Granite Chief Athlete | Kelsey Hyche
Kelsey Hyche Bio and Info
The Scoop
"Since October I’ve been working at Granite Chief in the backshop tuning skis. Not only has Granite Chief given me a sweet job this year; they’ve also been very generous and supportive of my skiing goals for the year as my main sponsor. Everyone at Granite Chief has been so kind, helpful, and generous in welcoming me into the Granite Chief family and I couldn’t be more grateful!" - Kelsey
Age: 27
Current team affiliation: Sugar Bowl Freeride Coach
Home Mountain: Alpine Meadows
Years competing: 2 years
Division: Freeride World Qualifiers, Subaru Freeride Series
Favorite discipline: Big Mountain/Freeskiing
Favorite skis: Blizzard Cochise, Black Crows Corvus
Season goals: To be the best coach I can be, help my kids succeed in their competitions, and keep having fun while loving this life!
Accomplishments and career highlights:
1st Place Sierra at Tahoe Huck Cup FWQ
6th place Alpine Meadows Banzai 2015
Favorite part of skiing: The feeling of freedom I get. When I’m skiing I’m totally in the moment and nothing else matters, I am truly free.
One of my favorite parts about being a Granite Chief employee and athlete is the demos they have available for us to try out. I was lucky enough to try the freshly mounted Black Crows Corvus 175.1 last week and they exceeded my expectations! Read the full review here.
The Roots
Ski history: My dad was a coach at Homewood when I was born, l learned how to ski there and then moved over to Alpine Meadows and was on the race team from 8-13 yo. I got burnt out on racing and discovered freeskiing in high school thanks to some incredible Tahoe snowstorms and even better friends. After graduating college I moved back home to Tahoe and got my first coaching job at Alpine for the 2011-12 season. I’ve been a coach ever since, 5 years at Alpine Meadows and this season I’m coaching the Freeride Team at Sugar Bowl Academy.
Favorite things to do in the off-season: Backpacking and hiking with my dog, Buck.
Favorite music: Bluegrass and Funk- A few favs include Greensky Bluegrass, Lil Smokies, Infamous Stringdusters, Lettuce, and so many more!
Dream ski trip: I would love to get over to Japan sometime soon. Everything I’ve heard and seen about that place looks magical!
Follow me on Instagram @kelsey_hyche