STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY RED BULL
MAC FOREHAND
Mac Forehand is a World Champion Freeskier who started his winter sports journey on the slopes of Stratton Mountain Resort in Southern Vermont . He made history in 2019 by winning the overall World Cup Title in Slopestyle at the age of 17 – and he did it all while still enrolled as a full-time student at Stratton Mountain School . As Forehand continues to push the boundaries of his sport forward through groundbreaking film projects with Red Bull and Faction , he took the time to sit down with VERMONT Magazine . He reflected on his passion for freeskiing , the transformative power of athletic artistry , and how his time in Vermont continues to shape his professional trajectory .
Q : Welcome , Mac ! Thank you so much for joining us on VT Voices — we ’ re big fans of yours , and it ’ s been incredible seeing you rise to the highest levels of prominence in the international freeskiing scene . I ’ m excited to hear about all of the new projects you ’ ve been working on — especially the recent Red Bull film project with your gravity-defying , upside-down rail slide . Before we get into all that , I ’ d love to learn more about your connection to Vermont . I ’ ve read that you started out skiing at Stratton when you were very young . Can you share your earliest memories of skiing in Vermont with us ?
Forehand : I grew up in Connecticut , but I got my start skiing in Vermont . I have many early memories of waking up , going to school on Fridays , driving to Vermont in the afternoon , skiing on Saturday and Sunday , and being so in love with it . I fully credit my sister , Savannah , with getting me into freestyle skiing . I started out racing for two years when I was young , and she was a mogul skier . I knew that ’ s where I wanted to go with my skiing , and I switched over to moguls , and eventually freeskiing because of her . To this day , I always love going back to Stratton . It ’ s such a fun resort , and it ’ s nice knowing the whole mountain and being back there .
Q : How did your time at Stratton and at Stratton Mountain School help mold you into the skier that you have become today ?
Forehand : I started on the racing team through the Stratton weekend program . Back then , I always looked forward to going to ski the terrain park and the moguls . When I moved to Vermont , I went from the race program to the mogul team . I was on the Stratton mogul team for five or six years . I loved moguls so much back then , but I still looked forward to going to the park with my friends and spending the last hours of the day there . I linked up with one of my good friends who was on the park team there , and that ’ s how I met one of my first park coaches , Brian Knowles .
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