Local ski legend Karl Fostvedt (often referred to as “Crazy Karl”) has been skiing Sun Valley’s local mountains practically since he was born at the local Moritz hospital. In his years as a professional skier, Karl has amassed many accolades, from being named King of Corbet’s in 2018 and 2021 to being featured in various free ski movies from Warren Miller Entertainment, Teton Gravity Research, Red Bull Media House, Matchstick Productions (to name a few) to competing in the Dew Tour and War of Rails. Karl’s focus of late is on his own production company, Native Earth Productions, and making his own ski films with his hometown crew in the mountains he grew up in. He and his long-time girlfriend, Sierra (who attends vet school in Logan, Utah for the time being) live in Warm Springs, but he also spends a good deal of time brapping and skiing in the winter, and preparing for brapping and skiing in the summer. “I do everything I can to take advantage of this awesome opportunity to live my dream as a pro skier and having such an awesome backyard to go out in.” Visit Sun Valley caught up with Karl to see how his perfect day in February goes.
How does your morning start?
Karl: I make a light breakfast at home, pack a lunch for the day, and swing by Lizzy’s coffee for a caffeine boost. Then head up to Galena Pass to do some skiing.
Ideally for my dream day, we have a jump prepped and ready to session. We have a ton of talented local athletes, so hopefully most of the crew can come out to hit the jump. The best-case scenario is a combination of veterans, like Collin Collins and Wing Tai Barrymore, mixed in with some groms like Ridge Dirksmeier, Kai Van Buren, Toby Rafford, and Ethan Marx. Hopefully we have a couple filmers lined up to help document the session and if we’re lucky enough, Sun Valley’s best photographer Tal Roberts will show up to capture the action. We’d do a little last-minute side stepping and touch-up work, make sure the jump’s built perfectly right. Then as soon as we’re getting full sun and everything’s ready, launch ourselves off the jump, praying we clear the gap and land in the sweet spot of the landing.
What’s in your packed lunch?
Karl: I’m pretty standard: I usually bring a turkey sandwich or sometimes I’ll bring a wrap from Wrapcity if I have time to swing by there on the way out of town.
What’s the afternoon like?
Karl: Assuming I didn’t scorpion tomahawk down the landing like the last time I hit the Galena road gap, I’d head back down to Ketchum and celebrate a good session with a couple laps on Baldy. I definitely love any of the runs where you can get lots of airtime: hit all the cat tracks on Plaza, send some jumps off Airport and Waterfall, and if the avalanche danger is low then probably try to get a backcountry lap in before closing.
What’s your après hour look like?
Karl: I’m going straight to Apple’s Bar and Grill for some après and an early dinner. I love shootin’ the shit with Hank and all the Apple’s loc dogs. Hopefully the crew stomped some big tricks on the road gap, and I can brag about how good the future looks for the up-n-coming skiers of Sun Valley.
Anything after dinner?
Karl: I’d head home and start uploading footage and maybe piece together a little highlight edit from the day. It’s nice to get a head start by pulling the best shots and prepping how we’re going to integrate the shots into the new ski film. Then while the footage is rendering, jet over to Zenergy for a little yoga session or spin, then hit the hot tub and cold plunge.