A man with his own bent ski line, Chris’s name is synonymous with progressive freeskiing and is cemented in the sport’s rich history. His DNA, along with his prolific art, is everywhere. It adorns his top-selling pro-model ski, that has evolved into an entire line of skis since their inception in 2008, it endures in large-scale murals, and it has spilled into designs for some of the biggest apparel and gear makers in the snowsports world. An artist through and through, one of Chris’s earliest moves as a pro skier was to co-found Nimbus Independent, a seminal ski-film company that rewrote the rules for an entire generation, favoring soulful play over full-throttle gnar—an attitude and style that’s defined Chris’s career. He is to this day one of freeskiing’s most cherished rogues, skiing like a snowboarder and prioritizing fun. His focus is squarely on creativity, both on snow and in his Mammoth, California, painting studio. More recently, he and his wife, pro snowboarder Kimmy Fasani, founded the Benchetler Fasani Foundation (BFF) during her aggressive bout with breast cancer. The BFF seeks to help people through hardship via the outdoors, and Chris continues to have an outsize influence on the action-sports world across all its layers.
Achievements:
- Co-founded Nimbus Independent
- Helped change the sport of freeskiing
- Pioneered skiing with a light suit in the groundbreaking film Afterglow
- 2019 gold medal X Games Zoom photography contest
- 2019 second place Men’s Powder Poll, Powder Awards
- 2017 third place Men’s Powder Poll, Powder Awards
- Featured in films by Warren Miller Entertainment, Teton Gravity Research, MSP Films, Poor Boyz Productions
- Directed and Produced award-winning film Fire on The Mountain in collaboration with the Grateful Dead
- Co-founded the BenchetlerFasani Foundation (BFF)