Three-time Olympic ski slopestyle medalist Nick Goepper has no plans to retire from competitive ski halfpipe.
“My main inspiration is that I love doing this,” he said by phone Friday, 10 months after announcing his retirement from slopestyle. “It took me a while to find love again. … I like trying new things, but I was getting really bored.”
Goepper, 29, said he plans to compete in an international event next month in Copper Mountain, Colorado. He’s hoping to get an invitation to the Winter
He also hopes to compete in the 2026 Olympics in halfpipe. The team will be 4 people. Last year, all four U.S. men finished in the top seven at the Olympics, led by silver medalist David Wise and bronze medalist Alex Ferreira.
Goepper announced his retirement last January after winning medals in the first three Olympic ski slopestyle events (bronze in the inaugural event in 2014, silver in 2018 and 2022).
He previously dabbled in halfpipe, finishing first and second at the lower-level Noam Cup in February 2017. Some athletes have competed on the slope and pipe at the same time, most notably Olympic medalist Gus Kenworthy.
“The tricks translate pretty much straight from slopestyle to halfpipe,” Goepper said. “Learning the fundamentals of halfpipe skiing takes time and dedication.”
No American has ever won a medal in an individual event at four different Winter Olympics.
”[Winning three Olympic medals] I never dreamed of it,” Goepper, who was 17 when the IOC added slopestyle to the Olympic program in 2011, said after last year’s medal win. “If you asked 16-year-old me if this is what’s happening now, I’d say you’re crazy.”
Goepper, from a small farming town in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, started selling candy bars and mowing lawns to pay for ski passes at a nearby resort (“Glorious Bunny Hill”). That determination eventually led to sponsorship from a major company.