The Snow League completed its inaugural season of halfpipe competition this winter, and it recently revealed its top-10 earners.
The Snow League was founded by Shaun White in 2024 to give skiers and snowboarders a professional league and to address a major issue within the two sports: inadequate pay for athletes. With the season now complete and a total purse of $2.2 million, the league has now released its official earnings list.
In men’s snowboarding, Japanese riders took the top four spots with Yuto Totsuka leading the charge, earning $180,000. Totsuka was followed by Ryusei Yamada with $152,500 and Ayumu Hirano with $75,000. Brazil’s Pat Burgener and USA’s Lucas Foster sit tied for ninth at $22,500.
Japan’s Sena Tomita led the way in women’s snowboarding with $137,000. American Maddie Mastro pulled in the fourth-highest earnings among her competitors with $72,500. South Korea’s Choi Ga-on, the 2026 Olympic gold medalist, earned $22,500, rounding out the bottom. Popular American rider Chloe Kim did not compete.
Luke Harrold of New Zealand topped the men’s freeski field with $105,000. In third place, American Hunter Hess earned $25,000. Andrew Longino and Matt Labaugh both earned $5,000, sitting tied for eighth.
Chinese superstar Eileen Gu sits atop the women’s freeski rankings at $135,000. Canada’s Amy Fraser finished in second with $40,000.
These lists show that athlete pay in freestyle skiing and snowboarding is trending positively. The top earners made much more in The Snow League than they do in other competitions. For example, the Laax Open, considered one of skiing’s and snowboarding’s premier events, pays winners roughly $18,500.
Snow League athletes also compete regularly in World Cups organized by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). Yuto Totsuka was the highest earner from FIS events, but he only made $72,502 — less than half of what he made in the Snow League. Other top earners in the Snow League only made fractions of their Snow League winnings from FIS events. Eileen Gu, for example, made $39,575 from FIS events and $135,000 in the Snow League.
The Snow League may allow for more professional skiers and snowboarders to use competition as a full-time source of income. For years, many have relied on sponsorships and even other jobs to support their careers. Now, the Snow League may open doors for more skiers and snowboarders to earn a meaningful income directly from competing.
While top earners certainly make a livable income, each list has a steep drop-off point. The drop-off between first and second place in women’s skiing is $95,000, the largest in the league. This is commonplace in professional sports and rewards top performance. However, it also highlights the pressure placed on the athletes to finish at the top of the standings consistently.
The Snow League is putting skiing and snowboarding on a larger stage in an effort to continue to increase athlete payout. A multi-year television deal with NBC and Peacock, along with a partnership with Google Cloud, has been put in place to help the Snow League grow its platform.
The release of the earnings list has given fans a look at how the Snow League is growing. As the league continues to scale, the future of athlete pay in skiing and snowboarding will continue to change. Hopefully, more athletes will be making a living doing what they love.
The Snow League will begin its second season in January 2027, in Park City, Utah.
