It all started on Mammoth Mountain, in California back in the early 90’s. I was born and raised in a little town called Bishop, which lies about 40 minutes South of Mammoth. On the weekends my parents would take me up to Mammoth for skiing. They told me my first few lessons were like pulling teeth.. I was more interested in being the little fat kid in the lodge drinking hot cocoa and watching cartoons.
Somewhere along the way I fell in love and started skiing every weekend I could. Eventually I joined the race team and progressively got more and more involved, taking time off school, traveling and racing every chance I had.
By the time I was entering High School I discovered the freeride scene. I was a very fortunate and my parents supported most of my decisions, eventually they even started allowing me to miss school (as long as I still did the work). Once I was allowed a bit more freedom I began jumping and training as much as possible. During that time I met Pep Fujas, who introduced me to K2, and helped me get my first sponsor.
I started competing, skiing every weekend, and eventually I moved up the hill to Mammoth in ’04. Shortly there after I met the film crew Poorboyz Productions. Once I realized I could ski powder for a living, I bailed on the contest scene, started chasing my passion and love for deep snow. I have been filming with PBP ever since, and have been trying to push myself, my piers, and produce a film segment every fall. I plan on continuing down that path and want to keep pushing my limits as well as the limits of back country skiing...
For more info: http://chrisbenchetler.com/.