Ben represented Ben at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in both Freeski Big Air and Slopestyle where he finished in 10th place in Slopestyle. He is a 2022 FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup silver medalist and made the finals of the FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup in Steamboat in 2021. Ben represented New Zealand at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games. He began skiing at Mt Ruapheu when he was six years old and loved it right from the start.
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympian, 2nd place finish at the 2022 FIS Slopestyle World Cup held in Font Romeu, 7th place finish at the FIS Big Air World Cup held in Steamboat, Colorado in December 2021, represented New Zealand at the 2021 Freeski World Championships and the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games, he won the 2020 New Zealand Slopestyle Showdown.
Ben's ski career started at six-years-old with annual visits to Mt Ruapehu on family holidays. A family trip to Breckenridge when he was 10-years-old gave Ben his first taste of the international ski scene and even at this young age he knew he wanted to be a professional skier and compete at the X-Games and the Olympics.
Ben's first comp was at Auckland's Snowplanet where he overcame nerves to finish second. From 2015 he began spending winters in Wanaka, training at Cardrona Alpine Resort and this was where he took his first steps on the competitive pathway. Ben was named to Snow Sports NZ's High Performance Development squad in 2018.
Ben had a strong 2019 season competing in the Australia New Zealand Cup series. At the Big Air ANC in Perisher, Australia Ben had a win and a second place finish. Back in New Zealand competing at the Winter Games, Ben won the ANC Freeski Slopestyle in a very competitive international field. These results gave him the overall ANC Series win and secured him a personal World Cup spot for the next Northern Hemisphere season.
Ben represented New Zealand at the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games where he placed 16th in Slopestyle and 15th in Big Air.
In December 2021 Ben had a career first when he made finals at the heavily stacked FIS Big Air World Cup in Steamboat, Colorado. He finished in 7th place which was a personal best for Ben and continued to strengthen his campaign towards Beijing 2022.
Ben carried his momentum through the season and finished on his first World Cup podium of his career in January 2022 with a second place finish at the FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup held in Font Romeu. This result cemented Ben's selection to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic team where he finished in 11th place in the slopestyle finals.
Check out more of Ben's results here.
