Mike MacBlane Goes West

Mike MacBlane is a competitive freeride skier who calls the Grand Tetons home. Like many skiers and riders before him (including our founder), Mike MacBlan has gone to the west in search of critical terrain and plentiful snow. While Mike calls the hollowed grounds of Jackson Hole home, his skiing journey started approximately 2,000 miles away in upstate New York at Creek Peak Mountain. With a humble 220 acres of ski terrain and a base elevation of a mere 1148 feet, Creak Peak is a far cry from America’s mightiest mountains, but it was enough to spark an interest in skiing, an interest that would evolve into a passion and send Mike west in search of competition glory, deep powder, and a ski lifestyle one can only dream about on the East Coast.

Early Competition Years

Mike’s skiing was shaped by his time on the ice coast. He tells me he skied exclusively in New York for nearly 10 years before he ventured elsewhere. It wasn’t until he began competing that he first traveled west. Mike’s competitive career began with local rail jam comps in New York. Eventually, Mike, along with two friends and their mentor, Travis McDonald, started Central New York Freeride. With CNYF, Mike traveled the country to compete in USASA competitions. Mike competed rigorously during his high school years, even moving to Colorado in 2017 to join a competitive team there, then took a four-year break.

From Student to Teacher

During his four-year hiatus from competition, MacBlane moved west, northwest specifically, to Lake Louis, Alberta, where he taught skiing. Ski instruction eventually led him to Jackson Hole, where he has been for the past six years working with the Jackson Hole Evolution.

MacBlane’s transition from park to free ride didn’t happen overnight. In Steamboat, during his one-year stint competing there, MacBlane and the rest of the park team skied with the freeride team for a powder day. He admits that after “Trying to follow them off a cliff without poles, with park skis [] was a huge wakeup call to realizing that I was actually not really much of a skier, more of a park rat.” MacBlane first transitioned to freeride in Steamboat, he says, after “Realizing at 17, you know, I'm not making the X Games. And I was fine with that and had a blast my last year competing, but that kind of made a decision that I was done with it and just gonna try to make a living, either ski instructing or guiding.” But a few years later, the competitive bug reemerged.

Exploring J Hole

Coaching introduced MacBlane to the intricacies of the mountain. MacBlane describes his early years in Jackson, saying, “ I was able to start coaching right when I moved to Jackson Hole, my first year. And, you know, the kids really showed me the mountain. I was able to experience Jackson Hole through the, you know, the eyes of kids who grew up here.” Soon, Mike found his own crew and began to ride Jackson Hole as it’s meant to be ridden, in earnest. After two years of coaching kids at the highest level of free-ride competition, he couldn’t take being on the sidelines anymore. His first free ride contest was at nearby Grand Targhee Resort. When speaking on Jackson Hole, Mike tells me, “It has some of the gnarliest terrain I've ever skied, you know, outside of maybe Alaska. Hiking 20 minutes from the top of the tram has been the gnarliest run of my life.” MacBlane admits that, compared to Jackson’s steep, technical terrain, many free-ride comp venues feel much more open. And that skiing in Jackson regularly helps him feel dialed for the competitive season.

Jackson Hole isn’t just where Mike lives and rides—it’s a daily proving ground. A place where he brushes shoulders with the founders of the freeride community on the tram, while coaching and competing alongside the next generation.