Long before former pro freestyle skier Tom Wallisch became a Park City resident, he was a teenager from Pennsylvania with a dream and a set of practical parents. He arrived in Utah in 2006, drawn west by the proximity to snow and the reputation of the University of Utah’s business school.
Today, Wallisch is a regular around Park City, where he’s lived since 2012 and at Woodward Park City, where he coaches and mentors young freestyle riders. His skiing talents have been featured in more than 25 ski films and documentaries over the years.
You might also recognize him (and his voice) from his recent appearance at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as an NBCUniversal freestyle snowboarding analyst or from NBC Sports coverage of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in the same role.
It was Salt Lake’s 2002 Winter Olympics that first brought Wallisch to Utah. “It made a huge impact,” he recalls. “It feels like a no brainer to the IOC,” he says of the Games’ return in 2034. For him, the idea of freestyle skiing showcased on home snow carries weight. “It’s going to be so much fun,” he explains, hoping to be actively involved with microphone in hand. “Otherwise, I guess I’ll just be a spectator right here.”
Wallisch’s journey to the Olympics was always Utah made. “I moved out west and I chose the U because of the proximity to skiing,” he recalls. “My parents were big advocates for me going to college and not just pursuing a professional ski career.”
The odds of him going pro were slim, so he declared business administration from day one and it offered him everything he was looking for. “It was more affordable and closer to the mountains and the ‘greatest snow on earth’ that I wanted to be part of,” he says.
Wallisch would take a full load of classes in the fall and summer, but winters were for snow. “To have the spring off where I was fully engrossed in skiing felt like one of the greatest attributes to my longevity in the sport,” he recalls.
It would take Wallisch 12 years to earn his degree thanks to a seven-year hiatus spent competing, traveling, and chasing Olympic dreams—but he finished.
In those seven years, he earned icon status in freestyle skiing as it was gaining momentum. He won gold in slopestyle at the 2012 Winter X Games and did the same at the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Championship. ESPN named him one of the 50 Most Influential Action Sports Athletes that year thanks to his smooth, technical style. He set the world record for the longest urban rail slide on skis (424 feet) in 2016.
“While I was in school I was learning how the business of skiing worked, how sponsorship deals worked, and all the negotiations,” he explains. Studying business law while reviewing sponsorship contracts gave him the terminology and leverage he needed. “At a time when it could have been easy for me to lose myself, I was smart with everything I was making.”
Grounded in the Mountains
Wallisch embodies Utah’s ski culture: a transplant from across the country, now a lifer who’s built a career around the outdoors. The common denominator is proximity and passion—both of which Wallisch speaks of frequently.
What keeps him here is more than just snow though. “The reason I’ve never left is the community of friends,” he continues. “You can’t leave once you’ve developed such close, personal friendships all because of our love for the outdoors and for being in the mountains.” In fact, his college roommates at the University of Utah, Ryan Wyble and David Euler, are now U.S. Freestyle Ski Team coaches.
These days, Wallisch skis where the snow is best—Alta, Snowbird, Snowbasin, Powder Mountain—but Woodward Park City might get the most visits. “Woodward is literally the coolest place,” he says. “I’m so jealous that it wasn’t here when I moved out.”
For kids who watched freestyle in the Olympics, Wallisch encourages them to come witness it in person. “I feel like the impact is 100-fold on the person that sees it live,” he says. “The number of Olympians and high-level athletes that are going to come out of the Salt Lake valley and Park City from access to that is insane.”
