The Freeride Revolution Is Growing at Sugar Bowl's Silver Belt Classic

2025 Silver Belt Classic Podiums

Women's Ski

1. Hannah Epsteyn
2. Indy Boyer
3. Ana Eyssimont

Men's Ski

1. Robert Andre Ruud
2. Kelly Killeke
3. Dillon Flinders

Women's Snowboard

1. Ella Sorenson
2. Ellery Manning
3. Freya Hammerlein

Men's Snowboard

1. Nate Bromley
2. Shayne Blue Sandblom
3. Tim Humphreys

How to Watch The 2025 Silver Belt Classic

Replays of the athlete's top runs are available to watch on Freeskier's Youtube channel, or at the embedded video below. Use the time stamps below to watch the podium runs for men's and women's ski.

Men's Ski
1. Robert Andre Ruud (13:48)
2. Kelly Killeke (17:56)
3. Dillon Flinders (10:22)

Women's Ski
1. Hannah Epsteyn (0:53)
2. Indy Boyer (4:01)
3. Ana Eyssimont (3:34)

2025 Silver Belt Event Breakdown

There's a common theme when it comes to the Silver Belt Classic— just about every aspect of it is unique. Including how athletes qualify.

Prominent athletes such as Ross Tester, Xander Guldman, Piper Kunst, and Jess Hotter, and former podium finishers like Elena Messner and Hannah Epsteyn received immediate bids to compete in the finals.

On the other hand, over 100 athletes from the Lake Tahoe area and abroad registered to compete in a qualifier competition on Wednesday, April 2nd at a separate venue in Sugar Bowl, the namesake off-piste area of the resort. The field consisted of bonafide pros, rising stars, teenagers, and amateurs alike. 

New for 2025, the athletes participating in the qualifier were separated by heats. Only one athlete from each heat could qualify for finals, and in keeping with the theme of peer review, judging was done by the athletes from the previous heat.

It's unclear how the heats were determined, but the competition was fierce. I personally witnessed a 30-year-old former FWT skier throw a massive backflip that wowed the crowd. The next skier was 14-year-old Kiwi Jasper Rogers. Rogers threw the largest double backflip of the day and secured his spot in the finals. It was nuts, for lack of a better word.

In total, 58 athletes qualified to compete in the Finals between men's and women's ski and snowboard. Finals were held in The Silver Belt, a long and wide gully with numerous natural rocks, cliffs, and playful rollers. Manmade features like lips and kickers were built to enhance the terrain and allow for bigger airs.

Each skier and rider was given two runs during Finals. The best run, based on their discretion, would be submitted for judging. At the end of the competition, the athletes gathered in the lodge to watch a replay of each skier and rider's best run. Athletes judged each other, and the votes were tallied.

Thoughts on the 2025 Silver Belt Classic

If you want to witness the evolution of freeride, the Silver belt Classic is a great place to start.

Most non-junior-specific freeride competitions require competitors to be at least 18 years of age. This hasn't prevented young guns from besting their elders in the past, but at the Silver Belt Classic, youth seems to be the name of the game. Athletes of all ages are allowed to compete.

The sub-21-year-old trio of Elena Messner, Hannah Epsteyn, and Indy Boyer were the stars of the show last year, and two of three continued their dominance in 2025.

Epsteyn's double backflip was one of the highlights of the entire competition, and is what surely led to her first place finish. She soared higher and further than any athlete in the field, and stuck the landing with the poise of a seasoned veteran. She's only 16-years-old, mind you.

Boyer could have won the comp if it hadn't been for Epsteyn's massive double. Similar to last year, Boyer threw multiple squeaky clean backflips and frontflips that appeared almost too easy for the Truckee teenager.

Rounding out the women's podium is reigning Queen of Corbet's Ana Eyssimont. While she didn't throw a double, her big backflip and hard-charging form through the chopped snow of the venue was dreamy to watch. If you haven't seen Ana make a turn, go watch a video.

The men's field was as equally competitive. Hank Stowers threw one of the best cork 7s I've ever seen over a massive cliff, and it wasn't enough to land them on the podium. Even freeride icons like Ross Tester, Xander Guldman, Ben Richards, Giray Didali, and Grant Howard couldn't crack the top three.

Instead, Nowegian Robert Andre Ruud, young-and-upcoming sender Kelly Killeke, and Dillon Flinders stole the show. Each skier blew minds by going bigger and better than everybody else in the field. It was a huck fest and a half, with so many spins that my head was dizzy trying to count them in real-time. The level of skiing was top notch.

A highlight of the competition was when Kelly Killeke broke one of his bindings. He put the ski back on, made one turn, and immediately face-planted. Rather than ski off to the side, Killeke picked up the broken ski and made the sweetest one-ski turns through powder I've ever seen. Then, in front of a cheering crowd, he approached the last kicker and threw a backflip on one ski while holding the other in his hand.

Killeke didn't quite land the one ski backflip attempt, but the effort was valiant and the crowd went nuts. 

The Silver Belt is as much as celebration of freeride as it is a competition. This is where some of the best athletes in the world come to lay it all on the line, and have fun while doing it.

Conclusion

Freeride is alive and well at Sugar Bowl's Silver Belt Classic.

After watching two years of the competitions re-imagination as a freeride event, I can confidently say that the next generation of skiers will be (or already are) are finest.

The kids are alright, as they say.

As a resident of the Tahoe area, and a massive fan of this movement of freeride, I do not plan on missing a Silver Belt Classic for as long as Sugar Bowl holds the event.

I hope you'll join me next April on the slopes of Mt. Lincoln to witness history go down for the third year running.