Level 1's hard-hitting freestyle competition culminates at Palisades Tahoe next week.
SuperUnknown was started more than 20 years ago as a vessel to help young skiers get discovered. The process of pursuing sponsorship and a professional ski career isn't exactly something they teach you in school. The contest sought to streamline that process by getting eyes from the industry on young talent outside the traditional competition scene. More than two decades later, SuperUnknown is still going strong.
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To enter, athletes submit a short promo video showcasing their best freestyle skiing and personalities to a panel of judges made up of Level 1 employees and athletes. In 2012, a finals week was introduced into the event where the top skiers are invited to a week long sesh at a resort that changes from year to year. A separate women's category was also added to the event in 2018.
The winner is then awarded a cash prize and the chance to film with Level 1 and get a foot in the door of the ski industry. Names that are now well-known in freeskiing, like Tom Wallisch, Jonah Williams, and Blake Wilson, have all been previous SuperUnknown winners.
This year, SuperUnknown's finals week will take place at Palisades Tahoe, where skiers across freestyle disciplines will come together for a private park sesh and shoot with Level 1. One look at the finalists invited to the event will have names like Avery Krumme, Maé Biedermann, and Elsa Sjöstedt high on your list of new favorite skiers.
Alongside the stacked crew of finalists, Level 1 also added a roster of professional skiers to the event during the 2023 edition and has become a continued part of the event. In total, more than 50 athletes from around the world are slated to participate in finals week. In the end, winners will be determined by the athletes and take home a prize purse and eternal bragging rights.
The talent at these events is off the charts, and the competition's non-traditional format creates an incredible incubator for freeskiing talent. While social media has made it much easier for skiers to get their skills seen by a larger audience, it has also saturated a market where sponsorship dollars can be sparse.
SuperUnknown creates a structured format for these skiers to be discovered and provides the opportunity of its own to film with Level 1 at the same time. It's a truly unique event and one that will surely continue to have an impact on freeskiing's presence in the ski industry.
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