Oak Creek's Riley Jacobs continues to climb the ladder in the skiing world and has been promoted to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Women's Halfpipe Pro Team for the 2024-25 World Cup season.
The 21-year-old saw great success last winter and with several top-five finishes and a top-10 world ranking, she will go pro this season -- a feat she has dreamed about since childhood.
"I'm super excited to be on the pro team this year, it will make training and travel a lot easier since all of the financial responsibility won't fall on me as much," Jacobs said. "I'll just be doing what I've been doing, which is trying my hardest to progress through the World Cup circuit. Obviously since the Milan Olympics 2026 are in two years, I'll be trying my best to be qualified for that."
Jacobs learned of her professional promotion in April and worked hard through the summer to stay in shape for an early-season World Cup event that ran in Cardrona, New Zealand on Monday.
Jacobs placed 10th in the competition, narrowly missing qualifying for a finals run that included only the top eight competitors.
"We had a lot of heavy hitters that were out last season who are in this season, so it's definitely tougher competition than some of the ones last year. But it was really fun to be back on snow and get back into it," Jacobs said. "It didn't go as well as I hoped but I have the rest of the season to work on that."
Jacobs and other team members stayed in New Zealand following the World Cup event for the week to continue training on snow. Her biggest focus this season is staying healthy for next year's big push toward a potential Olympic berth.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard made the official announcement of Jacobs' nomination to the pro team Friday morning, naming 35 other athletes who have also joined the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team for the season.
The World Cup calendar for Jacobs this season includes five halfpipe events as well as the X Games. The season will conclude in St. Mortiz, Switzerland for the FIS Freestyle World Championships 2025.
U.S. freeski athletes will also have the chance to compete in their home country twice this season with halfpipe events for Jacobs at Copper Mountain Dec. 19-21 as well as the Visa Big Air event in Aspen Jan. 29-Feb. 6.
"I am very proud of the group of individuals named to the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team for the 2024-25 season," said Skogen Sprang, Freeski sport director. "They have all worked very hard to get to this point and continue to push and support each other, fostering a unique culture that promotes positivity and success. We are excited to continue to push them to be the best humans they can be and achieve the highest standards on the freeskiing world stage."