The Helena skier qualified for the men’s freeski slopestyle and big air events
By Jacob Olness MONTANA FREE PRESS
Montanan Konnor Ralph is set to compete on one of the biggest stages in sports.
Ralph, a 23-year-old freestyle skier from Helena, qualified for the Olympic men’s freeski slopestyle event on Feb. 7 and will compete in the final beginning at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The games mark his first Olympic appearance. He is reportedly the first Helena native to be selected for a U.S. Winter Olympic team in more than 50 years.
Ralph is also scheduled to compete later this week in freeski big air. Qualifying for the big air event is on Feb. 15, with the final round scheduled for Feb. 17. Slopestyle was added to the winter Olympics’ lineup in 2014, while big air became an Olympic event only in 2022.
Ralph advanced out of slopestyle qualifying in Livigno, Italy, on Saturday, posting a top-10 score to earn a spot in the event’s final round at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. He is scheduled to ski third in the starting order as athletes compete for medals.
For Montana, a state with deep roots in winter sports but relatively few Olympic representatives, Ralph’s qualification has already generated excitement, particularly in his hometown.
Ralph started skiing at Great Divide Ski Area near Helena at the age of two. Over time, that enthusiasm developed into a national-caliber career, culminating in his selection to represent the United States in freestyle skiing at the Olympics. Ralph earned a third-place finish at the 2024 FIS Freestyle World Cup Slopestyle event, was voted “Most Improved” by his U.S. Freeski teammates and staff that same year, and earned a second-place finish at the FIS Freestyle World Cup Big Air in 2025.
Unlike traditional ski racing events, freeski slopestyle is judged without reference to speed. Competitors ski a course featuring rails, boxes and jumps while a panel of judges score the run on a 0 to 100 scale based on difficulty, execution, amplitude and overall flow. In the qualifying round at this year’s Olympics, skiers take two runs, with the best of their two scores counting toward advancement.
Ralph’s first qualifying run was scored 68.91, which proved to be enough to advance. During his opening run, Ralph navigated three rail sections at the top of the course with a series of technical maneuvers before moving into the three jump sections. His run included multiple high-difficulty aerial tricks, each involving combinations of flips and spins, and two including four full airborne rotations.
In the slopestyle final, each competitor will get three runs, with only the highest score counting toward medal placement.
Ralph’s second Olympic event, freeski big air, presents a different challenge. Big air competitions are built around a single jump, with skiers performing their most difficult aerial tricks for judges. The event emphasizes amplitude of rotation and clean execution, with little margin for error. In both the qualifying and final rounds, skiers take three runs. The two best scores count toward the final total, provided the tricks meet event requirements for variety.
While slopestyle tests an athlete’s ability to link a variety of tricks across an entire course, big air focuses on maximum difficulty in a single trick, requiring both technical skill and precision under pressure.
Montana Free Press attempted to contact Team USA and Ralph’s parents by phone but was unable to reach them by the time of publication. In a Feb. 6 phone interview with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Konnor talked about how it feels to compete for the chance to chase an Olympic medal.
“I know there’s a lot of pressure, but I’m just trying not to overthink it,” he said. “The goal for the last five years has been to get an Olympic medal, so that’s what I’m going for.”
