Wintersports
Snowboarding
From slopestyle to backcountry, Mark McMorris is just getting started
Mark McMorris isn’t just making a name for himself in snowboarding, he’s changing the sport as we see it. A true ATV, McMorris already has a storied career under his belt with plenty of room to grow.
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It’s just over a week away from the Laax Open, and Mark McMorris Mark McMorris is feeling, admittedly, a little shaky. “It’s scary man. The jumps are huge. I haven’t ridden park in like two months!,” McMorris told Chris Grenier of The Bombhole Podcast.
Always humble, McMorris probably has a little more confidence than he’s letting on – he is the most decorated competitive snowboarder in the sport after, all. But his uncertainty spawns from a higher standard than most, a desire for excellence that few have achieved in any sport. At the same time, it’s that desire that’s pulled him away from his standard training regimen for competitions like Laax, and into the backcountry.
There's no one close to McMorris when it comes to X Games golds
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
His home base of Whistler, BC has been having a non-stop start to the season. With back-to-back-to-back-to-back (the list goes on, you get the idea) storm days giving way to stable, bluebird days that call for gotta-have-it days in the backcountry, McMorris has shunned the terrain park, joining Ben Ferguson and a crew of fellow riders working on a two-year film project.
But with the clock ticking, McMorris has jumped back in the park to dial in his run for the upcoming competition. Mainly focusing on the iconic Blackcomb jump line, McMorris hasn’t forgotten that podiums are climbed by focusing on the details, and investigating all his riding, even the rails, will be key to success in Laax. At the end of explaining how he’s prepping, he can’t help but interject with excitement:
“I’ve been trying to go on a street trip with my brother Craig [McMorris] for years!”
From the high alpine to the start gate, streets and everything between, McMorris has come a long way from ‘just’ the most accomplished slopestyle rider alive – a feat he accomplished at the ripe age of 26. Now, he’s an ambassador the sport as a whole, and a jumping, spinning, pow-slashing testament to just how far the sport of snowboarding has come.
Join Mark McMorris and an all-star cast of Slopestyle and Big Air riders as they prepare for the 2022 competitive season in Chasing Winter.
42 min
Chasing Winter
Follow Mark McMorris and friends as they prepare for the high-stakes 2022 competition season.
From humble roots to the world stage
When Mark and Craig McMorris were young, a street trip together was probably something they dreamed about. Growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, there were few pieces of elevation that offer up much more for the imagination. But scarcity turns passion into precision and Mark quickly became addicted to the progression he first loved in skateboarding.
“From my first time strapping into a snowboard, it brought me the ultimate joy,” McMorris said. “But it wasn’t until I was seven, when I started spending more and more time hitting boxes and jumps at Mission Ridge, that I felt the presence of the snowboard community. I began rubbing shoulders with the older kids and it became all I wanted to do.”
McMorris has been pushing the sport's boundaries since his teens
© Syo van Vliet/Red Bull Content Pool
I had so much passion for snowboarding that it didn't matter that I was from the flattest place in Canada.
Inspired by their community and the tangible skills they were learning; Mark and Craig went to work. The two would frequently gather snow from hockey rinks and build jib set-ups in their backyard every autumn, spending winters frequenting nearby Mission Ridge Winter Park. The 97.5m vertical drop wasn’t ideal, but like any Prairie kid, he made the most of it.
"I had so much passion for snowboarding that it didn't matter that I was from the flattest place in Canada. I was going to do it for the rest of my life,” remembers McMorris.
At the age of 11, McMorris was invited to join the Saskatchewan snowboard team, which facilitated monthly trips to the Canadian Rockies or the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Here, he had the opportunity to hit larger features, ride alongside skilled riders and dial in more progressive tricks. Just four years later, he turned professional and began his lengthy career with a World Cup Slopestyle win in 2010.
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Non-stop McMorris: Winning in the name of
Between 2012 and 2016, McMorris redefined slopestyle
© Chris Garrison/Red Bull Content Pool
This period for Mark McMorris was stacked with gold medals, world firsts and a near-perfect reign over the competitive snowboard scene. In 2011, McMorris finished second in his inaugural X Games Slopestyle appearance behind fellow teen prodigy Sébastien Toutant. His textbook rail game, paired with his progressive trick selection over the jumps, foreshadowed what was to come. Later that year, he would explode into the mainstream after stomping the first-ever Backside Triple Cork 1440 at a TransWorld Snowboarding shoot in Snowmass, Colorado, USA.
“The jump was perfect, I was surrounded by friends, and it made for one of the most special days of my career thus far. It was an exciting time to set the bar in snowboarding,” McMorris added.
This momentum would follow him into the 2012 season and pave the way to double X Games gold in both Slopestyle and Big Air disciplines – a feat he would repeat in 2015. Beyond claiming top honors, McMorris pulled out his signature Backside Triple Cork 1440 for the first time in competition and subsequently set a new gold standard for Big Air progression.
Watch McMorris land a Front Board Backside Double Cork 1170 for the first time in the video below.
8 min
Mark McMorris lands a world-first trick
Follow snowboard pro Mark McMorris’s story of attempting the first Front Board Backside Double Cork 1170.
“Seb [Toutant] and I definitely stepped onto the scene with a vengeance,” he explained. “We weren’t just happy to be there hanging alongside our heroes, because we knew we had the tricks to win.”
Now in a new echelon of snowboarding, McMorris was invited to test his skills on a backcountry Slopestyle course at Travis Rice’s Red Bull Supernatural event. But his descent down the 2,200 vertical feet [670m] of British Columbia powder was uncharacteristic, filled with crashes and an ultimately low score.
McMorris got a taste of backcountry contests at Red Bull Supernatural
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool
Despite an unfavorable performance, this exposure to backcountry riding ignited a desire and drive to expand his craft in the backcountry. But that fire would have to lay dormant for the time being, as X Games was calling.
Returning to the perfectly groomed slopes of Aspen, McMorris would put together the highest-scoring run in X Games Slopestyle history in 2013 and continued to occupy the podium for years to come.
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Rolling with the punches: Injuries and comebacks solidify greatness
Fast forward to 2016, and McMorris just captured his sixth X Games gold medal in Slopestyle and silver in Big Air. After multiple years of non-stop success, McMorris encountered his first bump in the road.
Standing atop a 16-story scaffolding jump set-up at Air + Style in Downtown Los Angeles, McMorris straight lines down a 65ft [20m] drop-in, unravelling a Frontside Triple Cork 1440. But his calculations are just off and he lands backseat, catching his toe edge on the bumpy landing. The result is a snapped femur, forcing McMorris to undergo surgery and have a metal rod inserted into his leg.
“The accident was devastating,” explained McMorris. “But I knew that I had a deep bag of tricks at the time and was a little bit ahead of the field, so if I was to battle back, I’d still be able to hang at the top.”
Watch the full story of McMorris's injury comeback in Unbroken:
45 min
Unbroken
See Mark McMorris at his most vulnerable and resilient as he battles to get back on his board.
McMorris would return to claim double X Games bronze less than a year later, a remarkable feat that was celebrated by his peers. Though McMorris possessed an innate ability to rebound from serious injury and maintain dominance in an evolving field, his comeback story was halted by another setback. After colliding with a tree in the backcountry near Whistler in early 2017, McMorris suffered multiple life-threatening injuries – including a broken jaw, broken left arm, ruptured spleen, fractured pelvis, rib fractures and collapsed left lung.
“The tree accident was a different story,” he added. “It was hard to imagine returning to the scene and standing atop the podium in an era where progression was moving so fast. At points, there was doubt in my mind that I would even return.”
“But, I did it. Even after all of my rehab and recovery, I was able to represent Canada just 11 months later in PyeongChang, and in 2019, return to the X Games to win gold in Slopestyle and silver in Big Air.”
It was hard to imagine returning to the scene and standing atop the podium in an era where progression was moving so fast.
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Blending success in the terrain park and backcountry
2022's Olympic year delivered a third consecutive bronze medal in Beijing after his 2014 and 2018 third-places, while his 2023 season was another record-breaking one, with the defense of his gold medal in slopestyle setting the record for the most Winter X Games medals with 22, breaking a tie with women's snowboarding legend Jamie Anderson.
Never one to sit idle, while he’s been busy atop podiums in the slope and big air scene, more recently he’s been able to find balance, pushing his riding in the backcountry in film parts and competition.
McMorris proved his backcountry chops at the Natural Selecton Tour
© Tim Zimmerman/Natural Selection Tour/Red Bull Content Pool
Victory in Jackson Hole showed he's much more than slopestyle guy
© Leslie Hittmeier/Natural Selection Tour/Red Bull Content Pool
“I was always excited to ride any type of powdery snow in the Canadian Rockies as a kid,” McMorris said. “And ever since, I’ve put quite a bit of time each year into riding untracked runs in the mountains.”
In 2021, McMorris released standout footage in Burton’s One World and subsequently won the first stop of Travis Rice’s Natural Selection Tour in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA – proving to the world his legacy stretches far beyond the Slopestyle ranks. He followed up in 2022 by just missing the podium at the finals in Tordrillo, Alaska, solidifying his sport among the best in the competitive backcountry realm.
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What’s next?
Mark McMorris isn't cashing in his Slopestyle chips just yet
© Emily Tidwell/Red Bull Content Pool
While he’s enjoyed success in the backcountry, McMorris still has plenty of motivation to continue to succeed in the slopestyle circuit. “Competing in Natural Selection was a huge career highlight for me,” McMorris explained. “Right now, I’m balancing backcountry riding with competing, but someday, I’ll put more emphasis on it.”
And he’s proved he’s able to balance the two worlds effectively: almost 15 years since winning his first X Games medal, McMorris still sits in the upper echelon of competitive snowboarding, most recently notching a second-place finish in slopestyle at the 2025 X Games.
With a storied career in slopestyle and big air, a firm (albeit newfound) grasp on the backcountry and a stack of high-quality video segments to boot, McMorris’s career is one that cannot be confined. Seeming to get better with age, it’s less a question of where McMorris will take his career, but rather where he will take the world of snowboarding.
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