U.S. Snowboard Team Announces New Halfpipe Coaches

The U.S. Snowboard Team will have two new faces at competitions this year. U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced on September 1, 2026, the addition of Brett Esser and Rakai Tait as new coaches for the Snowboard Halfpipe Team. Both Esser and Tait bring years of high-level competing and coaching experience to a team looking to develop young athletes into first-place finishers at World Cup, X Games, and Snow League events this season.

Esser will assume the head coach position, taking over for Danny Kass, who held the position from 2023 to 2026. Tait will join the team as a halfpipe World Cup coach.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Brett and Rakai to the program,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport Anouk Patty said in the announcement. “Both bring a deep understanding of the sport, strong relationships with our athletes, and the experience needed to help this team continue pushing progression in the pipe.”

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Born in Iowa in 1992, Esser was not from a state known for its snowboarding. But after moving to Colorado at 12, he quickly moved up in the sport’s ranks. He began competing in International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) events in 2006, riding in both slopestyle and halfpipe competitions. By the end of his career, Esser made multiple X Games appearances, held U.S. Grand Prix podiums, and won a slopestyle victory at the Burton Canadian Open in 2009.

Following his riding career, Esser stuck around the sport on the coaching side. The 34-year-old coached at the previous two Olympics and has helped develop key U.S. halfpipe riders like Maddie Mastro and Blackwell. The Iowa native has also coached legendary halfpipe snowboarders from other countries, including Italy’s Louie Vito and China’s Cai Xuetong.

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World Cup coach Tait has also spent plenty of time on a snowboard. After being born in Santa Cruz, California, Tait and his family moved to Switzerland when he was seven. It was there he learned how to snowboard and fell in love with the sport. His family later moved to New Zealand — Tait’s dad’s home country.

In competition, Tait represented New Zealand at some of the biggest snowboard events. He placed 6th in halfpipe and 13th in slopestyle at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Two years later, the native Californian competed at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, representing his dad’s home country.

The 27-year-old began coaching in 2021 and worked primarily at the High Performance Center in Cardrona, New Zealand. He later moved back to the United States to coach the Tahoe Ski & Snowboard Team.

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With two new coaches leading the halfpipe team, U.S. Snowboard hopes it can continue its historical success in the halfpipe. The women’s side has found continued success with Chloe Kim, who is fresh off a silver medal at the 2026 Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy. Team USA’s men’s halfpipe riders are in the midst of an Olympic medal drought, with the last coming in 2018 when Shaun White won gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Filling White’s shoes has proven to be a difficult task, but riders Jake Pates and Alessandro Barbieri’s impressive performances at the 2026 Games prove that the team is headed in the right direction.

While the 2030 Olympic Games are still a ways away, both Esser and Tait will look to solidify the United States as a top producer of the world’s best halfpipe snowboarders. With four years until the next Olympics, the two new coaches have some time to develop their riders before the big stage. And when it comes, all eyes will be on Team USA.

But before that, Esser and Tait are focused on the upcoming World Cup season, where their athletes will compete against the other top riders in the world. The 2026-27 snowboard World Cup season kicks off in November.