One of Mac Forehand’s clearest early memories isn’t about skiing. It’s about a candy store in Stratton Village, Vermont, where he and his friends would pile in after a day on the mountain, tired and happy, pockets full of coins.
Those weekends were family trips at first. A Connecticut kid, born on August 4, 2001, making the drive north with his parents so his older sister could ski moguls. At age six, Mac followed his older sister into mogul skiing, and the family would travel from Connecticut to Vermont to ski before eventually relocating so that both children could attend Stratton Mountain School.
Nobody in the car on those early Friday afternoon drives from Connecticut could have known they were transporting a future World Cup champion. But the mountains had a way of making that clear quickly.
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Early Life and Family Background
Mac Forehand was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, and grew up in Fairfield before moving with his family at age 14 to attend Stratton Mountain School in Vermont. He currently lives in Winhall, Vermont, a small town that sits right at the foot of Stratton Mountain — which tells you everything about how thoroughly Vermont became home.
His parents made sacrifices that don’t make headlines. They were clearly willing to rearrange life around winter, to sacrifice for their children’s skiing aspirations. Eventually, they relocated to Vermont so Mac and his sister could attend Stratton Mountain School.
His mother, Ann Marie, has been riding in the Pan Mass Challenge — an annual bike-a-thon fundraiser in Massachusetts — for nearly two decades. His parents’ longstanding ties to the PMC played a significant role in inspiring Mac’s participation. The tradition began in 2006 when his parents first rode as part of “TeamBrent,” formed in support of a child from their hometown battling neuroblastoma. Forehand has fond memories of serving as an unofficial volunteer for the event when he was young. Thanks to advancements in cancer research, Brent is still here today and cancer-free.
That detail matters. The Forehand family isn’t defined only by athletic ambition. There’s a genuine community thread running through how they operate.
His sister Savannah is the reason Mac ever stood on a mogul slope in the first place. Forehand credits his sister Savannah for originally steering him towards freeskiing. She was doing the weekend moguls program at Stratton, and Mac wanted in. That’s it. No grand plan — just a younger brother not wanting to be left out.
Switching from Moguls to Slopestyle
Mac’s parents originally wanted him to be a ski racer, but as a kid he found it too boring. He was more interested in following Savannah, who was participating in a weekend moguls program at Stratton Mountain. So he went into mogul skiing and grew to love it — especially doing tricks.
At around age nine, he started spending occasional days with Stratton’s park team. His coaches and parents initially weren’t thrilled about the idea of him switching from an established sport he was successful at to another that was in its Olympic infancy.
Knowles said to Mac’s mom: “If this is what he really loves, this is what he’s going to be great at.” And maybe that tipped the scales.
By the time Mac turned 12, slopestyle skiing had become an Olympic event, dramatically altering his parents’ perception of the sport. The door opened. He walked through it.
In his first day training with Knowles, Forehand completed the full skills progression before lunch. “And the rest,” Knowles said, “is kind of history from there.”
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Stratton Mountain School and Development
At Stratton Mountain School, Forehand’s emerging talent was shaped through rigorous athletic training and academic discipline. “The SMS staff did a great job with keeping us regimented in all aspects of our work — both athletically and academically,” he said.
SMS has sent at least one athlete to the Winter Olympics every year since 1976. It is not a ski club. It is a full school where academics and elite athletic development run in parallel. Students train on the mountain every day but still sit exams, write papers, and graduate. For Mac, the structure suited him.
He recalls: “I have many early memories of waking up, going to school on Fridays, driving to Vermont in the afternoon, skiing on Saturday and Sunday, and being so in love with it.”
Those feelings never faded. “Getting back to Vermont, being with my family, and going skiing at Stratton always takes me back to my earliest memories as a skier.”
World Cup Breakthrough and Crystal Globe Win
In 2019, still fully enrolled at Stratton Mountain School, Mac Forehand did something nobody had done before. He made history as the youngest person ever to win the overall World Cup Title in Slopestyle — at 17 years old.
He was a high school student. He was competing against the best slopestyle skiers in the world. He won the season title.
As a rookie on the U.S. Ski Team, Mac Forehand won the Crystal Globe in slopestyle at age 17. That record still stands.
It was the kind of breakthrough that could easily go to a teenager’s head. Instead, by most accounts, it made him more focused. He had tasted what consistency at the top felt like. He wanted more.
Beijing 2022 Olympic Experience
His Olympic debut at the Beijing Games ended with an 11th-place finish in big air and failing to qualify for the slopestyle final. He finished 20th in slopestyle at those Games.
Those results hurt. He was one of the most talented freeskiers in the world and he came home from his first Olympics without a result that reflected it. But he didn’t treat it as failure — he treated it as data.
He knew what had gone wrong. He knew what to fix. And the four years between Beijing and Milan became his answer.
X Games Success and World Championships
Since Beijing 2022, Forehand has won four X Games medals, including the big air event in 2023, his second Crystal Globe in slopestyle for the 2023-24 season, and a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2025 FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships.
In January 2026, just weeks before the Milan-Cortina Games, Forehand won gold at the 2026 Winter X Games in Aspen in the Men’s Ski Big Air event, scoring a 96.00 on his second run. The timing of that result — arriving at the Olympics as a reigning X Games champion — told you everything about where his confidence stood.
His coach Knowles watched it happen. “When you can see somebody who was so passionately aware of himself and his want to be successful in this sport actually make it happen for himself, it’s magic,” Knowles said. “Just to be able to be involved in that part of his journey — that’s something I’ll cherish for all my days.”
The 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina
Heading into the 2026 Games, Forehand was at the top of his game. He qualified sixth in slopestyle — more than enough to secure a spot in the final on February 10.
He also advanced to the Olympic big air final alongside fellow Park City freeskier Troy Podmilsak. In the big air qualifying round, Forehand finished first. He competed in three jumps with the two highest scores counting, and his results placed him at the top of the field heading into the final.
Before the Games, Forehand told NBC News he planned to attempt a switch triple cork 1980 mute grab — a trick that had been done in competition by only one person. “Oh, I’m sure he’s got some stuff up his sleeve,” coach Knowles said. “He’s a determined workaholic.”
After pandemic restrictions prevented athletes from bringing family to Beijing, Forehand was excited to share the Milan experience with his parents and siblings. The candy store kid from Stratton Village, now 24 years old, was finally doing this with his family watching from the stands in Italy.
Personal Life and Character
Mac Forehand keeps his romantic life private. There is no publicly confirmed information about a girlfriend or partner. He has not discussed this aspect of his life in verified media appearances, and it would be speculation to assume otherwise. His social media and public interviews focus almost entirely on skiing, family, and community work.
His ongoing partnership with Red Bull serves as a springboard for his athletic creativity. He has also been part of the FK Pro Slopestyle team since 2019, according to team records.
He is a road cyclist who started riding during an ACL recovery period. A few years ago, his mother Ann Marie convinced him to participate in the Pan Mass Challenge alongside her. Forehand began working for the PMC as a volunteer during his early youth, helping with logistics. As he grew older, he began riding alongside his parents — “It just came naturally that I wanted to go ride in the Pan Mass and push myself in that way,” he said.
This is who he is away from competition. A son riding charity bike races alongside his mother. A brother who followed his sister into a sport. A former school volunteer who remembers the kids his family rode to support.
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Physical Profile
Forehand stands approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall with an athletic build suited for aerial freeskiing. His physique reflects years of serious conditioning across multiple disciplines — ski-specific strength training, road cycling, and the explosive power training required to launch into tricks at competition height.
His style on skis is defined by technical ambition. He spins both directions comfortably, executes tricks at the edge of what’s considered possible in the sport, and maintains the kind of consistency under pressure that separates elite athletes from very good ones.
According to his official Team USA profile, he competes in both slopestyle and big air events at the World Cup level and has represented the United States at two Olympic Games.
Net Worth and Sponsorships
Mac Forehand’s net worth is not publicly confirmed. Freeski athletes at his level generate income from multiple sources: World Cup prize money, X Games appearance fees and bonuses, athlete funding through the U.S. Ski and Snowboard program, and sponsorship deals.
His primary sponsors include Red Bull, which has supported him throughout his senior career and funded creative projects including his gravity-defying upside-down rail slide video. Sponsorship values for elite winter sports athletes at his level are not publicly disclosed but represent a meaningful portion of career income.
X Games gold medals carry cash prizes that, combined with World Cup earnings and sponsor contracts, build steady income for competitive freeskiers. However, these amounts are modest compared to mainstream professional sports, and winter sports athletes rarely accumulate large net worths from competition alone.
Any specific estimate of his net worth would be speculative. He is 24 years old at the time of the 2026 Olympics, early in a career that could run another decade at the top level. His financial position will grow alongside his competitive profile, particularly if his 2026 Olympic results translate into broader sponsorship opportunities.
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