How Tristen Lilly's Iconic Kings & Queens of Corbet's Moment Happened

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 2:43 PM ET

The sun is shining, the weather is warm, but every so often its nice to look back on the chilly days of winter and reminisce on unforgettable moments like the first big storm of the season, ripping around on pow days with your homies, oh, and how could we forget Tristen Lilly's 2025 Kings and Queens of Corbet's run??

Looking back on the past winter and all the things that happened in skiing, the Kings & Queens rookie's insane hand-drag 720 into the couloir was one of the most epic things to go down. In his first year at the event, Lilly spun his way into Corbet's history bringing around two full rotations with so much style, the POWDER staff dubbed the 720 variation the 'Pants Spin,' playing off his Instagram handle (@_____pants).

Five months after the event, GoPro released a behind the scenes look into Lilly's run, complete with his POV footage and some nuggets on what was going through his head during the trick. You can watch below. Keep reading for more.

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Apparently, Lilly was planning to do a 360 into the couloir, but on his last look over the edge, decided a hand-drag might be worth a try. Fellow competitor Colby Stevenson was standing next to Lilly when the idea popped into his head and Stevenson agreed that it 'would be sick,' which cemented Lilly's plans.

Lilly remembers the hand drag putting him upside down and pointed headfirst at the rock wall that juts out from the side of the couloir. Upon realizing what was happening, and not wanting to land on his head from that high up, Lilly snapped into gear and brought it around for a second rotation.

While a bit of a loose operation, the delay in the second rotation into a 720 ended up looking unbelievably stylish in a way that's reminiscent of 2010's Sean Pettit. The clip of his trick ended up going viral, gaining more than 20 million views on social media and landing him in third place for the competition.

Lilly ended up snagging a rock on the runout and lost a ski following the Pants Spin, but still finished his run with a massive front flip off the trick jump at the bottom. On his second run, Lilly played it a little safer with a backflip into the couloir and no accidental rotations.

Prior to the comp, Lilly flew relatively under the radar as an athlete, but after this, we hope to see more of him in competitions, film projects, and other bits of the ski industry. IMO, we could all use a little @_____pants style in our lives.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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