BIG SKY – 18-year-old
Riley Becker’s earliest memories of skiing are being toted around in her
father’s backpack when he was a ski patroller at Big Sky Resort. Once she
strapped on her own skis, she would follow him around everywhere he went.
As a sophomore at
Lone Peak High School, Becker and her father summited the Matterhorn, an iconic
14,692 ft. mountain straddling the border of Switzerland and Italy. The
following year, for her 16th birthday, her dad had promised her from early on
that her present would be a heli-skiing trip in Alaska. True to form, the
father-daughter pair ventured to the Chilkat Mountains of Haines, Alaska to
explore one of the most daunting mountain ranges in the world.
“When I got there, I
guess I was having so much fun and when I’m not stressed I’m able to ski really
well and play around with the different terrain and conditions,” Becker said.
“They liked how I skied on everywhere they dropped me, I guess,” Becker said.
The guides and SEABA HELI representatives were so impressed by her skiing that by the end of the trip, they approached her about becoming a sponsored athlete. She recalls her excitement the following winter when she got a call asking if she could go heli-skiing the next day to help them film. “I was like ‘Dad, please!’”
Born and raised in Big Sky, Riley Becker has quietly established herself as an up-and-coming skier and earned a sponsorship from a renowned Alaskan heli-skiing operation
Asked how she manages
to deal with the fear of standing atop Alaskan spines, Becker smiles and says
that she was never scared. “It was like Christmas with all that powder,” Becker
said. Before climbing the Matterhorn, Becker and her dad travelled to Chamonix,
France to practice mountaineering for a week and train for their ascent. That
experience is what she credits with overcoming any anxiety about being in the
mountains. “I had to get over myself real fast.”
Last year, Becker
transferred to the Big Sky Discovery Academy. “It’s a lot more flexible. Grades
and education are super important to me and I thought that way to excel at
academics and skiing was to make the move to Discovery,” the senior said.
Becker intends on attending the University of Utah next year which she notes
has access to six ski resorts less than an hour away.
Becker credits her
talent for sliding on snow with her genuine love of all aspects of skiing. She
has been racing since she was 6 years old and still competes with the BSSEF ski
team. But she also enjoys backcountry outings and ripping through powdery
glades at top speed. “It’s actually really fun until you run into a tree,”
Becker said with a laugh.
She’s also no
stranger to ending up on podiums after big mountain freeride competitions. In
2017 at her first ever freeride competition on the Headwaters terrain, she won
her division and then parlayed the confidence from that result into another win
at Beartooth Basin later that year.
“I’m able to watch
videos of myself and I’m pretty good at seeing what I need to work on and
fixing it,” Becker said. “I don’t think [skiing] is something that you can ever
master, you can just get better and better every year, every time.”
Becker is also quick
to credit her coach Keely Kelleher with helping her improve her skiing
abilities. During the warmer months, the precocious athlete stays in shape by
trail running, playing soccer and working out at Lone Peak Physical Therapy.
When asked about if
she wants to pursue a career as a professional skier, she says that the thought
has crossed her mind. The toughest obstacle for her might be reaching out to
sponsors. “I don’t like to reach out to them. It feels like cheating. I need to
work on that,” she said with a smile.
With the ski season
fast approaching, Becker is excited to continue to refine her ski technique.
Becker emphasizes that she is very much a visual learner on the slopes. “Listen
to people who are better than you, and not only listen but watch them. I feel
that I’m able to improve by skiing behind someone really good and I’ll watch
them and take what I like and kind of blend it into my form,” Becker said, describing her style as scrappy, structured and
playful.
For her next big
adventure, Becker dreams of returning to Chamonix, where burly mountains and
big exposure continue to beckon the best skiers in the world. “It’s just fun
skiing with her. She has a lot of fun skiing and it shows in her style,” Eric
Becker said.
Fall Community Cleanse at Santosha Wellness Center October 4-17.
Join Callie Stolz, C.A.S., P.K.S., Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and Pancha Karma (cleansing) Specialist, in a 2-week Ayurvedic Cleanse to assist our bodies in making
Event Details
Fall Community Cleanse at Santosha Wellness Center October 4-17.
Join Callie Stolz, C.A.S., P.K.S., Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist and Pancha Karma (cleansing) Specialist, in a 2-week Ayurvedic Cleanse to assist our bodies in making those changes and setting ourselves up for a healthy winter season.