What Winter Olympic Events and Stories Are Most Exciting?

It’s been a long four years and, at last, we’re on the cusp of another moment when, however briefly, the world beyond two-seaters and resort parking lots will care about skiing. The Winter Olympics are almost here, baby. 

Racing and ski racers are gearing up as they prepare to visit Italy, pursuing glory at the highest level. In the spirit of all the excitement that’s sure to follow, here at POWDER, we’ve decided to weigh in on the events and skiers we’ll be watching.

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Halfpipe

Ian Greenwood, Writer: For me, it’s all about halfpipe. 

Once a showstopper, the highly technical discipline has, in recent years, felt like a sideshow to other freeskiing events. That makes some sense. I’m a diehard ski fan, but after watching a professional halfpipe run, I’m so dizzy from all the spins that I barely know what’s going on.

The upcoming Winter Olympics, though, should prove that halfpipe is more than an arcane art. This time, there’s plenty of drama.

First, let’s talk about the men’s comebacks. America’s Nick Goepper has converted to the stunt ditch in the second chapter of his career, following an impressive slopestyle run. The difficulty of that move is hard to understate. In modern freeskiing, most halfpipe skiers only ski halfpipe—it’s a demanding event that requires lots of attention, adding weight to Goepper’s Olympic campaign.

Then, there’s Gus Kenworthy, who was raised in Telluride, Colorado, but is competing for the country where he was born, Great Britain. Following the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he retired, presumably closing the chapter of his life focused on professional skiing. Now, though, he’s back, taking another shot at Olympic glory in halfpipe. For those of us who grew up watching him throw tricks on the big screen, that’s a big deal.

On the women’s side, the all-consuming narrative surrounding China’s Eileen Gu could unfold in so many exciting ways. She’s the reigning Olympic halfpipe champion (she also won big air and took second in slopestyle at the last Winter Games) and one of skiing’s biggest names. Will she take gold again? Can an Olympics first-timer, like the American Svea Irving, usurp Gu from the throne? I, for one, can’t wait to find out. 

The best bits of the Olympics aren’t the icy courses or blistering speeds. It’s the human storylines. And in that department, halfpipe is poised to be a standout.

The Ski Racing Squad

Matt Lorelli, Senior Editor: Let’s be honest. I probably won’t sit down to watch many Olympic events live. I’ve got my own skiing and work to do.

With that said, I want Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn to win Olympic Gold Medals, perhaps more than anything I’ve wanted related to professional sports in a long time. It feels weird to be patriotic right now, but you can bet your left ski I’ll be beating my chest and chanting “USA” if these two GOATed ladies bring home some hardware from Milan-Cortina. 

Greatness is fun to watch.

I’ll check out all of the freestyle events, too, but I don’t necessarily feel excited to watch, if I’m being entirely honest. I’m more excited to watch things like The Freeride World Championships and Natural Selection Ski in March.

Who knows. Maybe I’ll get swept into the Olympic spirit after Andrea Bocelli belts out a banger at the Opening Ceremony on February 6th.

Go Team USA! Pulling for you all.

The Weird Ones

Max Ritter, Gear Editor: To me, the Olympics have always been a huge source of nostalgia. Growing up, the timing of the Winter Games usually coincided with my family’s annual ski trip to Lake Placid (aka the best week of the year). It sure helped that the area was home to both the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, steeped in winter sports lore. I have fond memories of visiting the Olympic facilities, watching athletes training for ski jumping, bobsled, luge, skeleton, biathlon, and, of course, alpine racing–even getting signatures and high fives from international Olympians visiting for a few weeks of training camp on off years. Of course, dropping into the icy steeps of the 1980 downhill course on Whiteface’s Skyward and Cloudspin runs really puts Olympic-level ski racing into perspective. 

The international spirit of the games always interested me the most, especially growing up in a German family–it helps that German athletes are absolute weapons when it comes to winter sports, with 287 medals at last count, third in the world only behind Norway and Team USA. Watching nations battle it out for Olympic glory never gets old, and I’m psyched to see the competitive spirit again this year. 

In terms of actual sports? I’m going to tap the weird ones. The speed, thrill, and potential for disaster in ski racing is cool and all, but it’s got nothing against things like the sheer insanity of ski jumping, skeleton, or luge, and the mind-boggling athleticism of biathlon and cross-country spring events. Even the thought of a Nordic sprint has me redlining at my desk. 

Finally, I’ll say that I’m actually pretty excited to watch skimo racing make its Olympic debut. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a new sport enter the world stage like this, and even though it’s super-duper dorky (men and women in Lycra running uphill to make horrible ski turns down a closed course), it will surely be entertaining. I mean, hey, even the official Olympic intro video for the sport has me laughing already.

Slopestyle, Skimo, and the Rest

Izzy Lidsky, Writer and Photographer: Call me un-American, but like Matt, I likely won’t be watching many events live, given I’ll be doing my own skiing in Japan while the Olympics are happening in a few weeks. However, I’m not totally tuning out, and the thing that gets me most excited to catch highlights and replays is less one specific event and more the huge showing of absolutely incredible female athletes competing in skiing this year.

Generally speaking, I do love watching park skiing and am particularly excited to watch Rell Harwood, Marin Hamill, and Olivia Asselin compete in slopestyle this year. All three of them have pretty insane style and talent. Eileen Gu is also, of course, a favorite to watch, and I’m pretty stoked to see what she puts together and if she decides to break any more records while she’s at it. Although much of my stoke for slopestyle is for the gals, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stoked to watch Alex Hall, Birk Ruud, Mac Forehand, Jesper Tjader, and Henrik Harlaut. 

I’m a bit more partial to slopestyle as a sport to watch than halfpipe, but there are a couple of folks competing in halfpipe that I’m excited to watch for one reason or another. I grew up watching Gus Kenworthy in films, so his whole comeback has been pretty cool to see, and I’m curious to see how things shake out for him (and if he adopts any dogs, anyone else remember Sochi?). I’m also stoked to root for my home mountain skiers, Birk and Svea Irving, who are from Winter Park, Colorado, and Hunter Hess, who grew up skiing Mt. Bachelor. 

Lastly, like Max, I’m pretty darn psyched to watch Skimo. It’s a hilarious sport and, like a lot of other sports done in Lycra, also super hardcore. Team USA’s qualifying story was fantastic, too, with Jackson Hole skier Anna Gibson coming out of basically nowhere and qualifying, and I will surely be rooting for her and Cam Smith.