Professional freestyle skier contemplates the right moves

Matt Gillis has spent quite a bit of time lately pondering what he calls the $6 million question.

Fresh off a nationwide tour of ski resorts, performing as part of the Budweiser All-Star Aerial Show, the 22-year-old Sandpoint native is drawing close to finishing his bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics at Eastern Washington University.

So the question is: Does he pursue a career as a freestyle skier? Or look into an industry job, maybe in ski area management or marketing?

The son of a ski resort general manager, Gillis started sliding on the long flat boards before he turned 2. He moved onto racing and went to the Junior Olympics three times. When his family moved to Sandpoint, he started playing in the terrain park at Schweitzer Mountain Resort and couldn’t tear himself away.

“When I was about 15, I changed over and dedicated myself to freestyle,” Gillis said.

It’s paid off. His sponsors include Oakley sunglasses and Armada skis. He’s traveled to South America for ski shows. He’s been in local movies, including “West Coast Boogaloo,” and has graced the covers of local and national magazines.

He competes in skiercross races and slopestyle competitions, in which skiers or boarders try to pull off the biggest jumps and tricks using a variety of features on a course. But because neither event is an Olympic sport, Gillis said, that pretty much rules out his chances of taking the sport to that level.

“By the time what we do is in the Olympics, I probably won’t be in it anymore,” Gillis said.

Despite having been paid to ski all over the country, Gillis said, he’s proudest of helping promote the importance of terrain parks in the Inland Northwest. Over the past 10 years, the parks have become more sophisticated and challenging, which provides more opportunities for up-and-coming athletes.

“I started when the terrain park consisted of not a lot, and now ski resorts are focusing their mountain on their terrain park,” Gillis said. “That’s really cool.”