Growing up in Squamish as the son of a park ranger and an avalanche specialist, infused Jessie McAuley with drive, a love of vast vistas, and an abnormally high tolerance for scampering up and down steep terrain. An endurance addict who is always trying to peel time off his previous performances, Jessie dreams in wild traverses. The Sea to Sky former grom competed as a freeskier and raced mountain bikes in both downhill and enduro categories, before refining his focus as a ski mountaineering athlete in the winters, and a trail runner in the summer. A set of lungs on legs, his Muse is the Little Ice Age that scraped the contours of the Coast Mountains and left behind sprawling granite slabs, hidden big walls and alpine meadows, all the better for running up and down or speedily ski touring across. While moving light and fast is his MO - and he has a handful of fastest known times for both alpine runs and ski traverses, to prove it - Jessie often packs a point and shoot digital camera in his vest, always willing to pause to soak up a moment and progress his photography. He’s observant, with a natural instinct for route-finding and remembering terrain features. The intimacy of moving unencumbered through wild environments leaves its impression: Jessie is aware that his sports are condition-dependent and intertwined with the health of the environment. He is taking University courses, pondering future pathways, and interested in contributing to conservation efforts and mentoring up-and-coming ski-mo athletes, as ways to give back, or, more accurately, to pay things forward.

Achievements

• Third place, Mount Marathon, Seward, Alaska, 2024
• Third place, Minotaur Skyrace, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, 2023
• 12th place, Pierra Menta, Beaufort, France, 4 stage, 10,329m ski mountaineering race, 2025
• 26th, ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships, 2025
• FKT, west peak of Ch'ich'iyúyElxwíkn, the Twin Sisters (or the West Lion) (car to car), 2023
• FKT, Full Tantalus Traverse, record with Nick Elson, 2021, in 15.5 hours
• FKT (ski), Blackcomb - Mt Currie Traverse, with Nick Elson, 2024, 8:08 hours
• FKT (ski), Complete Spearhead Traverse, with Brendan Armstrong, 6:27:16 hrs