Industry News
People’s Choice Award to Be Announced Wednesday, Feb. 15
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) announced today that skiers Colby Stevenson and Claire McPherson claimed the top prizes at the sixth annual Kings & Queens of Corbet’s ski and snowboard freeride invitational. The Resort will announce this year’s People’s Choice winner on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 15, via its social media channels.
This year’s Kings & Queens competition pitted a roster of 24 skiers and snowboarders against the Resort’s famous Corbet’s Couloir just days after a string of winter storms dumped 50 inches of soft powder on Jackson to add to the best snow conditions in the Resort’s recent history. Athletes and event organizers decided to hold the competition on Tuesday, Feb. 7, in anticipation of a biting winter storm that ultimately blew in on Wednesday, Feb. 8, plunging low temperatures below zero.
While the King and Queen awards were decided by the athletes themselves, the People’s Choice award will be determined by online vote in partnership with Red Bull. Voting is still open for the award at redbull.com/kingsandqueenspoll until Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. MST. After the voting window closes, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will announce the winner on its Instagram and Twitter accounts.
View this post on Instagram
A full replay of this year’s Kings & Queens competition is now available on Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s YouTube channel or Red Bull TV. Check out the full results at jacksonhole.com/kings-queens-corbets.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Colby Stevenson and Claire McPherson into the history books as this year’s King and Queen of Corbet’s, and we are especially thankful to all those who made this event happen on Tuesday. A shifting weather window and an ultimately powerful midweek storm pushed the athletes and our event crew to hold the competition on Tuesday with the best conditions and safety top of mind at all times. We’re very happy Kings & Queens went off without a hitch and now have two new champions to honor.”
– Jess McMillan, director of events and partnership at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
Originally from New Hampshire but now residing in Park City, Utah, Stevenson claimed the first King of Corbet’s prize of his career on the strength of the first of his two runs. Stevenson, who won a silver medal in the men’s big air event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year, coolly landed a switch five rodeo into the couloir, delighting the crowd, with Blake Wilson taking home second place and Alex Hackel finishing in third.
McPherson was also a first-time winner at the event, topping reigning queen Piper Kunst and third-place finisher Sarka Pancochova. McPherson landed the cleanest run of the day with a huge backflip in the middle of Corbet’s Couloir, giving the British Columbian a huge win after she recently began competing on the Freeride World Tour Qualifier.
Sponsors for Kings & Queens include Red Bull, Continuum, Sweet Protection, Nature Valley, GORE-TEX, GoPro, YETI, Smartwool, Mammut, SCOTT Sports, and Jeep.
