Featured Image: Matt Power | Skier: Luca Harrington
Unless you've been parked under a rock for the last 700 days, you've probably heard of Luca Harrington's meteoric rise in the freeski comp scene. The young Kiwi went from a relatively low-profile X Games alternate to an Olympic medalist in just two seasons, not to mention the fact that his resume now includes eight World Cup podiums, five X Games medals with three golds and two silvers, and one Crystal Globe.
Numbers like this are truly mind-boggling. This leap in competitive excellence is the type of stuff most athletes only dream of. But for Luca, it's reality; the byproduct of talent, immense focus, and dedication all coming together over time.
The ever-inquisitive freeski lover and expert cameraman Xavier Mayrand has certainly noticed Harrington's breakout season, as he turned his eye towards him in the latest episode of the Mayrand Podcast. Here, we get a detailed conversation between these friends that spans everything from Cindy grabs to mental fortitude in comps, from dual citizenship to the overt dangers of freestyle skiing, and more.
This conversation absolutely elevated our respect for Harrington as one of freeskiing's brightest up-and-comers, cementing him as not only someone who is taking the sport and culture to new heights but, importantly, also has a good head on his shoulders. Whether you're commuting to work, driving to the hill, or taking the afternoon off, this listen is one you won't regret.
Listen to the Mayrand Podcast on Apple Music, Spotify and more
From YouTube:
Discussion with pro skier, X Games gold medalist and olympic medalist, Luca Harrington
Luca is a pro skier, X games gold medalist, Olympic medalist and currently one of the most dominant comp skier in the world. In this episode we talked about Luca's upbringing in New Zealand and how he got into skiing. We talked about his inspiration from past legends from New Zealand and what's in the water over there that creates so many pro skiers. We went deep into his meteoric rise within the competition scene in the past 2 years. Where back to back world cup wins in Kreischberg and Klagenfurt started a run of 8 world cups podiums, 4 x games medals, 1 crystal globe and 1 olympic medal. We talked about the intricacies of slopestyle and big air comp skiing as well as the judging behind all of it. We also talked about this season's Milano Cortina Olympics and the accomplishment and disappointment that came with it for him.
We also went into many other subjects including but not limited to bringbacks, cindy grabs, esco grabs, being a x games alternate, having your brother as a fellow pro skier, having a US citizenship, choosing to focus on slopestyle and big air despite promising results in halfpipe and much much more.
