XACT Collective • Athlete Feature

XACT & WeiTien Ho

Some partnerships are about visibility. This one

is about energy.

WeiTien Ho doesn’t train part-time, compete part-time, or commit halfway. He shows up full-out — across seasons, disciplines, and terrain. That approach mirrors how we build, fuel, and show up at XACT Nutrition.

WeiTien has been using XACT products long before this 

partnership became official. Not because of contracts — but because when effort stacks, volume is high, and precision matters, simple and reliable energy becomes non-negotiable. That shared reality is what makes this a natural fit.

“I use the products during all sorts of different activities. I use them in the gym, while skiing or biking - all the time! This will be my first season with XACT, however I have been using the products for about a year now . ”

Rising Star of Freeride Skiing • Dual-Discipline Phenom from Whistler

Some athletes chase results. Others chase possibility.

At just 21 years old, WeiTien Ho has already cemented his place among freeride skiing’s elite — and he’s doing it while simultaneously competing at the highest levels of enduro mountain biking. Based in Whistler, British Columbia, Ho embodies the ethos of the modern mountain athlete: versatile, fearless, and constantly pushing creative boundaries on the world’s most demanding terrain.

This weekend, Ho returns to Val Thorens for Stop 2 of the 2026 Freeride World Tour, riding momentum from his third-place finish at the season opener in Baqueira Beret just days ago. Currently sitting third in the overall Ski Men standings, he’s positioned for a breakthrough campaign following his historic 2025 season finale.

2025: The Verbier Victory That Changed Everything

Ho’s first-ever FWT victory didn’t come at just any venue — it came on the Bec des Rosses at Xtreme Verbier, freeride skiing’s most hallowed proving ground. On that March day in 2025, the young Canadian delivered what commentators called “mind-bending stuff,” navigating the legendary Swiss face with a run that showcased everything he’s known for: a giant backflip stomped with precision, an emphatic 360 over a rock garden, and an outside-the-box double pop through the icefall that left judges and spectators stunned.

“It’s an honour to win the Xtreme Verbier. I can’t believe it, and I couldn’t have asked for a better end to the season — it’s the cherry on top!” source

That victory capped a season in which Ho finished seventh overall on the FWT, accumulating 27,020 points across five stops. But the Verbier win represented far more than a single result — it was validation of a creative skiing style that had been turning heads throughout his rookie 2024 season and sophomore 2025 campaign.

🏆 Watch: Verbier Winning Run

The Creative Line Artist

What distinguishes Ho from his competitors isn’t just technical proficiency — it’s his reputation for spectacular creative lines. On any given competition face, while others may opt for proven routes, Ho sees possibilities. His line selection reflects an artist’s eye combined with an engineer’s precision, threading together features that others might skip, always seeking the unexpected trajectory that maximizes both difficulty and aesthetic appeal.

His signature trick repertoire includes clean 360s — often multiples per run — massive backflips, and the notoriously difficult screamin’ seaman grab, a maneuver where skis cross over to opposite sides mid-air before untangling for landing. At Val Thorens in 2025, Ho executed what many observers called the best run of the men’s ski category: a cliff drop followed immediately by a huge 360, a massive screamin’ seaman, another enormous 360, and a final backflip — only to crash on the landing and tumble to 15th place. The run showcased both his spectacular upside and the razor-thin margins in elite freeride competition.

Commentators consistently describe his skiing with superlatives: “smooth, stylish rider with great technique,” “super quick feet,” and “intentional direction choices”. The way he navigates technical terrain — popping over rocks mid-turn while maintaining speed, choosing unconventional approach angles, linking features seamlessly — demonstrates a spatial intelligence honed through years in Whistler’s demanding backcountry.

The Whistler Freeride Club Graduate

Ho’s pathway to the FWT began almost the moment his family moved from Vancouver to Whistler when he was four years old. His parents, “very outdoorsy people,” enrolled him in both the French-speaking school and the ski and bike programs that would shape his athletic identity. Weekends meant cross-country skiing one day, downhill the next, and when snow melted, the skis were swapped for bikes in DFX and WORCA programs.

The Whistler Freeride Club provided the scaffolding for his competitive development. “I wouldn’t be here without the Whistler Freeride Club,” Ho has said. “Although I’m out of the program now I still reach out to the coaches. It has created lifelong relationships for me.”

By age 15, Ho had set his sights on the Freeride World Tour after watching Jackson Bathgate win Junior Worlds. He won the 2015/16 North American Championships and began navigating the challenging qualifier circuit. But the path wasn’t linear — he struggled with competition mindset, failed to make The Challengers cut, and received a wildcard entry to the 2025 FWT feeling he “didn’t deserve it”. That wildcard became his launchpad to Verbier glory.

The Mountain Bike Champion

Ho’s skiing achievements tell only half the story. During the ski off-season, he transforms into one of Canada’s top enduro mountain bike racers, competing on the UCI Enduro World Cup circuit for the Commencal 7Mesh team.

• Back-to-back Canadian National Enduro Champion (2022, 2023)
• 2024 Leogang U21 Enduro World Cup winner by a dominant margin
• 2025 Canadian Enduro Championship podium (Elite Men)
• Best Junior Athlete in Whistler

At Leogang in 2024, Ho was fastest on two of six timed stages and never finished worse than third on any stage, demonstrating the consistency that defines elite enduro racing. His bike racing fitness directly benefits his skiing — commentators at Baqueira Beret noted, “Spending his summers racing on the enduro world cup, so the fitness definitely not a problem for this man”.

When asked which discipline he prefers, Ho’s answer captures his dual passion: “Can’t decide, love them both. I am better at skiing in the winter and better at biking in the summer.”

2026: Building on Bronze

The 2026 season opened in the Pyrenees at Baqueira Beret, where Ho delivered a run packed with expert line selection: two clean 360s, a lofty backflip, and seamless feature-linking that earned him 86.33 points and third place. He currently sits just 0.34 points behind second-place Toby Rafford and less than a point behind leader Ben Richards in the overall Ski Men standings — a razor-thin margin that sets up an intense battle for the season title.

This weekend’s Val Thorens Pro (January 24–29, 2026) presents both opportunity and challenge. The venue, situated at the highest ski resort in Europe, features competition on the Cime Caron peak: a 550-meter vertical plunge from 3,095 meters with an average 39-degree gradient, navigating ridge lines, couloirs, and wide-open sections. In 2025, Val Thorens delivered the deepest powder day of the season with over 70cm of fresh snow — exactly the conditions where Ho’s creativity and technical skill shine.

🥉 Watch: Baqueira Beret – 3rd Place Run

The Mental Game and Future Vision

Ho has been candid about the mental challenges of elite competition. After struggling with competition mindset early in his career — overthinking what judges wanted rather than skiing his own vision — he worked with mental coaches and leaned on his Whistler Freeride Club mentors to rediscover his love for the sport.

“Once you get to a certain level in freeskiing the margins are so thin. Anyone can win, you have to check into that flow state on command and have the mental strength to manage all the external variables,” he explained. “Mental strength is fascinating to me and is something that I am constantly working on.”

His pre-competition ritual includes a carefully curated playlist listened to through earbuds — his one piece of gear he “couldn’t ski without” — to get “into his bubble”.

Looking ahead, Ho has set ambitious targets: compete at the 2030 Olympics, reach World Championships in both skiing and mountain biking, and ski runs at the FWT that reflect his full potential. Given his trajectory — from wildcard entrant to Verbier champion in one season, from U21 mountain bike champion to podium contender against elite men — these goals seem less audacious than inevitable.

What Makes Him Special

In an era of increasingly specialized athletes, WeiTien Ho represents something different: the generalist elevated to world-class status in multiple disciplines. His mountain biking makes him a better skier (fitness, bike-handling skills translate to skiing agility). His skiing makes him a better biker (air awareness, commitment under pressure). And both disciplines feed a creative engine that constantly seeks new ways to move through mountain terrain.

He rides for Peak Performance (skiing) and Commencal (biking), using his Commencal Meta SX for enduro racing. His film project “Now,” narrated by his mother Jennifer Ho and created with videographer Cole Nelson and Hugh Saint-Jaques, chronicles his 2025 FWT season and offers insight into the person behind the spectacular descents.

At 21, with a Verbier victory already on his résumé, Ho is positioned to become one of freeride skiing’s defining athletes of the next decade. As he drops into Val Thorens this weekend, expect to see what has become his trademark: lines no one else imagined, executed with a smoothness that makes the impossible look effortless, and a creative vision that continually redefines what’s possible on a freeride face.

When asked about his ultimate trick in competition, Ho answered with characteristic ambition: “Double screamin’ seaman” — a move so difficult it exists more in imagination than reality. But given his track record of turning the unthinkable into reality, it’s probably only a matter of time.

🎬 Watch: “NOW” (WeiTien Ho)

Follow WeiTien Ho’s 2026 season as he competes on the Freeride World Tour while continuing his parallel career as one of Canada’s top enduro mountain bike racers.