At just 17, Charlie Beatty has already lived a ski career many only dream of—viral edits as a kid, early sponsorships, and a Youth Olympic gold under his belt. Fresh off a season filled with major milestones, including a World Cup final appearance in Stoneham, QC, podiums on the NorAm Circuit, and an appearance at Jib League, Charlie’s hitting pause on travel to focus on training at home this summer. We sat down with him to reflect on his journey so far, his biggest inspirations, and what’s next for one of Canada’s rising stars in freeskiing.

 

Read time: 8-10 minutes | 31 Questions

What have you been up to since the end of the comp season?

CHARLIE: I finished up my comp season in Mammoth Lakes, California, and went to Jib league in Copper, Colorado that was in April. I had an amazing week there, met so many new people and then from there I went to Whistler for the month of May and did a training camp with my team.

 

Any plans for the summer? Anything fun or doing any traveling?

CHARLIE: I think as of right now I'm staying home. I think I'm taking the summer off of traveling to go airbag and ski right now. The horseshoe airbag is getting kind of up and going hopefully. If that opens, that's gonna be awesome.

 

Overall, how do you think this past ski season went for you?

CHARLIE: I thought it was pretty positive. I came out safe and sound. Which is the biggest W but the first competition this season in Copper again, I hit the podium, and I think Bruce won that one. I was able to consistently kind of be in the top ten and made my first World Cup final in Stoneham, which was also a crazy moment for me being on home soil. Having family and my parents there, they came down to watch and to see the crowd and everyone that showed up to watch was pretty cool. If there was one place that I was trying to do that, it would definitely be there. And I did it, so that was a big clutch up for me.

 

What age did you start skiing and competing?

CHARLIE: I started skiing when I was 2. Yeah, pretty young. My family moved from London Ontario to Horseshoe here and we kind of just started doing it with my family and then got involved in the whole train park stuff when I was probably 6-ish. I did my first local competitions and stuff back when they had the Horseshoe Open and the Sony Snow Crown. And then, yeah, I kind of took off from there.

 

At age 7 you had a video go viral on New Schoolers, What was that like?

CHARLIE: Yeah, I forgot about that! So actually, I did a camp over Christmas that winter with Sandy Boville. He ran this camp called Santa's Workshop out at Mount St Louis Moonstone. And it's a crazy full circle moment, He's now my ski coach, which is pretty crazy. But, he referred us to someone named Joey Spears and just we were looking to get footage and content to upload on New Schoolers because at the time, New Schoolers was really big and every skier was all over that. So, we made a video over a few days, he edited it all and put it together and we put it out and I think it now has like 70,000 views. That definitely was a cool kickstart to kind of get my name out there.

7 Year Old Future Of Freeskiing Charlie Beatty | New Schoolers

 

What age did you first get sponsored and who sponsored you?

CHARLIE: I think it was actually right around that time around age 7. Line and Full Tilt came out and we had a connection with the rep Stu. He started hooking me up and ever since, I rode Line until I was probably 15.

 

Who were some early ski idols, inspirations or mentors growing up?

CHARLIE: Oh man, there's so many it's so hard to choose from for me. But I'd say when I was growing up I watched a lot of Simon Dumont, all his big edits, and being on social media when I was younger too, watching Max Moffatt. Also, a really big inspiration and still is, he still gives me a lot of inspo to my skiing today. And Tom Wallisch too. I think those are my top three.

 

When you were younger, you had a pretty devasting injury, what happened and what was recovery like?

CHARLIE: So, I think fast forward probably like a year after that whole New Schoolers edit thing happened, so I was like 8. I was skiing at Mount. St Louis and I remember I learned to switch 540 that day. I was just trying it on like the top jump and I came up short and landed kind of backseat on my butt. I remember it was really bad, I heard like a huge pop, and it was just the worst pain. I've heard so many people talk about the same injury, like the ACL stuff and it goes away kind of. So, it was weird, and you don't really know if there's a problem with it. I got referred to a really good sports doctor, saw him just to get it checked up and he recommended a scope. So, we did that and then we saw that my whole ACL was torn. Which at that age was pretty crazy, that’s not very common. So, there was a kind of big debacle about how to go about doing the surgery and figuring out ways to not deplete my body in a way, because of the growth plate and everything. You don't want to drill through that at a young age because I'm still growing, right? So, I got that done, everything went well. It was a huge success, and they were kind of taking a chance on it, but it worked. And I think at that age, honestly, it was a blessing in disguise because I had so much energy and I was active, but I also knew the severity of it. It did take some time to recover with rest and physio, but by the next fall I was back skiing, which was cool.

 

At 14, you were one of the youngest athletes ever to be selected for the next Gen program for Team Canada. What was that like? And how does it feel representing Canada at a national level?

CHARLIE: Yeah, that's crazy. It was always a long term goal of mine to be on the Canadian national team for skiing. Just because, you know, the program's sick and all my idols that I grew up watching were on that team, and I thought it was the sickest thing ever. I had a pretty good season that year when I was like 14, and got invited to the Junior Worlds, and made finals there in both Slope and Big Air. From there I went on to take 4th overall at the Stoneham World Cup, which was the last competition of the season. After that, I got a text saying we would like to invite you to the camp, like a tryout kind of thing. Alec Henderson was there too, and Dylan Deschamps and a few other people. And yeah, we had a month in Whistler with the team, and we got to try it out. And from there I made the team, and I think that was right before I turned 15. So yeah, that was pretty crazy too. I never in a million years would have thought it would come that fast. But I'm very blessed it did because it kind of expedited things for me with experience and all that, which is cool.

 

What's been one of the most memorable competitions of your career so far?

CHARLIE: I'd say my first World Cup was pretty cool in Stubai, Austria. Like never really meeting pro skiers before and then getting to ski with all of them. That was pretty cool and just to be at that level and knowing that I had worked so hard to get there, I knew that no matter the place I got, I just wanted to soak it all in cause I was super proud of what I'd done to get there.

 

And you were probably one of the youngest competing in that. What was it like being so young competing against some of the world’s top pro riders?

CHARLIE: Yeah, it was cool. I think I wanted to have the mentality of opening my mind to learning as much as I could and kind of seeing how all the pros did what they did. I kind of carried that to use to my advantage and in the future, like competing at NorAMs and places where I can actually go out and try to win. It just kind of relieved some pressure because I know I'm there to just learn and gain experience. So, it was so much fun.

 

What was it like winning the Youth Olympic Games in Korea?

CHARLIE: That was also a highlight. That whole experience and whole trip was cool cause it was like my first time experiencing a multi-sport games kind of environment. Getting to do all the Olympic stuff like the village, the buses traveling from the venues, the village, getting all the cool lounges, and all the Olympic crazy stuff that comes with it. There was so much to take out of that, I remember the slopestyle, the qualifying was awesome and then the finals didn't go my way. I had the big air coming up the next two days, so I remember I just tried to focus as much as possible and was able to put two really good jumps down in the finals and came out with the win. Getting to be there, seeing the flag go up was pretty cool because you never really get to do that at any other competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How do you deal with nerves or pressure when competing?

CHARLIE: Honestly, I couldn't even tell you. I still struggle with that all the time. It's tough, I think just knowing that you are capable and trusting in your ability to the fullest is my advice I'd give to any young kid that's looking to better themselves in competitive skiing. Just be yourself and don’t worry about the outcome because that's not in your control, you can only control the moment. So, just be present and go have as much fun as you can.

 

What types of training do you do on and off the hill?

CHARLIE: Currently, I’m pretty heavy in the gym. I think this time of year it's the best time to focus on going really hard because I'm not skiing. I don't have to worry about being fatigued to hinder any skiing ability. But, in the summer, the whole airbag stuff has been a huge help to all my success so far in my career with building air awareness. Also trampolining is huge, that’s something I did a lot of when I was a kid. I've kind of stepped away from that now and I don't do it as much anymore. But I think doing that when I was younger helped me out a lot. But I think the main thing is just staying in the gym and also playing other sports too.

 

What's the most technical trick you've landed?

CHARLIE: I'd want to say a switch double 18 lead stale, like lead tail grab. I think that's the most spins.

 

Any new tricks on your hit list to get this year?

CHARLIE: Something I would want to do is a unnatural triple cork. I just learned the forward right triple cork. I want to learn the forward left one really bad. I think it's time I start trying to toss the three flips around.

 

How do you see the ski scene evolving in the next few years?

CHARLIE: I can see lots of growth with freeskiing as a whole. I think the next generation of skiers, there's a bunch of really wicked skiers with sick style, a bunch of flavor, and a bunch of stuff to get inspired from. Which, in a way, is what skiing needs. I think everyone competing, like all our goal is to push it as big as possible, to get the most recognition, make the most money, kind of just get it out there as much as possible to make it an actual watched sport.

 

How important is the filming side of skiing for you and getting clips? And do you think we could see a full video part from you soon?

CHARLIE: That's definitely a big dream of mine. I've thought about it for the past year probably and I didn't really get up to it because I didn't have much time. But that's definitely something that I would love to do and I've had so many ideas on and I think we will see it coming up. I just got to wait for the right time, places, and resources to do it. But as I said, meeting more people, there's more opportunity with that as well. But it would be sick to do it with a sponsor, I think that'd be super sick and getting into like more street skiing would be sick too.

 

What are some hobbies you have outside of skiing?

CHARLIE: I'm definitely a sports enthusiast. Golf is one of my main things I do in the summer. Like I was saying, the whole mental game aspect, I like to use it as training too for my skiing. It definitely keeps you in tune with your mental ability to stay focused and commit. I also was a big hockey player growing up. Biking too, other than golf, Anything that's kind of fast-paced and has some flow to it.

 

Some fun quick-fire questions.

 

Favorite mountain to ride?

CHARLIE: Mammoth.

 

Best resort you've skied?

CHARLIE: Tignes, France.

 

Favorite place you've traveled to?

CHARLIE: Umm Honestly, I spent some time in LA, like around there, San Diego, LA, downtown, pretty sick.

 

Go-to trick you'll never get tired of?

CHARLIE: Cork 5 blunt.

 

Jumps or rails?

CHARLIE: Oh, I love both so much. I think it kind of depends on what your motive is, but I want to say jumps.

 

Après ski go to meal or drink?

CHARLIE: The classic chicken finger fries combo and a nice big jug of water. Because, I'm usually always very dehydrated cause I don't drink enough when I'm skiing cause I'm having too much fun.

 

Music or no music while skiing?

CHARLIE: I say I get into times in my life when I'm riding with music strictly and then I won't ride with music for a while. So, I'd say I'm say no music.

 

What's the current pump up song or artist you're vibing with?

CHARLIE: Overall pump up artist, I'm gonna go Deftones.

 

Dream sponsor?

CHARLIE: Red Bull.

 

How's your experience been working with Corbetts over the years?

CHARLIE: It's been one of my most reliable and favorite sponsors ever. They've supplied me in times of need whenever and I can always rely on them to be a great partner with my career and I love everyone that works there. I've had nothing but positive interactions and good times with everyone I've met at Corbetts. And, the supply you guys have is crazy. You guys have everything and a lot of it, which is awesome.

 

What are some goals you hope to accomplish next season?

CHARLIE: I'd say to put out a video, that'd be cool. And to just become a better skier. I think that's everyone's goal, it's pretty simple, but I think that's a pretty good goal.

 

Any final words for the next generation watching you now hoping to follow your path?

CHARLIE: Yeah, I think to be yourself is the best way to go about being a skier and don't be afraid to be different and try new things. I hope that my style and way of skiing inspires a bunch of little kids to hop on some skis and have some fun.

 

 

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