Colby Stevenson Is Team USA's Most Versatile Skier—He's Going for Broke at Milan Cortina 2026
Colby Stevenson stood atop the World Cup slopestyle course in Seiser Alm, Italy, age 19, grateful and reinvigorated with a new outlook on life and opportunity that he wasn’t going to let slip away.
His motivation to continue his freeskiing career, let alone any skiing or athletic pursuits, following a life-threatening car crash in Oregon eight months earlier, was just the medicine he needed to recover, physically and mentally, from the devastating incident.
“After the accident, it felt like I had everything ripped away, and there were long months of recovery, painkiller to painkiller, super depressed, had really bad vertigo, and I thought I was done skiing for sure,” Stevenson tells POWDER in a video interview from his home in Park City, Utah. “It was a deep hole, but then I started seeing light and watching videos again. As soon as I started feeling more like a person again, I used that to propel me back into a positive mindset, thinking, ‘Okay, I’m not giving up.’
“I was just grateful to be alive. I realized I needed to love the people in my life more. My Dad came to Italy, and I thought to myself, no expectations to win. Just throw down a fun run.” Stevenson seized the moment, unleashing the best slopestyle run of his career to defeat 74 competitors on that unforgettable day, January 28, 2017.
“I remember looking out at the mountains (before the run) and imagining all the power and energy that created them and tried to draw it into me. I closed my eyes and thought about all my loved ones and friends that made a big impact on my life,
“Then, I just dropped in and won – I never had that outward thought of just gratefulness and love [before],” he shared. The Park City, Utah freeskier impressed the judges with his near flawless first run, tallying 89.20 points to earn his first World Cup victory.
It was so much more than just a maiden victory for Stevenson, but a surreal moment and sudden realization that anything is attainable, no matter how difficult times have been.
“When you are a team with a lot of people supporting you, it can definitely help transcend oneself to a more spiritual, high-energy frequency, where you do amazing things.”
Keep reading for more on Colby Stevenson, a Team USA freeskier who is poised to make a splash at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
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The Plan for Milan-Cortina
Stevenson is expected to compete at his second Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. Competition will be in Livigno, Italy, roughly 175-kilometers west of Seiser Alm, where he had his epiphany nine years ago.
“Having that first World Cup win nine years ago, Italy is a very special place to me,” Stevenson says. “Honestly, it’s magic when you’re around these mountains.”
He will descend upon the Italian Alps as the Beijing 2022 Big Air silver medalist, having flourished at the Olympic debut of the high-flying new event. Stevenson also finished a disappointing seventh in slopestyle, in China.
The 29-year-old athlete informs that he will primarily focus on slopestyle, then big air, gunning to bring home Olympic hardware from the untested and unknown Livigno Snow Park venue.
“Slopestyle is definitely where I’m the most inspired – it’s just such a creative outlet for all of us,” Stevenson says. “I’m definitely visualizing a lot of my my tricks. I’ll add some difficulty, but most of all, try to be clean, smooth and have fun.
“The biggest thing going into an Olympic season is just stick to your guns and do runs that inspire you, bring your own style and that’s what will shine through.”
His plans for big air are less certain. However, knowing Stevenson’s insane talent and capabilities, that mindset could still bode well for a second Olympic medal in the event.
“I have some tricks in mind for big air and I’m hoping to put them down on the airbag in upcoming training sessions,” he informs. “If the jump is big enough (in Italy), I want to throw down some cool stuff. It wouldn’t be the biggest rotation, but kind of an ode to freeskiing to leave a mark on a beautiful sport.”
POWDER pressed Stevenson about revealing new tricks that will be part of his repertoire this winter. As expected, the Utah gunslinger is holding his cards close to his chest.
“It’s under wraps – that’s the beauty of unveiling new tricks, you want everyone to be surprised and kind of shocked,” he says.
Stevenson enters the 2025-26 Olympic season motivated to improve upon top results from last winter, including a triumph in Stubai, Austria and a runner-up finish in Aspen.
The uber-talented freeskier’s resume includes four Winter X Games titles and a slopestyle silver medal from the 2021 World Championships, all achieved on terrain in Aspen.
Photo: courtesy of Natural Selection Tour
The Next Realm—Backcountry
The immensely versatile freeskier is always pushing boundaries and seeking new endeavors. Nowhere was this more evident than his participation at the inaugural Yeti Natural Selection Tour ski event in Alaska earlier this calendar year.
Stevenson was one of eight male freeskiers invited to the innovative big mountain ski competition. In order to compete, he had to skip the FIS Freestyle World Championship in Switzerland.
“You gotta choose what is best for you and for me, it’s definitely progressing my skiing into the next realm, which is in the backcountry. It’s something I’ve been doing for many years, but just haven’t competed until now,” Stevenson said, about his latest challenge.
National Selection Tour competitions, which span various adventures sports including surfing and snowboarding, have quickly become a benchmark for creativity, progression and producing amazing moments.
Watch: Colby Stevenson NST Ski Semi-Final, Run 1
“It was so cool to compete in that environment and one of the scarier things I’ve ever dropped into,” Stevenson said, about tackling Alaska’s legendary terrain.
“When you’re standing on top of a big run in Alaska, you can’t see a lot of what’s below, so you’re relying on photos. You know where you want to jump, but it’s a total blind take-off. It’s like a 40-foot cliff, so you just have to go for it and hope to hit your mark.
“It’s a lot of trust in your skills and ability to recognize features and landmarks in the snow – you have to memorize those for an entire 1,500-foot face,” he adds.
Stevenson swiftly advanced through the opening two rounds, but was then eliminated in a head-to-head semifinal by Aussie Craig Murray, the eventual champion. It was an invigorating and rewarding experience for Stevenson, surely opening the door to future opportunities.
“I’m excited to see where that venture brings me,” Stevenson said. “I’m super inspired to push – you know new tricks into new terrain.”
Photo: Justin Mayers
Watch: Phantom, Colby’s New Solo Film
Following the success of his first solo film, Proof, his newest backcountry flick, titled Phantom, released online via YouTube on October 27. According to Stevenson, filming took place across ten days in Wyoming and two days in Alaska.
Stay tuned in here at POWDER for weekly stories from Brian Pinelli leading up to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
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