Q&A: Colorado skier Alex Ferreira on ‘the ultimate high’ after bringing home Olympic gold
DENVER — “Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah.”
The Avicii lyrics that powered a gold medal-winning Olympic run still perfectly describe Alex Ferreira’s mood. After years of podium appearances on the world stage, the 31-year-old Coloradan took home gold in men’s freeski halfpipe in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games — an event characterized by fast speeds, big heights and gravity-defying tricks.
Born and raised in Aspen, Ferreira had access to some of the best ski areas in the world. His enrollment in the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club at age 10 cemented his desire to ski and perform high-flying stunts for the rest of his life.
“The big trick at the time was a 360, right? And everyone was landing them. I couldn't do it. I was practicing, practicing and practicing,” said Ferreira.
With one last plea to try again at the end of a training day, he landed the 360 and, “in that moment, I 100% knew exactly what I was going to do for the rest of my life,” he said.
Ferreira made his Olympic debut in 2018, earning the silver medal in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He secured bronze in 2022 in Beijing and continued to impress at World Cup events, culminating in a rare “perfect season” in 2024, winning all seven calendar events. All that was left was an Olympic gold.
In Milan-Cortina, weather forced the halfpipe freeskiers to compete in their qualifying runs and the finals on the same day. The decision in the finals came down to the third and final run for the skiers.
Ferreira hit all five of his tricks flawlessly and started his celebration right after landing the final one with his signature ski pole twirl. Judges gave him a final score of 93.75, vaulting Ferreira to the top of the leader board. Now as an Olympic gold medalist, he is taking some time to celebrate. Now back in Colorado, he spoke with Rocky Mountain PBS about his journey and his gold medal win.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Rocky Mountain PBS: First of all, congratulations on your gold medal win. How exciting. How are you feeling now?
Alex Ferreira: Thank you so much. It's been the best time of my life. I'm on the ultimate high, and I'm never coming down. As far as I can tell.
RMPBS: That's so exciting. Watching your runs on TV was just nail-biting. Seeing you twirl the pole at the end, I was like, ‘Oh, he's got a good run.’ So tell me, what was your mindset going into that day, having to do the qualifiers and then the finals on the same day?
AF: So when I first found out that they were going to lump the qualifiers and the finals together, I was a bit upset as well as some of the other athletes. And then I started thinking about it more and more, like, ‘have I done this before? Have I had qualifiers and finals in the same day?’
And I had in 2016 and in 2021, and both times I ended up on the podium. So then my mentality immediately switched and I thought, okay, I actually have a really good shot at this. This is good vibes. I'm going to go all in, remember my training and give it my all. So then my mindset going into the finals that night or the third final run was extremely confident, which is somewhat rare for me when I'm competing.
I’m known as the most nervous guy at the top. I would say I don't really talk to anybody. I don't really watch anybody's runs, but for some reason I just felt extremely confident, and I think that I was relying heavily on my training because I worked so, so incredibly hard, so it came naturally and it just happened.
RMPBS: Do you listen to music while you're riding, or were you giving yourself positive affirmations before that final run?
AF: Yes. I listen to music on full blast. I can't ski without it. No, I wasn't saying affirmations. I was just relaying my run, going over what I was just about to do. I was listening to Avicii — “Levels,” the song. It's a high motivator if anyone needs to get out into the gym today.
RMPBS: All right, got to add that to the playlist. How has the Aspen community impacted your career? What was it like growing up there and getting to ski there as a kid, and now on the world stage?
AF: I mean, being a part of the Aspen community was such a special, special thing growing up. The community gave me so much, and now I'm in a position where I can give it all back and I really try and do so, giving to a lot of fundraisers, being there for a lot of the Aspen School District kids for the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Kids, because I sat where they sat at their desks or I skied where they skied in their ski boots.
So just being a part of that was incredible. And then on top of that, having the access to so many resources and different training mechanisms was really the one of the KPIs [Key Performance Indicators] of allowing me to move forward and really jump into being one of the best in the world. So I have to tip my hat to everybody in the Aspen community, for allowing this to happen or helping me make it happen. It really does take a village.
RMPBS: So, who all makes up your support team? I saw some of your family out there in Italy with you.
AF: So certainly I have a lot of people in my corner, which is amazing. Definitely my immediate family — my mom, my dad, my sister Lourdes, and of course, my beautiful girlfriend Deirdre. And then on top of that, just a lot of extended family members, cousins, aunts, uncles, a lot of close friends from elementary school, best friends for that matter.
And then of course, my dog Brandy. Brandy's been there for me since day one, which has been amazing. I was so lucky to join the Nulo family and then be a part of the fuel incredible campaign with them, which was great. And Brandy, no matter what, whether it's a win or a loss, she's still that much excited and happy to be around me. So I have a good group of people and pets around me.
RMPBS: We're working on a documentary about the Olympics that were planned to come to Denver in 1976 and were changed. We are the only host city to ever win the Olympics hosting bid and then reject it. At the time, there were concerns about local taxes going to build the infrastructure, and a ballot initiative resulted in a decision to not allow tax money to go toward the Olympics. And so the Denver Olympic Committee had to tell the International Olympic Committee they couldn’t host anymore.
That was 50 years ago, but the question I have for you today is, could you see a future with Colorado hosting an Olympic Games?
AF: After doing this previous Olympics in Milan-Cortina, I think it is very possible to do more of a spread out games and have different niche sports pegged to a certain town or to a certain part of the state. So if you were going to do Colorado, for example, or the Denver metropolitan area, you could do all of the city winter games sports in Denver for the short track, for hockey, for things like this.
And then you could do some of the more mountainous and freestyle venues in Aspen. You could do the racing venues in Summit County. Whatever it is, you can spread it out more.
RMPBS: So, what does training off the snow look like for you?
AF: So it depends on the season. But Monday, Wednesday, Friday, usually in the gym doing strength training workouts. Tuesdays is yoga and sprints. Thursdays is either mountain biking up Buttermilk or road cycling up the Maroon Bells road. So lots in there. And then obviously trampoline every single day and roller blading into an airbag or into a foam pit. There's tons of different training mechanisms in this day and age for our sport, so I'm trying to do them all, yet also take an unconventional approach and have some traditional sporting training going on in there as well.
RMPBS: Yeah, some of the announcers during the Olympics coverage were saying how practicing on the trampoline really helps you get into the flipping mindset. That sounds like such a unique part of your training too.
AF: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, on the trampoline you’re building that kinesthetic awareness knowledge. So, I'm understanding and learning where my body is in space and time. And it's a great simulator for going into these bigger tricks and doing it on snow with ski boots, bindings, skis, the extra 40, 50 pounds, whatever it is. So it's basically just practicing without all the hard stuff. And then putting all the hard stuff on or the heavier stuff and then going and doing it.
RMPBS: So what's the future looking like for you? You've got bronze, silver, and gold now. Here you are.
AF: The million dollar question. I worked the last 16 years to enjoy these next couple months, or this time in front of me. I'm not exactly sure. I think I'm going to retire on top as far as the Olympic career goes, that's four years away. It's hard to think four years away in anybody's life, but it's still very much a possibility. And in the meantime, I am definitely going to enjoy and celebrate with my family, friends, town, state, country.
RMPBS: Do you have anything else that's coming up soon?
AF: We've already done a few celebrations. There are a few left and that will round out by the end of the month. And then I think it might be time for vacation.
RMPBS: Good. Somewhere warm maybe?
AF: Yeah, somewhere at the beach. Certainly.
An interview to provide a single perspective, edited for clarity and obvious falsehoods. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
