Ben
Ferguson
United States
·
Snowboarding
Date of birth | 21 January 1995 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Bend, Oregon, USA |
Age | 30 |
Nationality | United States |
Career start | 2013 |
Disciplines | Snowboard Halfpipe |
Ben Ferguson got an early start at competitive snowboarding. When he was six years old, his father put him on his first snowboard at their hometown hill, Mt Bachelor. Ferguson got the hang of it quickly and by the age of eight, he had already entered his first slopestyle contest.
When he was 10, he competed in the USASA Nationals, where he won slopestyle and came second in halfpipe. After that, he uploaded a "sponsor me" video to YouTube and got picked up by the Burton Smalls Team, the junior arm of the snowboard mega-brand. "That made me realise I was pretty good, and maybe I could have a future in snowboarding," Ferguson says.
Ferguson eventually graduated from the Burton Smalls Team to Burton's pro-level team. In 2008, at 13, he competed in the Burton US Open Junior Jam, an amateur-level contest.
In 2011 he earned several top-five finishes on the Revolution Tour and competed in his first Dew Tour contest. "It was pretty cool to see all the guys who I'd watched in videos when I was younger and seen on TV at the X Games," Ferguson says. "But you try to focus on what you're doing and not think about anyone else. It brings a different level of seriousness."
In 2012, at 17, Ferguson competed in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. He won the halfpipe contest and placed second in slopestyle.
A member of the US Snowboarding Team, Ferguson missed qualifying for the 2014 Games by one spot on a highly competitive team. But that year, he did make his X Games debut in the halfpipe, scoring fifth place in his rookie appearance.
Ben and his brother Gabe joined forces in 2015 to compete as a team in the Red Bull Double Pipe event in Aspen, Colorado, where their choreographed run down the unique pipe feature earned them a win in the doubles contest.
In 2018, he qualified for his first Winter Games, narrowly missing out on a medal as he finished fourth in the halfpipe event in PyeongChang. Four years later he would enter the Natural Selection Tour where he showcased his incredible riding as he claimed third place at two stops.
As well as competing, Ferguson loves riding big lines, hitting the backcountry and learning new skills. "Learning new tricks is hard," he says. "But that's what makes it fun when you can overcome difficulties and learn something new. I enjoy the challenge."
In 2022, Ben made his directorial debut with Fleeting Time, which featured himself and a crew of snowboarders as they searched for adventure. Directing a snowboarding film is different from starring in one, Ben discovered, but he loves capturing the thrill of snowboarding.
Ben Ferguson checks out the Matterhorn from high in Zermatt
© Frederik Kalbermatten/Red Bull Content Pool
Ben Ferguson leads Brock Crouch down an untouched Zermatt piste
© Loris Poussin/Red Bull Content Pool
Ben Ferguson on a mission at Revelstoke
© Chad Chomlack/Natural Selection Tour
Ben Ferguson rides at Red Bull Recharged
© Peter Morning/Red Bull Content Pool