After winning Challenger series, Kelly Hilleke on way to becoming valley’s next freeride superstar

The ambitions of a pre-teen can be easy to dismiss, but when Johnny Rossman was coaching the young Kelly Hilleke, he saw a determination to succeed that is rare in someone so far from adulthood.

“I remember when he was 11 years old,” Rossman recently recalled. “He said — and he meant it, too — he said, ‘I’m doing whatever it will take to get to the world tour.’ And he legitimately did it every step of the way. It was an emotional experience to see him achieve that goal and that dream.”

Hilleke, now 19, has made one of his biggest dreams come true by qualifying for next year’s Freeride World Tour, which is the top circuit for competitive big mountain skiers and snowboarders. His next and ultimate goal is to win the FWT, and his dominance in the qualifiers this past winter will instantly make him a contender.

“It’s going to be a lot of planes and trains, but I’m excited,” Hilleke said of next year’s FWT schedule, which is largely based in Europe. “Winning this thing, that’s the real dream, actually. I always wanted to win it, and getting on the tour is bringing me one step closer.”

A native of Glenwood Springs, Hilleke largely grew up in Carbondale and skied predominantly at Sunlight Mountain Resort in his youth. Eventually, the family moved to Woody Creek, and he and his three younger brothers won a lottery to get into Aspen High School. Hilleke graduated from AHS last year.

Growing up with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, Hilleke learned from coaches like Rossman, Forrest Aley, and the late Chason Russell, who died in a 2021 kayaking accident on the Crystal River. More recently, his coaches have included Ethan Holcomb and George Rodney.

Rodney was arguably the last great FWT athlete from the valley, as he competed on the tour from 2015-2018. In 2015, he became the youngest and first American to win the overall title.

“I don’t know yet,” Hilleke said of what he expects the FWT will be like. “I’ve never been to Europe. I’ve never really done a competition circuit like that. I’m pretty excited, but I don’t even know what to expect.”

Rossman gave a lot of credit to the Hilleke family as a whole for Kelly’s drive and success. Whitewater lovers, Tommy and Polly Hilleke founded the Salmon River Adventure Company in 2021. One of their boys, Bodie, made headlines in 2020 when he became the youngest person, at age 10, to kayak the entire length of the Grand Canyon.

Today, all four Hilleke brothers are equally as talented on skis. Dax is a rising star in the halfpipe, while Daniel is a promising talent in slopestyle. Bodie, the youngest of the brothers, is a freeride skier like Kelly.

“He’s going to be the real deal. He’s doing stuff at 14 that I was doing at 17, and I thought it was cool at 17,” Hilleke admitted. “It’s been super inspiring to have three younger brothers that are always chasing on your heels. No matter what I do, they are probably going to learn from it and do it better than me tomorrow.”

Hilleke’s success this past winter centered around the FWT Challenger tour, a final series of qualifying competitions that directly leads to an invite to the main FWT events. He won two of the three Challenger series stops in the Americas to win that qualifying series, the most recent contests being held at Colorado’s own Arapahoe Basin.

Next winter, he’ll compete in locations such as Spain, France, and Switzerland, with a FWT stop returning to Alaska for the first time in nearly a decade.

Hilleke was one of five local freeride skiers to compete in the Challenger series this past winter, although he was the only to qualify through. Selby Hall, the lone female of the group, was knocking on the door of qualifying, while Luke Penton, Orion Cherney, and Canyon Cherney all gave it a go, as well.

“Skier of the year material. He gained a lot of professional notoriety,” Rossman said of Hilleke. “This is so cliché and generic, but he is a phenomenal skier and athlete, but he is a better person. His work ethic, his character, and his overall drive is something so special. His willingness to put in work is so exceptional to see. It’s something you only really get from world-class athletes, which he’s proved himself to be.”

Shayne Sandblom, a Silt native who spent his early days with AVSC before moving to California, won the men’s snowboard portion of the FWT Challenger series this past winter and will also head to the main tour next season.

acolbert@aspentimes.com