By Jen Clancey DIGITAL PRODUCER
For the first time in the freeride competition’s six-year history, Kings & Queens of Corbet’s has been canceled and postponed to 2025. Ahead of the event, athletes assessed conditions at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s famed Corbet’s Couloir, and found the slope unsafe for the elite-level competition.
In an email to EBS, Eric Seymour, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s director of brand communications and content, wrote that despite 80 inches of snowfall at Jackson Hole the past two weeks, the weather didn’t prepare Corbet’s with enough snow. “Unfortunately, the recent storms came with a northerly wind, which is not conducive to adding snow to the couloir. Corbet’s is skiing well, but the conditions are not suitable for holding an elite-level competition with big airs and high-speed skiing and riding,” Seymour wrote.
The Kings & Queens of Corbet’s event has hit the couloir since 2018, demonstrating the limits of freeriding. Dreamt up by former pro skier Jess McMillan, the blend of “big-mountain with freestyle riding” draws in future and current Olympic and X Games medalists.
Seymour explained that there is still plenty to look forward to this season, including deep snow conditions in February.
“We expect to continue receiving snow and increasing the snowpack for athletes and visitors. The winter of 2023-24 also marks the resort’s longest season on record, with 143 total days of skiing that end April 14,” Seymour wrote.
Starting in mid-March, Jackson Hole will host the Jackson Hole Downhill, a community race for anyone “interested in going fast,” and Dicks’ Ditch, a two-day slalom race.
For fans of the Corbet’s event, they can reminisce on previous years’ royalty on Jackson Hole’s Youtube channel.
