{"id":1776865,"date":"2026-02-17T19:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1776865"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:10:29","slug":"kings-queens-of-corbets-2026-recap-tristen-lilly-and-piper-kunst-claim-the-crown-in-jackson-hole-wy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1776865","title":{"rendered":"Kings & Queens of Corbet\u2019s 2026 Recap: Tristen Lilly and Piper Kunst Claim the Crown in Jackson Hole, WY"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Piper Kunst sending a huge backflip at Kings & Queens. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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There was a tense excitement in the air as athletes, media, and ski patrol embarked on the 8:24 a.m. tram, headed for \u201cThe Top of the World\u201d at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.<\/strong> 12 men and 12 women were preparing to huck themselves off a 40-foot cliff into a feature-filled, 50\u00b0 couloir while traveling at near-highway speeds\u2026pretty scary, right? Despite the task at hand, during the eight-minute ride up, I sensed little in the way of nerves. Competitors excitedly discussed different lines, tactics, and tricks they had in mind. Veterans of Kings & Queens reassured new contestants, and jovial riders hyped up those feeling less certain of themselves. There was no vibe at all that these athletes were competing against one another, but rather that they were competing together<\/em>\u2014to push the possibilities of skiing and riding on the biggest stage imaginable.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Athletes departing the foggy early tram. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While I stared up at the hazy couloir, awaiting clear skies from the nature gods so the competition could get underway, I was met with a sense of disbelief.<\/strong> Were there actually people in the world crazy enough\u2014and skilled enough\u2014to launch themselves into this mammoth chute? How could one take that type of impact? How could someone huck themselves off something that looks like it could kill you? I don\u2019t know\u2026but they did it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Tram soaring high above Corbet\u2019s Couloir. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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As the stoke built and Monster flowed in the finish corral, athletes began dropping.<\/strong> Snowboarder Sarka Pancochova<\/a> kicked off the competition with a bang, airing into Corbet\u2019s, then sending a backflip in the middle of the couloir and a 720 on the crowd-pleasing money booter. A few riders later, it was Piper Kunst\u2019s<\/a>\u2014our eventual Queen\u2014turn to huck herself off the lip. The crowd erupted as she became just the second woman ever to land a backflip into Corbet\u2019s. As she raced down the chute, spectators cheered her toward the massive money booter, where she slightly overcooked a huge frontflip, before being met with a massive ovation from the finish corral.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next came Jackson-born-and-raised Wyatt Gentry<\/a>.<\/strong> After starting with a huge 360 off the lip and then another further down the couloir, he made his way far skier\u2019s right toward the massive bottom cliffs. Wyatt stomped the drop, pulled around a cork-7 on the money booter, and skied into the celebrating crowd after what seemed to be a kingly run. The King, however, wouldn\u2019t be crowned until later that afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wyatt Gentry racing into the finish coral. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the first round was complete, I made my way up to the top of Corbet\u2019s itself, just in time to see Tristen Lilly\u2019s<\/a> winning run.<\/strong> After Tristen sent a massive frontflip into the apparent abyss, it was nearly impossible to catch even a glimpse of the rest of his run. However, judging by the roaring crowd hundreds of feet below, you could tell he\u2019d put down something special. Tristen followed up his initial drop with a huge mid-couloir backflip, a Wyatt Gentry-esque cliff drop, and a flat seven on the money booter to take home the 2026 crown. People at the top were stunned and excited, yet as soon as Lilly\u2019s run was over, an air of intense focus and anticipation resumed\u2014the same tension that had preceded his run when I arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tristen Lilly\u2019s massive frontflip off the lip. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The atmosphere among athletes preparing to drop was entirely different from the loud, celebratory vibe of the finish corral.<\/strong> The top of the lip felt more like a golf match than a ski comp, as competitors quietly visualized lines and contemplated whether to even risk dropping for a second time. From the bottom, it\u2019s nearly impossible to get a sense of what the skiers and riders are going through. Those in the spectator area see amped-up, adrenaline-filled athletes pumping their fists and giving triumphant high-fives. What you don\u2019t see are those same athletes, just moments prior, anxiously willing themselves\u2014in silence\u2014to do something unimaginable to the average skier. Something that, despite all the stoke and pageantry surrounding Kings & Queens, could have very serious and dangerous consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Quinn Boutot<\/a> visualizing his huge drop, far skier\u2019s right of the main lip. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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It became clear to me that winning, while nice, did not seem to be the end goal for many of the athletes.<\/strong> Kings & Queens is more about pushing your own limits and helping others push theirs. Competitors are hucking themselves off one of the scariest and most infamous runs in the world; making it to the bottom in one piece is a win in and of itself. This is a competition against your nerves, your limits, and yourself\u2014not against others. That sense of athletes not competing, but collaborating to make the impossible possible, is what makes Kings & Queens so very special.<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Tristen, Piper, and all the other athletes, staff, and fans who made this event happen.<\/strong> I can\u2019t wait to see what\u2019s in store for 2027.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The King and Queen of 2026. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Piper Kunst sending a huge backflip at Kings & Queens. Photo: C Burkesmith\/JHMR There was a tense excitement in the air as athletes, media, and ski patrol embarked on the 8:24 a.m. tram, headed for \u201cThe Top of the World\u201d at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 12 men and 12 women were preparing to huck themselves off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,267],"class_list":["post-1776865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-snowbrains-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1776865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1776865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1776865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1776865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}