Cover photo by Josh Bishop
Gus Kenworthy is a skier.
As a kid, it was absolute infatuation.
I was obsessed, I was the biggest fan of skiing.
I could tell you every trick from every persons video part and tell you contest runs and results.
I just was obsessed with it.
I loved it so much.
Which skiers did you look up to in those early days?
People like Tanner Hall, Simon Dumont, Candide Thovex, Jossi Wells, and Jon Olsson.
What really fired me up was that they did everything.
Did you always ski everything, to be like them?
Growing up, I didnt ski Halfpipe.
There wasnt a halfpipe at my home resort.
The first time I ever actually dropped into a halfpipe, was in Copper, for the US Open.
I signed up for that because I want to do slopestyle.
Id never even skied halfpipe, but he just said Id have to figure it out.
And thats how I started skiing pipe.
I enjoyed it though, so from then on, I continued to compete at other events.
Newschoolers definitely helped instill my love for skiing.
Like I had old Poor Boyz movies where the tapes were worn thin.
NS gave me my start, so I feel indebted to Newschoolers.
It was a dream, it was really so much fun.
I felt pretty honored to be voted to get to go.
That whole week is just an insane party.
It was really fun and one of my first exposures to that.
Its like the next level there, so it was fun.
We set up urban rails, we got to hit the jumps.
It was a really good, positive experience.
Our Olympic Slopestyle final was on February 13th 2014, the day before Valentines Day.
It was three cute American kids or whatever.
I was way too ashamed of myself, and scared, to tell anybody.
I hadnt even told my family.
We were doing all this press after the games and the next day was Valentines day.
I actually felt pretty sick to my stomach, I had avoided talking about this for a long time.
Now it was on this national level and in these huge interviews that I was lying.
He was in the closet too, so it was eating away at me.
There used to be this ranking, your combined results for the year, and Id won that.
I should have been feeling great, but I wasnt.
That boyfriend and I had kind of ended.
I was just feeling really sh*tty.
I skied terribly at X Games.
I had a breakdown in my car, and I was crying.
Were you sucking your boyfriends dick?
Just like teasing me, but mercilessly.
It was somebody Id looked up to a lot growing up.
I was literally riding for his company.
So I told my agent that I didnt want to ski for them anymore.
In the end, I explained the whole thing.
My agent said he was just teasing me/giving me a hard time.
I end it up crying and told him: Its not just teasing, cos its true!
Like sort of true.
So, he was the first person I told.
He basically said; Well you could just come out and keep skiing.
It had honestly never occurred to me that that was a viable option.
So that got the ball rolling on that.
I decided that Id come out when the season was over.
If I wanted to come out or quit, he would have my back either way.
For someone in action sports to do that?
It has helped way more than that, so yes, I think it was very important.
Also for me, it was the most liberating thing I could have done.
How did it change your life-life and how did it change your ski life?
One of the reasons I hadnt come out, was the language that was used.
I heard people say fag all the time and skier fag either snowboarders calling us that or calling racers.
Ive noticed that since I came out, people have changed their language.
For me, its been all positive.
How did it affect you as an athlete, having that weight off your shoulders?
When I made that decision, things just changed.
I went out to LA for the Air&Style Big Air and won.
I won a Grand Prix in Pipe at Park City.
It was actually, kind of, perfect timing.
It really made me stop and made me be still with my thoughts.
So I was recovering and rehabbing my body, but I was also rehabbing my mind.
Getting around it and centered.
That was really when I started my coming out process.
I told a few friends and told my mom and brothers.
I hadnt told anybody, friends or family, only my boyfriend, who was also in the closet.
So after that season, that was when I started to tell people.
Id like to tell my story.
They had Alyssa Roenigk write the story and she did an amazing job.
I love her, shes so great.
Thats a difficult statement because that kind of belittles the persons experience.
I struggled with it, so many people out there struggle with it.
2015-16 was my best season, to date, I didnt miss a podium.
I won a European Open and a Grand Prix.
It was an insane season and I actually just completely attribute it to me coming out.
That really opened me up to just focus on skiing and be in the moment.
I skied really well.
Have you made a conscious effort to compete less recently?
Last year there were so few contests, with COVID.
Two seasons ago I did compete quite a bit.
I had a 2nd at Dew Tour and then I won a World Cup for pipe.
Right after that World Cup, the world got shut down with COVID.
I had all of this swelling in my abs, groin, and hip.
It ended up draining into my dick and balls.
It was all bruised and black, with my stomach.
That was right before the world cup and world championships went back to back in Aspen.
There were almost no other events, because of COVID.
People might think that youre maybe skiing less because of acting and stuff, but is that not true?
Theyre following me on my journey.
But I have been skiing a lot, definitely this last year-and-a-half or two.
