Industry News
It took three years, two failed attempts, and an enormous amount of nerve — but on February 11, 2020, Veronica Paulsen became the first woman in history to land a backflip into Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming, winning the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s competition in the process.
Paulsen was the third competitor to drop in that day. With the third bib of the day, she dropped in and laid out a huge, smooth backflip, becoming the first woman to do so cleanly. She put both skis to the snow at least 20 feet down into the couloir and skied the rest of the course, screaming with joy.
“When I was in the air, I wasn’t thinking about anything — it’s all autopilot,” Paulsen said. “I came so close last year and knew it would take extra power to ski away. When I had it, I just started screaming. It took three years of hard work to pull this off, so it was really emotional.”
Three Years in the Making
Backflipping into Corbet’s had been a three-year project for Paulsen. She first attempted it unsuccessfully at the Kings and Queens in 2018, then tried twice in 2019, unable to land the difficult trick. Each attempt gave her more information — about the takeoff, the landing, the height, and how to build the right lip at the top of the couloir. Competitors are allowed to use shovels to sculpt their own launch pad before the event, and Paulsen used every preparation advantage available.
She grew up in Tiburon, California, in the Bay Area, started skiing at Tahoe, and fell in love with moguls skiing through high school and college. She eventually moved to Jackson Hole without ever visiting before or knowing anyone — a decision she describes as the best she ever made.
Veronica fell in love with skiing at Palisades Tahoe, where she began competing in freestyle moguls in her early teens, and continued to compete internationally through college before moving to Jackson and turning her sights toward big mountain skiing. The transition from moguls to big mountain is more natural than it might seem — from her mogul background, she is more comfortable in the air doing a backflip, able to spot the landing early in a way that a straight air doesn’t allow.
What Corbet’s Couloir Actually Is
For those unfamiliar with the venue: Corbet’s Couloir is widely regarded as the most famous and intimidating ski run in North America. Located just below the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram exit, it requires skiers to launch off a near-vertical headwall entry into a steep, narrow couloir flanked by rock walls on both sides. The entry itself — a blind leap off the lip — is what separates Corbet’s from virtually every other lift-accessed run in the country. There is no easing into it. You either commit or you don’t go.
The Kings and Queens of Corbet’s competition has been held annually since 2018, inviting professional skiers and snowboarders to throw their biggest and most creative tricks off the headwall entry. The event has grown from a local gathering into one of the most watched freeride events in the U.S.
The 2020 backflip remains one of the defining moments in the history of women’s big mountain skiing — three years of work, one clean rotation, and history made.
