took out the coveted Nendaz Freeride to secure a spot on the Challenger series, vying for FWT qualification.

The ability to take school and life on the road for the northern winter isn’t within reach for everyone, but it’s exciting to see the opportunities at home growing each season with freeride clubs popping up in most major resorts and junior freeride competitions now firmly on the calendar in both Hotham and Thredbo. The talent pool from down under is only set to deepen.

Dion Newport’s New Zealand Junior Freeride Tour (NZJFT) offers the perfect leapfrog opportunity just across the ditch for young Aussies looking to flex and develop. International programs also popping up such as Higher Freeride and Team Buller Riders offering another lily pad for young athletes looking to take their skills to the world stage.

The point is this, freeride skiing is not new in Australia. There’s been a bubbling pool of talent ripping around through the snowgums and seeking out big mountain lines since skiing got started down here, it’s just tended to be low-key and under the radar as is often the Aussie way. What’s new is the opportunities popping up for young skiers to get on a pathway in this exciting segment of our sport. The grassroots culture of freeride is firmly established and it’s only gaining momentum.  Kids now have a community to join, heroes to look up to, coaching, avalanche safety training and avenues to travel and compete overseas.

Freeriding will only become safer, more inclusive, more accessible and will produce more homegrown talent to take to the rest of the world. This is just the first chapter.

The post The Freeride Force Is Strong In The Youth appeared first on Chillfactor.

Finn finished the 2024 season, his second year in tour, fourth on the world rankings and while he may not have won an event, his skiing is pushing the refresh button on big mountain freeride competitions. Reggae Elliss caught up with Finn a few weeks ago when he was in Haines Alaska on a film shoot for Matchstick Productions’ 2024 release.

Hey, Finn, I know you’re busy, thanks for taking the time for a chat. You’re up in Alaska now, filming with Matchstick Productions, how has that been? 

Insane, definitely one of the best trips of my life. It’s a humbling place to come ride as a skier, the sheer magnitude of these mountains and the scale of the terrain is hard to grapple with until seeing it in person. This trip has given me a whole new perspective on what’s possible in the mountains. 

What other athletes are involved? 

I’m up here with Colby Stevenson, Karl Fostvedt, Emily Childs and a full production crew from MSP Films. The crew has been going hard up here, stoked to show ya’ll the shots we got in the new movie coming out this fall.

Let’s get back to the start of it for you. You grew up in Wanaka and come from a skiing family, can you remember when you started skiing? 

My first memories of skiing track as far back as I can remember. I was plonked on skis at just two years old and spent most of my childhood chasing around my older brother, Hank at Treble Cone & Snow Park NZ. 

What was it like growing up in Wanaka and who did you ski with as a kid? There is a lot of talent there and a strong older crew – Sam Smoothy, the Wells bros – Who did you look up to and was anyone a particular influence? 

Growing up in Wanaka was a huge privilege and definitely has had a huge impact on not just my skiing style but the way I approach life today. There’s ample amount of opportunity to do so many different types of activities and I was fortunate to be surrounded by a motivated crew of grommies that were keen to do exactly that. I ripped around lots with my older brother, Hank and the likes of The Porteous boys, The Wells Brothers, Craig Murray, some of the NZ Snowboarders like Carlos Garcia-Knight & JJ Rayward. We were all inspired by the older generation of Kiwi pro’s and were lucky to have mentorship from guys like Jossi Wells, Sam Smoothy, Will Jackways and OG’s such as Geoff Small. All of those people have had a huge influence on me in life. 

The place is such a hot bed of talent and then you have the option of skiing the freeride terrain in Treble Cone or the Cardrona, which is renowned for its terrain parks. Best of both worlds. Did you split your time between the two? 

For sure. The variety of terrain is one of my favorite parts about Wanaka, there’s always something to do not matter what the conditions cater for. Growing up, I would spend a fairly equal amount of time between Snow Park and Treble Cone. 

You made your name as a park and pipe skier, made the NZ team for Youth Olympics, Junior Worlds and then the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018 and Beijing Olympics in 2022. Did you have a goal as a kid to be a pro skier?

My parents always encouraged chasing what you love and as a byproduct I became a Pro Skier. There’s been lots of hard work along the way and so many people who have helped make that dream become a reality. However, I think that cliché rings true. I remember watching the old Poor Boyz Productions films religiously and being so drawn to the lifestyle and energy of freestyle skiing. I was probably six or seven years old when I knew I wanted to dedicate a lot of my life to this sport. 

You scored an invite to the Aspen Xgames in 2019, which is the biggest freeski event on snow. Was that a big moment, was that when you thought you were a pro skier? 

It was definitely a gratifying moment being invited to the X-Games. However, I find you’re so focused and there’s a lot going on at those big events that you don’t have much time to digest those moments. I remember more clearly flying out of the New Zealand after finishing High School and you have to write down your occupation on your departure card. I could no longer write ‘student’ and was like “damn, I guess I’m a pro skier now”, ha ha. 

Classic. That would have been a cool moment. While you may have made your name as park skier, it’s fair to say you’ve always been an all-rounder. You did the NZ junior freeride series when you were a kid and then in 2019 entered the freeride qualifying events in the Remarkables, winning the two-star and then fourth in the four-star. That was during a period between the 2018 and 2022 Olympics – at that stage did you think you’d stay in park and pipe? 

Skiing has always been multidisciplinary to me. As I got older, specialising in a singular discipline became more encouraged. The competition schedules began to overlap, and it was really challenging to be at everything all at once. I didn’t want to spread myself too thin, so I had to start prioritising different events. When I was 16-years-old, I’d actually qualified for the Junior Freeride World Championships but couldn’t attend as I had also qualified to represent NZ at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games. Looking back this was one of the first major decisions I had to make on which pathway to go down. 

When did you decide to make the change to freeride full-time? 

Although the Park and Pipe schedule was busy I’d often be able to sneak away for a few pow trips between contests. However, once Covid sunk in, this was no longer a possibility as we were under strict guidelines from our National Team as to where and who we could travel with during our off time. I really didn’t enjoy these restrictions and having to be more singular focused on Park and Pipe. Throughout those years of travelling through the Covid pandemic was ultimately when I realised that I was craving some change. I was given the opportunity to compete as a Wildcard in Fieberbrunn stop of the FWT just two weeks after competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. It was the perfect opportunity to dive back into the Freeride scene. That event was super fun and I was stoked to be back in that community, so I decided to keep chasing it the following year. 

Your brother Hank is an awesome skier and he did a few years on the FWT and he lit it up with some radical lines. Did his success inspire you to switch to freeride? 

For sure. I think watching both my brother Hank and Craig Murray ski on the Freeride World Tour made it seem far more attainable. I’ve skied with both of them so much growing up that I could begin to relate to the lines they were skiing. 

How did you find the tour when you first competed? Did you know many of the other athletes? 

It was exciting, compared with the structure of Olympic programs the Freeride World Tour felt far more loose and honestly, just a damn good time! Riders want to do well and they’re going to push themselves in the contest, but they’re also there to mess around, have fun and party a bit. ha, ha. I was lucky to have known a bunch of the riders before joining the Freeride World Tour as I’d met them through my brother in previous years. Unfortunately, my brother was no longer competing on the FWT when I joined but I was super grateful to have the likes of Craig Murray, James Hampton & Jess Hotter competing at the same time as they helped me get my head around the contrast and similarities of competing in the Freeride World as opposed to the Park & Pipe World. 

You’ve brought progressive skiing to the FWT – it has always been about big mountain lines, aggressive skiing, big cliff drops etc. It still is, but did you go on tour with the intention of shaking it up? 

Thank you. I saw my wildcard invitation last season as an opportunity to showcase maybe a different style of skiing on the Freeride world Tour. I find the Freeride Judging Criteria wants to funnel you into a certain style of skiing and I tried to think less about the results and more about trying to ski lines that represented the style of skiing that I’m most drawn too. Maybe a little less fall line, more cross court and freestyle. I like seeing those creative, fluid lines on large exposed faces. 

I reckon that has freshened up the tour and the audience love it. There’s a pretty rad crew of young guys on the tour – Max Hitzig, Marcus Goguen, Ben Richards, Maxime Chabloz, Max palm etc. It’s pretty inspiring. Do they push you? 

No doubt! The level of riding this season was insane! Those guys are all animals, it’s been a cool era of the FWT to be a part of and I’m stoked/scared to see where it goes in the future ha-ha. 

What’s the story with Kiwis and success in freeride? There’s a heap – first it was Sam Smoothy and now it’s you and Ben Richards, your brother, Blake Marshall, Craig Murray, Jamesa Hampton. Jess Hotter was 2022 women’s world champ. 

Good question. I’d say it’s a combination between having access to so much amazing  terrain, skiing in subpar snow conditions and, most importantly, the community that supports Freeride Skiing in NZ. We’ve got a really strong network of riders, supportive parents and guidance from NZ Junior Freeride Tour organiser and judge – Dion Newport. Without all of those people, I don’t think any of us Kiwi’s would’ve had half the opportunities we’ve had. The pathway to the World Stage is only getting stronger so I’m sure you’ll see plenty more Freeride Rippers from NZ in the coming years. 

You’re up in Alaska now, filming with Matchstick Productions, how has that been? What other athletes are involved?  

Insane, definitely one of the best trips of my life. It’s a humbling place to come ride as a skier, the sheer magnitude of these mountains and the scale of the terrain is hard to grapple with until seeing it in person. This trip has given me a whole new perspective on what’s possible in the mountains. I’m up here with Colby Stevenson, Karl Fostvedt, Emily Childs and a full production crew from MSP Films. The crew has been going hard up here, stoked to show ya’ll the shots we got in the new movie coming out this fall.

You’ve now done two years on the FWT. What’s your plan now – keep competing and mix it up with filming?  

I’m going to take a few weeks to decompress after this Northern Hemisphere Winter and then start to figure out what next season is going to look like for me. I’m really enjoying the direction I’m going with my skiing at the moment, so I’ll be looking to spend more time in the backcountry with good friends and family. I’ve also got some new visions and concepts I’d like to bring to life with my sponsors. We’ll see how much competition plays into that plan. 

What about this southern hemisphere season? 

I’ll be back home in Wanaka, New Zealand in late July. Have got a few projects in the  works so looking forward to getting stuck into those and being back in my home mountains. See ya out there! Thanks legend!

Thanks Finn, good to have a chat.

Thanks legend, See ya out there. 

The post Finn Bilous is Setting the Freeride World on Fire appeared first on Chillfactor.