Jossi Wells Suffers Broken Femur in New Zealand

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Oct 29, 2025 10:35 AM ET

Professional skier Jossi Wells is recovering after breaking his femur while filming at Cardrona, a New Zealand ski resort.

In a recent social media post, Wells revealed the injury, writing, “I’ve spent the last couple of years in an interesting relationship with risk, trying to mitigate as best I can, as I age in a lifestyle that demands we walk that tight rope.”

Wells called the injury a “heavy tax,” noting that “it’s the price we pay for living this elevated”—an acknowledgement of the risks inherent to skiing, professional or otherwise.

That risk, to Wells, seems worth it, though.

“We pay in blood, bone & tendon for this life. I’m grateful for the opportunity to do so,” he wrote, signing off his message. Wells also said that he’ll spend the coming year in “the lab,” likely referring to the recovery process. Broken femurs typically take several months to heal, depending on the severity of the injury.

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Throughout his career, Wells has claimed numerous X Games medals and, in 2014, represented New Zealand during park skiing’s inaugural Olympic appearance.

At the Olympics, he claimed fourth in halfpipe and, in slopestyle, produced one of the most memorable runs in skiing history when he rode the entire jump line switch after missing a rail trick early on.

That run generated some controversy in New Zealand when a columnist accused Wells—and other New Zealand winter Olympians—of treating the Olympics like “an expensive ski holiday.”

But as Wells explained in an interview with Newschoolers years later, it was just a way to represent freeskiing culture on the world stage. After all, in elite slopestyle competitions, one bungled rail trick can nullify the rest of the run. Wells later skied the entire X Games Aspen course switch.

Jossi Wells.Photo: Richard Bord/Getty Images

Wells now hosts the Jossi Wells Invitational, a gathering at Cardrona and Treble Cone that draws top freeskiing talent to New Zealand. This year’s event included the likes of Tom Wallisch, Quinn Wolferman, and Evan McEachran.

Recently, Wells appeared in BIRTHRIGHT, a short film made by his brother, Beau-James, which features more than a few high-consequence, low-coverage straight lines.

Check it out below.