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Meet Alex Armstrong (her friends call her Army). This stoked Ontarian started skiing at the age of 3 and has had a need for speed ever since. After catching wind of the record-breaking snowfall in Jackson this winter, Army had her truck packed and ready to go in less than 12 hours… as any true powder hound would. We caught up with Army during her time filming with TGR to talk Tram stoke, Hollywood lines, style points, and ski inspirations. Watch Army's episode of Legends In the Making.
Alex Armstrong living her best life | Photo: Jeremy Allen
Who are you and where did you grow up skiing?
My name's Alex Armstrong. Everyone calls me Army. So I grew up skiing out of Quebec at a little tiny hill called Mont Ste. Marie that my grandpa helped start and yeah, basically, as soon as I was three years old, I was on skis and I've been skiing ever since.
Who are some of your early influences skiing?
I would definitely say my family. My grandpa was a super avid skier and so were my aunts and my dad. So we had a cottage right at the base of the hill. And by the time I was like seven years old, I was getting my boots on, making my bowl of cereal and getting myself to the hill because I loved it so much. So I think my family really cultivated that love for skiing.
What’s your style of skiing in one word?
Fast. But in a few more words, I like to really flow with the terrain and I really look at the mountain as a bit more of a canvas that I can shred down as fast as humanly possible. I would say my best trick is going fast.
How’d you wind up in Jackson shooting with us this season?
It's really funny. I was at a dinner about a week before talking with a friend at TGR, and he said to come to Jackson. Sure enough, on that Tuesday, I got a call from JK and he said, come on down, let's go skiing - there's a big storm coming. We were having a super slow start in B.C., so I literally got my truck in order in 12 hours, got the sled on there, packed my stuff, drove for 17 hours and got there for the storm of the year, maybe even the century. TGR called me on a Tuesday and I showed up on a Friday and I didn't even look at the weather. They just said that there was going to be a shit ton of snow. I maybe should have looked at a weather report, but, you know, when TGR says that it's going to be an epic storm in their hometown. You show up.
Army in the trenches | Photo: Nic Alegre
Did you score?
It was insane. It was like the most powder I've ever skied. Welcome to Jackson Hole. Skiing JHMR on a power day is crazy. People are frothed up. First of all, I feel like I was really excited for the powder, but just having like this massive group of people just be so stoked to get out there was insane. And honestly, I didn't even find it that busy. It felt like there were lines to ski for days.It just feels endless. So it was my first time taking the tram, and people are really hyped on it. There are like a lot of people in that tram. I felt like a sardine, but for good reason. There is a lot of powder. So yeah, it was just this high energy, high intensity, feeling of anticipation. As soon as you get off the top and you're in the element, it kind of dissipates and you're on your own vibe, which is really cool.
How has it been filming with TGR?
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Pow days for filming are different from pow days for skiing. In some ways there's a lot of standing around, but at the end of the day, there's tons of terrain. So we were getting fresh lines all over the place, even though we were maybe at a slower pace. My goal for the trip was to come here for those few powder days and it's two weeks later and I'm still here because it's pretty sick.
Most challenging part about skiing Jackson?
I think maybe the most challenging part of being in Jackson is that there's so many great skiers here. So a lot of the side country lines that I came here to hit have tracks before you're there. So there’s a pretty competitive nature to it in that sense. It's pretty cool in some ways, but also annoying in other ways.
Who have you been skiing with in Jackson? What’s the crew vibe been like?
I got shuffled in with a lot of different people, so I feel like it was really interesting to see the mountain from different perspectives. Griffin Post definitely has a similar vision to me, and Tim's style is way more trick-ey. He was finding all these little stashes that I would never have thought of. Then there’s Kai - who’s just a hype machine. He just wants to go fast and big and do all the tricks. So it was really interesting to get to ski with a ton of different people during those days and see it all from their lens.
Where the need for speed and technical lines collide | Photo: Jeremy Allen
Who are some of your ski legends you look up to?
I actually got to ski with a bunch of my ski legends recently. I skied with Lynsey Dyer yesterday, which was really cool. I had met Lindsey on my first ever filming shoot (when I was ski patrolling at Lake Louise, waaaaaay before I was sponsored or thinking of going pro) and looked up to her for so long. She was one of the first female faces of free skiing. She was hitting all the big cliffs that the dudes were hitting and stepping up to things that had never been skied by a woman. So getting to ski with Lynsey and learn from her approach was a dream come true.
What are some of your professional ski goals?
I feel like one of my skiing goals is to focus on being more stylish for lack of a better word. What I think that means is adding some more tricks, adding some more grabs, and just really pushing myself out of my current comfort zone (big, fast style). I want to incorporate a little bit more style into the mix and slay more lines in the big mountains of B.C. with sled access.
