Ben
Richards

Freeride & Big Mountain
Freeride Skiing

Nationality: New Zealand
Hometown: Wanaka, New Zealand (born in the United States)
Turned pro: 2024

Equipment

3 entries · 3 categories

Skis

Armada

AntiMatter 114

114mm waist

Armada's newly-launched (2026) big-mountain freeride ski, part of the AntiMatter freeride collection.

Off-piste

Reference

Liners

ZipFit

Corsa (custom cork-injected liner)

custom cork-injected

Liner insert, separate from the boot shell brand.

Custom cork-injected boot liner insert (not a full boot shell) used inside Richards's race/freeride boots.

Off-piste

Alternate Reference

Bindings

Marker

Model not published

Freeride/park binding.

Off-piste

Brand only Reference

Setup verified 19 July 2026

Sources

About

New Zealand freeride skier, full name Benjamin James Richards. Born in the US, learned to ski at age 2 at Mammoth Mountain, moved to New Zealand at age 6 and grew up in Wanaka. Raced competitively in alpine gates as a teenager before relocating to Revelstoke, Canada and transitioning into freeride. Debuted on the Freeride World Tour in 2024, winning Rookie of the Year (3rd overall). Earned two 3rd-place podiums in 2025 (Baqueira Beret, Kicking Horse), then swept the 2026 season - winning Baqueira Beret Pro, Val Thorens Pro and the YETI Xtreme Verbier final - to complete a title hat-trick: Freeride World Tour Champion, inaugural FIS Freeride World Champion, and Xtreme Verbier winner.

2026 FWT Ski Men overall champion (rank 1, 32,000 points, with wins at Baqueira Beret and Val Thorens plus the Xtreme Verbier final) and the first winner of the new parallel FIS Freeride World Championships title. Raced alpine as a teenager before moving to Revelstoke, Canada to pursue freeride, debuting on the FWT in 2024 as Rookie of the Year and 3rd overall.