Sammy Carlson

Oregon native Sammy Carlson first entered the skiing consciousness through his unique take on the park. A freestyle phenom, Sammy won five X Games medals early in his career and landed the first triple rodeo 1260 in 2010, earning recognition and awards from his peers, Powder Magazine and more. But this was merely the foundation for where Sammy really wanted to go. When freesking entered the Olympics in 2014, Sammy wasn’t interested. The backcountry was calling.

It’s there among giant peaks that Sammy has further secured his legacy (of course, he since snagged three more X Games golds in the Real Ski backcountry video competition, too). Growing up on the terrain of Mount Hood, Sammy always sought out the unusual, pushing past the expected on his skis. Part of this is that his style is deeply rooted in his love of surfing; Sammy’s always chasing the free feeling of deep cuts and smooth turns in the mountains and it’s easy to see—Sammy skis like no one else.

Sammy’s filming career began when he was only 12. Now in his early 30s, his video resume is stacked. He’s filmed with iconic crews like Poor Boyz, had award-winning video parts, driven full features, notably Teton Gravity Research’s The Sammy C Project in 2015, and released an entire series, called Retrospect, that looks back at his entire canon of segments. But the celebrated parts are only a piece of why Sammy Carlson is one of the very best to ever drop in on skis. He’s got a pow turn like no other and a no-holds-barred, full throttle sending style, even on the most technical terrain. Sammy now spends his winters in British Columbia, exploring the expansive BC backcountry and every season, he continues to up the ante. His philosophy when filming? “Stack A-clips, then turn the A-clips into B-clips.” In 2020, Sammy released Resilience, a deeper look into his season, his experience, and the path his skiing has taken thus far—still with no sign of slowing down.