The mantra “Go big or go home,” has never been more applicable to any skier than freestyler Simon Dumont, who is know for big falls, more air and even bigger wins than almost any other professional athlete.
Pushing the limits of the freestyle movement, from new tricks like superman double fronts and capturing a record 35.5 feet of air, Dumont is widely considered to be one of the leaders of the freestyle movement.
In addition to be at the forefront of the sport, Dumont is one of the most successful skiers in the world—medaling seven times at the Winter XGames since 2004.
After making the switch to freestyle from alpine, Dumont exploded immediately as a newfound star of the skiing world. In his debut season in 2003, Simon finished eighth in his first Winter X Games and then went on to win the Whistler Invitation Superhit and finish fourth at the US Open at just 16 years old. Success followed Dumont quickly, capturing back to back superpipe titles at the 2004 and 2005 Winter X Games. Known for his air—which regularly exceeds 20 feet in the half-pipe— Dumont made headlines across the sporting community when in 2005, he overshot a landing area by more then100 feet going 60mph, falling helmetless on the packed snow. Although the crash would have ended the career of just about anyone else, Simon refused to quit and returned in 2006 to finish third in the X Games superpipe. Simon made headlines once again in 2008, setting the quarterpipe height world record at the Sunday River resort in Maine, flying 35.5 feet out of the 38 foot tall quarterpipe while performing a cork 900 tail grab.
His success quickly led to new opportunities and has found stardom in the emerging ski movie industry. Appearing in more than a dozen titles, Dumont’s crowning documentary is Transitions, a 2009 film that chronicles Simon’s role in turning freeskiing into the world-wide phenomenon it’s become in less than a decade.
Dumont, who will be a member of the first USA men’s superpipe team at the 2014 Winter Olympics, has also been instrumental in the growth of the sport on the amateur level. In 2009, Simon hosted the first inaugural Dumont Cup, an annual competition for young freestyle skiers aged 8 to 18. The Cup is the first of its kind dedicated specifically for youth freestyle skiers.