“Leading up to the Olympic Games in Korea, Ben’s first hit air-to-fakies became a beacon of style dur-ing the qualifiers. All the shooters at the Grand Prix events would line up in anticipation for this air to come around, like this one in Breckenridge, CO.” Photo: Aaron Blatt Words Aaron Blatt en Ferguson stands atop a giant glacial wave high above British Columbia’s Pemberton Valley. He drops and charges at the massive natural transition with confidence bred through a career atop the contest scene and a handful of top-tier video parts with Brain Farm, Absinthe, Burton and beyond. B Although he’s only 24 years old, Ben’s been in the public eye for quite some time now. From Olympic finals to X Games podiums and heavy backcountry sessions from the Chilkat to the Tetons, the kid from Bend, OR has long since established himself as a world-class talent regardless of the venue. This year, on the heels of a fourth-place finish at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Ben chose a winter of backcountry sessions with his brother Gabe and friends like Sage Kotsenburg, Red Gerard and others—a season of long days on his own schedule that he’d earned from the constant grind of years past. Ben’s been enjoying every moment of liv-ing and learning in the backcountry that he can take in. They’ve been working on a project entitled Joy , a short film following these young rippers through a season well beyond contest venues. As someone who grew up riding it all, Ben’s returned to his roots. He never stopped riding the mountains, even when training as part of Team USA’s regimented program to perform for mainstream audiences. Ben takes flight and lands a double crippler, a trick never done before in the backcountry, with the calculated and powerful style he’s been known for since showing up on the scene almost a decade ago. He unstraps and begins to hike back up to do it again. It’s all part of a solid day’s work, and Ben’s willing to log the hard miles necessary to set himself up for moments like this. For now, he’s fully committed to the task at hand. BEN FERGUSON 039
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.2: Page 39
