Corbets Couloir Kings and Queens 2022

Yuki Kadono with the hand-drag entry into Corbet’s. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Yesterday, the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s went down in challenging conditions at Jackson Hole. In years past we’ve seen both skiers and snowboarders, men and women, huck massive tricks into Corbet’s from the top with a very soft and forgiving landing. This year was different. With a few inches of fresh powder that fell Tuesday and Wednesday and hard-packed snow underneath, Corbet’s Couloir was skiing fast and providing anything but a soft landing. But the challenging conditions actually made the event even more interesting as skiers and riders were forced to draw different lines as they navigated Corbet’s, and there was no shortage of creative tricks and a full-send attitude (catch the full replay here).

Nerves were high heading into the first round of runs. Cam FitzPatrick had the number one slot and everyone wanted to watch his run to get a feel for the conditions. Once Cam had slashed his way to the bottom and shown that there was actually a decent amount of soft stuff in there, it was game on.

Piper Kunst takes the “billy goat path” into Corbet’s. Photo: Red Bull.

For the most part, both skiers and snowboarders opted for what locals call the “billy-goat path,” sliding off of the nose of the cornice for a bit more control entering the couloir, all the better to get creative with the built-out features through the rest of the run. Grant Giller and Ryan Wachendorfer dropped backside threes off of the nose while Hans Mindnich went frontside with his simple, but clean, style. Parkin Costain, Corey Jackson and Blake Wilson skied switch onto the nose to drop 180 and land going forward into the couloir while Blaine Gallivan and Sandler Hadley followed Tim Durtschi’s lead to duck the rope and enter the couloir from above the cliff. Jake Hopfinger and Karl Fostvedt took the full drop with clean 360s from a constructed launch chute the athletes had cut through the top of the cornice, which Molly Armanino, and others used as well.

As predicted, the bottom jump, referred to on the broadcast as the “Crowd Pleaser,” was a huge part of the event. Piper Kunst wowed the crowd with a massive backflip all the way to the bottom of the jump, Yuki Kadono did a couple of somethings I don’t have the words for (announcers described them as a “backside 1080, off-axis”), and most of the skiers and riders took advantage of the venue to demonstrate their skills in the park as well as big mountain.

“We survived!” 2020 King of Corbet’s Parkin Costain exclaimed while celebrating with Jake Hopfinger and Karl Fostvedt after finishing a high-speed second run. His first run saw him stomp back-to-back backflips in the couloir before losing it a bit after a huge 720 on the bottom jump. Speaking of wipeouts, Blaine Gallivan came out of the bottom jump with so much speed he took out filmer Gabe Negron. If anything, the incident got everyone more stoked (if that was possible at that point).

As for who won the event? That, believe it or not, is for the athletes to decide. Tomorrow evening they’ll gather to rewatch each run and vote for who they think dropped the best line through Corbet’s. While we don’t have any say in the official King and Queen of Corbet’s, the People’s Award gives all of us viewers and fans the ability to vote for our favorite lines, which you can access here.

Pure stoke after the event had ended. Photo: Red Bull

A couple of my favorite runs were Jake Hopfinger’s first which saw him drop a 360 off the cornice, followed by a backflip and a flat spin off the jumps in the couloir and a double flat spin off the Crowd Pleaser, showing his experience with Corbet’s using a cool and collected approach.

I also loved the tricks Blake Wilson threw down in the couloir on his first run, taking a front flip straight into a backie with the iron cross flair off the next jump.

Yuki and Karl celebrate with the fans. Photo: WS

Despite the conditions, the vibes were flowing throughout the event, and the community feel it’s created was palpable as best friends and new acquaintances came together to celebrate the art of making difficult skiing and riding look easy. And with the crowd just past the boundary ropes whooping it up for every completed trick and hollering even louder for attempted, wild sends, it felt like the entire town of Jackson had turned out and then some. As my first Kings and Queens of Corbet’s event, I arrived with disappointment due to the lack of fresh snow in the forecast – I leave with my expectations fully met and then some, and supreme respect with the fearlessness these men and women showed while tackling Corbet’s in such challenging conditions.