We recently caught up with local legend & NZ Pro freestyle Skier Ben Harrington. To learn what inspires him, his plans for the next few years and what goes on behind the scenes when you are competing at the top of the world.
Let's throw it back to the very start, where are you from? and how did you get into skiing?
Born and raised in the beautiful town of Wanaka New Zealand. Raised by two ski lovers, my dad was an Ex World Cup mogul skier and my mom is a die hard ski lover. So ever since I could walk I was basically on skis.
Came out with skis on ey, What do you love most about the sport ?
The community, all my best homies are in this sport with me and we get to travel around together going what we love. The adrenaline rush you receive from landing a new trick or a run you are proud of is the best feeling in the world.
Winter sports come hand in hand with a lot of travel. Where is the best place you have ever skied?
It's definitely hard to beat skiing at home, Cardrona is a pretty sweet place to ski. I also love Livingo in Italy is also up there with one of my favourite zones I’ve gone to.
Skiing requires a pretty strong connection with the natural environment. Have you had any crazy experiences on mountains battling the elements?
Mother Nature definitely plays a big role in what we do. Having to respect the elements of course, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. However, dropping into a Halfpipe with howling winds can be tough.
Have there been any clips or tricks that have gotten away ?
Definitely. Especially once I started filming, there were definitely some pow jump clips that I wish I had stuck, but that’s why I’m going back this year even more hungry.
Gotta stay hungry! Do you have any bucket list destinations you want to ski ?
Japan is for sure up there, I want to start skiing in more backcountry areas, so some spots in Europe such as Chamonix or Swiss alps a little bit more.
When you're not on the mountain what would we find you doing outside of skiing ?
I try to surf as much as possible, surfing for me is the most therapeutic thing for my body and mind. I love being in the water, even if it means I’m in a 4”3 wetsuit at the bottom of the South Island!
Mountains can be pretty taxing on the body. Do you train currently and what is your recovery process like right now ?
I spend a lot of time in the gym to get myself as strong as possible. I work with a really good trainer (Shoutout John at Pure Performance). He gets me dialled in pretty good for ski season. I’ve also taken up running recently to keep myself fit and strong. Recovery process for me is always about cold water submersion. I feel like that’s great for physical and mental recovery.
Your clips are always on point. What inspires them ? always got the good tunes on them.
I love clipping up with my boys as much as possible. Cullen Mchael has been my filmer for the past two seasons and I love working with him. His stuff is always super clean and crisp. I had the opportunity to shoot with my good friend Ecook also last year, definitely a different inspiration. E cooks filming is definitely more skateboard oriented but I dig it! Haha, I try to use 2000s pop as much as I can in my edits. That’s the kind of music I listen to when I ski so I love putting it into my edits.
2000s is where it's at for sure, What's your plans for 2024?
I’m coming into this season super hungry. I learned a few new tricks over the spring in Mammoth and Calgary so I am really fired up to put those together in a contest run. Our Halfpipe competition season ends pretty early so I’m gonna spend the last half of the winter filming powder and hopefully sneaking my way into a couple more freeride contests.