Chris Benchetler

Chris, a California native grew up skiing Mammoth Mountain, which was home to one of the first snowboard parks in the Nation. By virtue of his surroundings and peers he was heavily influenced by snowboarding and art, which seemed to shape him into one of the more stylish skiers out there. Caring more about how a ski turns and glides through the snow, led Chris into designing and developing his own pro model ski with Atomic; The Bent Chetler. “I try to have my ski be an extension of me, and try to look at the mountain as one continuous line, instead of compartmentalizing it into one single cliff or air.”

His art and designs have also made it on other signature pieces for Dakine, Dragon, Reef, and Clif Bar. Including his most recent art endeavor of painting a 70ft mural with Skye Walker, on the side of the EVO store in Seattle, WA. Starting his career competing in slope-style, he shortly after met the film crew Poorboyz Productions, and realized he could ski powder full time. He quickly bailed on the contest scene and started chasing his true passion; deep snow and creativity.

Now Chris is known for traveling the world and skiing in front of a camera. Between creating the GoPro Series ‘Chasing El Nino’ and followed by the series ‘Chasing AdVANture’ plus multiple other edits for GoPro’s channels, he has also played a roll in starting Nimbus Independent, a production company founded in 2008 by Eric Pollard with help from Chris, Pep Fujas and Andy Mahre. In addition, he has been featured in films with Teton Gravity Research, Sweet Grass Productions, Warren Miller, MSP and Poorboyz Productions.

Jokingly tormented during the summer for his passion for surfing and love of climbing, he tries to stay close to home in California as much as possible where he is at peace in the mountains and in striking distance to the sea.