How Do Julian Carr and Owen Leeper Do It?

Julian Carr and Owen Leeper are the dream team when it comes to a very specific style of skiing: massive hucks and straightlines through extremely technical terrain. For anyone who’s been following Carr and Leeper on social media for the past few weeks, you may have noticed the send meter got turned to 11 – and left there for good measure.

RELATED: Owen Leeper Tears up the Jackson Hole Backcountry

Leeper’s home base of Jackson Hole, WY just underwent one of the biggest storm cycles in its history, with over 100 inches of snow in the first half of February. Things might have been deep before, but with those extra inches, all the landings were sure to be plenty filled in. Carr ended up in Jackson on a whim, teaming up with his friend for a few days of the best skiing of his life.

POV from up high. Julian Carr photo.

"Every year I do a Targhee trip with a group of college friends, I was in Targhee about to head home when Owen text me the 7-day forecast for Jackson, he said I should stay, forecast was calling for an insane amount of snow for the week. Sure glad I was able to stick around!" says Carr.

"I call Owen the cyborg, for breakfast each day he has a small bowl of Captain Crunch, and brings a small granola bar with him for 'lunch.' Bell to bell days, plenty of Granite laps, Four Pines, Green River, you name it, it's all very straightforward and no big deal. It'd be 3:30, towards end of the day and he'd be like, 'it was pretty great out south, we have time for one more, let's go!'  Why not? I went from being in decent shape to getting the swing of things by the last day, able to knock out the Four Pines bootpack like it was a walk in the park, cyborg style!" says Carr.

Chasing Leeper seems like it paid off, as the two ticked off quite the load of huge airs, technical straightlines, and classic Teton lines. Carr brought his signature style to the mountains, including his trademark massive front flip off unfathomably large drops, like a huge cliff in the Expert Chutes area and a classic Rock Springs drop with a massive kicker on top. Explaining the process, Carr says:

"I look at the high alpine environment as an oversized gymnastics foam pit, if you pursue big cliffs right, they're very similar, no impact, no big deal. It's the concentration before hand to determine if the cliff is safe, the snow depth snow quality is adequate, all that takes intense focus and snow assessment abilities. I grew up doing lots of gymnastics, I hardly ever followed through with learning any certain routines, etc, I was too busy being addicted to the foam pit. I learned how to ski in 8th grade, right away I experienced powder snow, immediately it reminded me of a foam pit, I started looking for airs and cliffs right off the bat, I haven't stopped. Front flipping allows you to slice through the air w/out leaving the chance that the wind grabs your skis and takes away the control factor. With a front flip, you're essentially swan diving through the air examining the events unfolding in front of you, you can determine when to tip your flip over and relax your body to be ready for the non-impact, but you must relax, which you can because you put so much fear-fueled concentration into the endeavor that the fear converts into confidence, so there you are upside down headed toward your landing with utmost confidence allowing you to relax, heading towards your high alpine foam pit. All smiles!" 

While Jackson Hole might be famous for its terrain, the backside of the Tetons – the zone surrounding Grand Targhee – has the real cliffs. Of course, no trip to the area would be complete without a day spent touring beyond the Targhee boundary, hunting for those perfectly deep landings beneath walls of rock. Always ones to share the stoke, Leeper and Carr sent a tandem front flip off a massive cliff – capturing the action as seen below.

For Carr, pushing the limits of his skiing is a very calculated act. Outside of his skiing, Carr spends a lot of time running through the mountains – and a similar method permeates both sports for him. It’s a matter of slow and steady progression. When running, he knows he can slowly build up to longer and harder distances throughout the season, just like how he can build up to bigger and more technical skiing over the course of year. While many of the hucks might look reckless, each hit takes careful planning, scoping of landings and takeoffs, and necessitates a clear mind when it comes to dropping in.

"It's been a lifetime of passion of pursuing cliffs, I really just love being in the mountains, I feel like the more time you spend in the mountains your fluency graduates to higher level of awareness, I am fortunate to have gained a high alpine literacy that the mountains has let me in on their secret from time to time," says Carr.

The season is far from over, and Carr hopes to carry his momentum from the Tetons through the rest of the year. With a few days back home in the Wasatch before a trip planned to Alaska, Carr reckons there’s more to come.

Hiking is good for the soul. Julian Carr photo.