The rumor mill in North America has been abuzz in the past few seasons with tales of a startling new ski talent out of the Canadian Rockies gifted with an uncanny sense for tranny, awesome air awareness and a preturnatural ability to stomp. That talent is Sam Kuch, a Head Skis rider and native of Nelson, British Columbia, and a quick look at his ski-film pedigree to date quickly confirms the hype: we have a real one on our hands here.

Sam first burst onto the scene in 2018 during a Forecast Magazine film trip, when he unexpectedly stole the spotlight from veterans like Stan Rey, Mike Riddle and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand. He spent the next winter logging footage with Blank Collective for “7 Stages of Blank” and Matchstick Productions’ “Return to Send’er,” delivering a performance that won him 2019 Skier of The Year honors at the the International Freeski Film Festival (iF3) and had luminaries like Scott Gaffney wondering if Sam was, in fact, the best skier alive.

Fast forward to 2022, and Sam is on the mend from a nasty femur break earlier this month. While we’re waiting for him to get back on his feet, this episode from Head’s KORE Stories series by filmmaker Jeff Thomas takes us on an in-depth look at who Sam Kuch is, where he comes from, and what he’s capable of.