HELENA — The slopes of Great Divide are where Olympian Konnor Ralph started his journey, leading him to represent the stars and stripes at this year’s Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy. Ralph may be 5,000 miles away from where he learned to ski, but he still has his family and the Helena community cheering him on.
“He, he had a vision, and with his grit and determination, he accomplished that goal,” his mom said.” This was the goal.”
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“He’s worked really hard,” his dad said. “And we couldn't be prouder of what he’s accomplished.”
Konnor first clicked into skis at age 2. The Ralphs moved to Helena a year later, where Konnor and his brother fell in love with the terrain park.
“They slid over to the park and pretty soon, they weren't skiing with us anymore,” his mom said. “They were just hitting jumps and rails, and they found their calling.”
Konnor told his parents from a young age that he wanted to be a professional skier, but a lot of kids have big dreams.
The difference with Konnor is that the competitions he entered, he won. And those wins only fueled him further.
“Like a full-on obsession and addiction to skiing and improving,” his brother said. “He would plan out tricks that he was looking to do the next year during the summer.”
“I remember one time, I had to pull his pass because he was ducking the rope to get in the terrain park before it was ready,” said former Great Divide owner Kevin Taylor.
Konnor did this all without traditional coaching. He watched tricks on YouTube, and a group of older kids at Great Divide took him under their wing. Off the slopes, his drive didn’t stop, putting in extra work into practicing his flips and landings.
“We bounced on the trampoline every single day for probably a decade,” his brother said.
Now, as an Olympian, he’s a role model for the next generation of freestyle skiers, but he still makes time to come back to where he started, putting on clinics for kids at Great Divide.
“I bet he does probably inspire some people, just work hard, do what you wanna do,” said Rhett Moyer, a snowboarder at Great Divide.
In his first World Cup season in 2021, he ranked 78th overall among freestyle men’s skiers. This season, he’s ranked 7th, 4th in slopestyle, and 5th in big air.
Konnor’s biggest fans will always be his family, who are making their way to Italy to support him in person.
Being part of Team USA means a whole nation will be cheering you on, although there will be some extra loud cheering coming from right here in Montana.
“Helena especially always supported him,” his dad said. “They follow him on social media and support him 100% and cheer him on.”
Konnor’s parents say he’s feeling really good and ready to go ahead of the games, treating it just like one of his many World Cup events. You can cheer on Konnor at his events starting this Saturday, February 7th.
