Forrest Jillson

Vitals

Birthday: January 18, 1987

Hometown: Wilson, WY

Sponsors:Marmot, Volkl, Marker, Dalbello, JHMR

Nickname: Fo

2015-16  Season Highlights: Filming with TGR and company as well as winning the Freeskiing World Tour event at Big Sky.

JH: You've grown up skiing here at Jackson Hole. How has that shaped your skiing and brought you to where you are today?
FJ: I couldn't help but look at some of the big lines and features Jackson offers from a young age and want so badly to be able to ski them. I have respect for these slopes and wasn't going to bite off some lines until I knew I was ready, but once I got a taste of what it was like to ski some lines just the way [I] wanted to after staring at them for so long, it was the best feeling in the world; and that feeling of accomplishment is why I continue to grow and push my skiing on this mountain year after year.

JHMR: One run in Jackson Hole. What’s your favorite?
FJ: Well my favorite run at Jackson Hole has to be from the tram and goes as follows: Corbet's to the Tensleep roller, to Expert Chutes, to Toilet Bowl, to Dick's Ditch, to Slalom, to the Cowboy Couloir, to the terrain park and straight back to the tram dock.  

JHMR: What’s the most fun day you’ve had on snow?
FJ: So far the most memorable day was this year with Hadley Hammer, Angel Collinson, Jimmie Ryan and TGR filming out of bounds, south of the resort. We hiked this zone all day and had it all to ourselves. I choose to ski what looked like a really straight forward and aesthetic double, and it ended up being one the coolest and burliest doubles I've ever skied. It wasn't until after I skied it that I realized how wild it was. Minus the line I skied, it was a perfect day full of high-quality terrain, snow and people accomplishing common goals together. I'll never forget it.

JHMR: Favorite pocket ski snack?
FJ: Bacon in one pocket, chocolate chip walnut cookie from Persephone in the other

JHMR: Current pump up jam?
FJ: Ongoing Thing feat Oddisee by 20syl

JHMR: What do you do when you’re not skiing? 
FJ: During the winter? Work, eat and sleep. Summer? Commercial fish for salmon in Alaska, bike, hunt, fish, eat and sleep.

JHMR: Tell us about your off-season training.
FJ: It's integral to my durability during the winter. I train at Mountain Athlete, which is a facility in Jackson that designs sport-specific programs for every kind of athlete that spends their lives in the mountains.

JHMR: Plans for the rest of the 2015/16 season?
FJ: I'm headed to the West coast to ski some volcanoes, spend time with family and just decompress and celebrate another (relatively injury-free) ski season chasing dreams!