Skiing with the Stars

Benjamin is Jamaica's one-man Olympic ski team, and Jamaica's first-ever Olympic Alpine ski racer. Fresh back from the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, dig a little deeper and his story gets even stranger. Set apart from his competitors not only for representing a country without any snow but also for having started the sport 30 years later than the rest of the field, aged 32! Benjamin found skiing in 2015 while touring the world as an international DJ.

Matt Annetts is a Snowboard Freeride World Tour Competitor and a star in NDG Cinema productions Don't Crack Under Pressure, Addicted to Life, Pushing the Limits, and Imagine.

Sean Baker grew up in Maine, fly fishing on the Kennebec, Penobscot, Rapid Rivers where his dad taught him how to cast and fish for brook trout. He spent his winter seasons ski racing in Maine in alternate seasons, until he made his way to Scotland as white water rafting guide and became a fly fish guide on the rivers Spey and Annan. Sean made his way to Jackson in 2007, and has since competed on behalf of the US fly fishing team in three national championships. When he’s not working as a ski instructor, trainer and examiner for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort you can find him mountain biking throughout the Intermountain-West, salt-water fishing in Belize, Mexico or Bahamas.

Robert Cocuzzo is the author of the critically-acclaimed book Tracking the Wild Coomba: The Life of Legendary Skier Doug Coombs. Cocuzzo spent five years traveling around the world, piecing together Coombs's life by meeting his friends and family, skiing some of the runs he skied, and living in the mountain towns that he made his home. Today, Cocuzzo runs his own publishing company called Legacy Literature that focuses on producing private biographies for posterity. He has written over twenty biographies on everyone from bank chairman, network television titans, sports team owners, inventors and entrepreneurs. Cocuzzo is based in Boston, but has a ski home in Jackson, New Hampshire where he is teaching his two daughters to ski on the East Coast ice. 

Mike is a self-proclaimed Jackson Hole ski bum on winter number 49. He has 30+ years as a heli ski guide and has many first descents as a ski mountaineer. He spent many years adventuring with Doug Coombs, and takes responsibility for getting him involved in both heli skiing and climbing. Mike hired Doug Coombs for his first heli job with High Mountain Heli, and he was then one of Doug’s first employees in Alaska. They skied together almost daily when Doug first moved to Jackson, tuning skis at TVS at night so they could ski every day.

I have grown up in Jackson Hole, Wyo., my entire life and have been riding for 12 years. I started out skiing at the age of 2 and switched over to snowboarding at the age of 6. Growing up in Jackson has allowed me to become an all-around rider when it comes to big mountain, riding parks and pipes and getting the opportunity to experience the great aspects of life. I love to film and work with photographers while riding, but - most importantly - I love to ride with my friends at my home mountain. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will always be the true backbone of where my riding comes from. Throughout the years I have experienced different cultures by traveling to countries to take photos, film and compete. I want to take snowboarding as far as it will let me go - no matter what's stands in my way - as well as progress the sport. But when it comes down to it ... I love to snowboard.

Fortunate enough to grow up a short walk from the Tram, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is quite literally home for Anna. As a kid, skiing was everything. Her love for the mountains in the winter persisted, and still does to this day, but it was running that same terrain in the summers in which she found herself. The Rendezvous Mountain Hill Climb was her first exposure to competitive mountain running—now her greatest passion and her full-time job. She specializes in sub-ultra (<30 mile) trail events and the 1500 meters on the track. This summer she competed around the world, from the Hill Climb in her backyard, to the Olympic Trials in Oregon, to the Golden Trail World Series in California, Switzerland, and Poland. She will be representing the US in Ski Mountaineering at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.

International expedition skier and guide who has skied impressive feats, including the first female descent of the notorious Otter Body on the Grand Teton, and, in 2014, she went on to be the first woman to ski-guide the Grand Teton. Kim guides for EXUM Mountain Guides, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Alpine Guides, and for Ice Axe Expeditions internationally. She has been an instructor and/or guide for numerous companies and ski camps since 2002, as well as being a 12-year past member of the San Miguel County Search and Rescue Team (and Advisory Board member), with medical, avalanche, and rescue certifications.

Rick led the Jackson Hole High School ski team in points his senior year before heading to Bozeman for college, where he worked as a ski instructor and also took his ski career in the new directions of mountaineering and cinematography: linking his rock-climbing and skiing abilities, he completed several first descents in the Bridger Mountains. In 1992, Rick departed for Alaska, and, with several others, made numerous first descents that Rick filmed. When he returned to Jackson, Rick continued his mountaineering and racing careers, participating in USSA Masters racing and the annual JHSC Town Downhill. As a freelance cinematographer, Rick has worked from Alaska to Antarctica with a range of organizations, including TGR, Warren Miller, and NBC as part of the Olympic Downhill crew. In 2009, he joined the JHSC Board of Directors, on which he served three 3-year terms, and he was a key contributor to the Building Our Base Campaign.

Kai Jones has been on skis since he was 18 months old, honing his abilities on the rugged terrain of Wyoming’s Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole resorts. Growing up in Victor, Idaho, the technical and powder-stacked peaks of the Tetons have long been Kai’s playground—he’s been tackling iconic backcountry lines since elementary school. His environment has surely shaped his style; Kai has a prowess years his senior combined with the non-stop energy of youth, and his no-holds-barred approach to sending is front and center in his riding. At age 9, Kai started competing in junior big mountain contests. When he was 11, he was the under-12 champion of the Worldwide Freeride Tour. That same season, he sent it off the infamous Smart Bastard, a 35-foot cliff just beyond the ropes at JHMR. The next year, his cliff drop made it into his first video part in Teton Gravity Research’s Far Out. Since then, he has continued to set his own line on his skis while stacking footage for TGR, showcasing an ever-evolving and uncanny ability to navigate technical terrain. This past winter, while filming for TGR’s Stoke the Fire, Kai stepped to the mountains of Alaska for the first time. Last summer, he summited and skied down the 13,776-foot Grand Teton.

Co-founder of Teton Gravity Research (TGR), he has directed and produced numerous award-winning films that showcase the awe-inspiring beauty of natural landscapes, biographical documentaries, environmental topics and some of the most legendary adventure sports films and content to date.

Big Mountain and Slopestyle skiing pioneer, US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Inductee, TGR Hall of Fame Inductee, JHAF.

Jeff Leger, aka Dr. Huckinstuff: Jeff is the voice behind the JHMR Snow Report and has been for 8 years. Jeff has spent more than three decades immersed in the Jackson Hole Ski scene and is famous for his huge airs and cliff drops. Jeff has competed in JHMR's Kings and Queens of Corbet's, with a photo of his backflip at the inaugural event winning first place in the Sports Action category at the NPPA photo journalist clip competition. Jeff is a Stio athlete and skis for Atomic.

Melissa Malm became the first professional female ski patroller on the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol in 1978. Back when untracked powder lasted for days after a storm, lift lines were nonexistent and the side country was a wild adventure and closed. For nearly five decades Rendezvous Mountain and the mountains of Wyoming have been her office and playground.

Few people have seen and heard what Wade McKoy has witnessed while skiing during the past 50 years in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. As a professional ski-action photographer and co-publisher of the Jackson Hole Skier magazine, he was among the first to document the budding, big mountain ski culture in the Tetons during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. Becoming a dedicated skier himself, McKoy continued this work into the 21st century and has compiled a 50-year visual and written record of ski life in Jackson Hole and the Tetons during this transformative time. His new book, The Arc of Skiing Jackson Hole, 45 years behind the lens, chronicles these storied images.

Professional skier based out of Jackson. His specialties are humongous airs and massive backflips. Competed in the Subaru Freeride Series and the Freeride World Qualifiers.

Bobby Thomson is an entrepreneur and skier in Jackson Hole.  Bobby is responsible for creating some of the most beautiful and inspiring ski content on the internet and you’ll often find his videos on JHMR’s website and social media accounts. He is a sought-after MMS Instructor who is the go-to-choice for celebrities who want to have the best experience on the mountain. Bobby is Jackson-famous for skiing more than 100,000 vertical feet in one day during both the 20/21 and 21/22 ski seasons. He holds the current Jackson Hole Mountain Resort vertical record of 125,000 feet skied in a day. Bobby is sponsored by Bomber Skis.

Benny Wilson grew up at the base of the Jackson Hole tram, and for the last 50 years, skiing has been the reason for waking up in the Wilson household. Wax the skis, put on the skis, turn the skis left and right, repeat.

Born in Jackson, Crystal joined the Jackson Hole Ski Club at age nine and worked her way up the ranks of ski racing. She later traveled with the US Ski Team through Europe and South America. In 2002 she was chosen to forerun the Women’s Olympic downhill in Snowbasin Utah and was the first person to ski the course. She went on to college at Montana State University where she was a member of the ski team and rodeo team. During her racing career, she never lost her love for freeskiing and skiing the Jackson Hole backcountry. After spending 9 years competing on the Freeskiing and Freeride World Tours, and winning in 2009 and 2012, she has now retired from the tour. Crystal now owns Wright Training, a gym that works to bring people back from injury and perform their best in the mountains. She also co-founded the Jackson Hole Babe Force in 2012 which brings ladies together to share their passions in the mountains and push themselves out of their comfort zones.