THE WORRY WAS that he might need eye surgery after this fall.
“That one was crazy,” Freestyle skier Ben Lynch tells The 42 looking back on the day when his knee met his face in a crash landing.
Heavy tumbles are common for those who need to go big in the air with tricks and flicks. This is a sport where danger and liberation meet in the air above the snow.
When it works?
“It’s magical. Really perfect.”
When it doesn’t?
It’s a hard drop back to earth.
Lynch, who will be scaling the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics in Italy for Team Ireland, knows when a bad fall is coming. He gets a sense immediately after leaving the ledge of the 22-foot wall that’s shaped like a U.
And at that point, all he can do is tuck his feet in and hope for a favourble landing. Ideally, you’ll end up sliding down along the halfpipe rather than hitting a flat surface.
A general view of the halfpipe at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Lynch’s injury list includes a broken collarbone. Twice. Fractured thumbs. He’s torn ligaments too, and is currently rehabbing a knee injury.
Hits to the head? He’s had a few of those too. But, thankfully, no concussions.
“You hit your head a decent amount,” he adds during a fascinating chat over a video call from his Olympic base in Livigno where his event gets underway later this month. “I’ve never fully been knocked out and had to be woken up, like, ‘Where am I’?
A knee to the face, he adds, is preferrable to a bang to the back of the head. And that’s what he got about five years ago when he took a spill after a trick went wrong in the air.
“I broke the orbital bone [which is] the eye socket bone, just fractured it a little bit. I thought I would have to get eye surgery, but I didn’t. It just healed on its own.
“I was seeing double-side after. It was pretty scary. I pretty much just landed at the bottom of the landing, in the flats, and just totally exploded.
“It’s not as gnarly as it looks. You go five feet [in the air] and then six and then seven and then eight, and eventually you just get up there and get more comfortable.”
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Lynch is originally from Dublin but moved to Vancouver with his family when he was three. He has some memories of his former life in Rathmines and some of family members on his father’s side are still there. He hasn’t been able to visit much due to his skiing commitments, but is looking forward to a trip back to Ireland after the Winter Olympics.
He briefly got into racing when he first took up skiing as a child, but didn’t take to it. He found his feet in the freestyle form, bringing tricks to the slopes that he was performing on the trampoline at home.
His mother Claire, from South Africa, would regularly bring him to the Whistler Blackcomb mountain which is about an hour and-a-half from their home.
Ben Lynch was born in Dublin but raised in Vancouver. SPORTSFILE
SPORTSFILE
“Freestyle is free. You can go and have fun with your buddies and hit the rails. That’s what the cool kids are doing, that’s what I wanted to do. I couldn’t be a racer. It’s not free.”
It took some time to win over his father Kevin, who comes from a rowing background. He won two Henley medals from his time at Trinity College. Lynch’s older brother Thomas also excelled in that sport, winning the famous boat race with Cambridge on two occasions against Oxford.
Ben recalls family rowing trips along the Indian Arm in Vancouver, but he never felt the call to row competitively. He found his release in his skis, and can remember being in competitions on Cypress Mountain in Vancouver from when he was 11.
“I think from an earlier stage, my mom especially was the one really supporting me. My dad was a little bit like, ‘Why is he doing this? Like, why isn’t he rowing?’ I don’t want to say he wasn’t supportive, but he wasn’t as involved.
“And then in the later stage, once I started competing, that’s when my dad was like, ’Ok, he’s really doing stuff.’ So, he started to really like get more involved.
“But my mom is the one that’s really been here since day one.”
****
Skiing is an expensive hobby and it’s not a cheap competitive sport either. First, there’s a lot of travelling involved. Lynch punched his ticket to the Winter Olympics through four World Cups which were held at different locations around the globe over a month and-a-half.
The first one was in Beijing where the 2022 Winter Olympics was held, but Lynch was unable to go due to his knee injury. He was there for the one in Copper, Colorado where he came 26th, and was placed 23rd after the third World Cup in Calgary.
The last one was in Aspen, Colorado but Lynch also skipped this one as he was assured of his pace at the Games. He had done enough to stay inside the top 24 of the Olympic allocation list.
“I almost didn’t qualify,” he continues. “There’s some Chinese athletes that were doing really well and moving up the ranks.
“So, I had to kind of hold on to my spot. Definitely a lot of doubts throughout because my knee was feeling not fully strong. I still am very nervous that it’s, you know, not going to be able to fully perform at the Olympics. That’s why I’m doing all this rehab.”
The halfpipe at Calgary Olympic Park. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Access to facilities is another challenge for Lynch. Canada has just one Olympic-sized halfpipe, which is located in Calgary. There’s not many of them throughout the world and according to Lynch, they are costly to maintain.
All in, Lynch estimates that his total cost comes to about $30,000 over the course of a season. He’s currently studying a business course online but he also picks up work labouring and in restaurants to keep the wolf from the door. His family are a big help to him too.
“I’m very lucky to have parents that are able to support me in that. We’re not like super well off but they see that I’m passionate about it and they’ve been able to support me in that.
“And I also get support from national teams. I only got carding on the Canadian team like two years ago. And so I had some funding through there. And then I also have funding through the Irish team now.
“But it only covers maybe like half the season, so it’s not super amazing. I still have to pay for a lot out of pocket but it’s definitely very helpful.”
****
Representing his country of birth was something Lynch always wanted to do. He was previously on the Canadian development squad and began contemplating the switch to Ireland in 2020.
Lynch was involved in ‘slope style’ and ‘big air’ forms of freestyle skiing growing up, but it was difficult to make the Canadian team through either due to the depth of talent and competition for places.
He then fell into the halfpipe and developed a love for it. And so that became his chosen event to compete under the Ireland flag. He just needed a coach, and linked up with a man called Rex Thomas who he remembers from those early days of competition on Cypress Mountain.
“The main issue for me with transferring to Ireland is there’s not really a team. You just have to find your own coach and they’ll have you and you can switch nations, but you have to kind of figure it out on your own.”
****
Outside the San Siro stadium before the opening ceremony for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Reaching the finals at the Winter Olympics would be a good result for Lynch. A top-10 or even top-15 finish is in his sights too.
He’ll have to be patient though. The qualification round is set for 19 February and the final is the next day. The halfpipe in Livigno doesn’t open until 15 February but Lynch has found one in Switzerland to train on for now. He’s in the gym too, rehabbing that strain to the LCL [Lateral Collateral Ligament] and popliteus ligament in his knee.
The knee tends to take a lot of punishment in those falls but Lynch is learning to balancing the risk and reward in his jumps these days.
It’s not all hard falls and horrible injuries though. A smooth return to earth is of course the goal, but embracing the danger is part of what makes it thrilling.
Go hard and go big.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling. And right when you land in that sweet spot, as we call it, right at the top of the transition, it feels great. And you get a big rush of adrenaline.
“It’s very scary sport and amplitude is a huge part of it. You’ve really got to scare yourself and you’ve got to put yourself in that uncomfortable situation and push yourself to go big.”
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'I thought I would have to get eye surgery' - Irish Olympian on thrill and peril of the halfpipe
THE WORRY WAS that he might need eye surgery after this fall.
“That one was crazy,” Freestyle skier Ben Lynch tells The 42 looking back on the day when his knee met his face in a crash landing.
Heavy tumbles are common for those who need to go big in the air with tricks and flicks. This is a sport where danger and liberation meet in the air above the snow.
When it works?
“It’s magical. Really perfect.”
When it doesn’t?
It’s a hard drop back to earth.
Lynch, who will be scaling the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics in Italy for Team Ireland, knows when a bad fall is coming. He gets a sense immediately after leaving the ledge of the 22-foot wall that’s shaped like a U.
And at that point, all he can do is tuck his feet in and hope for a favourble landing. Ideally, you’ll end up sliding down along the halfpipe rather than hitting a flat surface.
Lynch’s injury list includes a broken collarbone. Twice. Fractured thumbs. He’s torn ligaments too, and is currently rehabbing a knee injury.
Hits to the head? He’s had a few of those too. But, thankfully, no concussions.
“You hit your head a decent amount,” he adds during a fascinating chat over a video call from his Olympic base in Livigno where his event gets underway later this month. “I’ve never fully been knocked out and had to be woken up, like, ‘Where am I’?
A knee to the face, he adds, is preferrable to a bang to the back of the head. And that’s what he got about five years ago when he took a spill after a trick went wrong in the air.
“I broke the orbital bone [which is] the eye socket bone, just fractured it a little bit. I thought I would have to get eye surgery, but I didn’t. It just healed on its own.
“I was seeing double-side after. It was pretty scary. I pretty much just landed at the bottom of the landing, in the flats, and just totally exploded.
“It’s not as gnarly as it looks. You go five feet [in the air] and then six and then seven and then eight, and eventually you just get up there and get more comfortable.”
****
Lynch is originally from Dublin but moved to Vancouver with his family when he was three. He has some memories of his former life in Rathmines and some of family members on his father’s side are still there. He hasn’t been able to visit much due to his skiing commitments, but is looking forward to a trip back to Ireland after the Winter Olympics.
He briefly got into racing when he first took up skiing as a child, but didn’t take to it. He found his feet in the freestyle form, bringing tricks to the slopes that he was performing on the trampoline at home.
His mother Claire, from South Africa, would regularly bring him to the Whistler Blackcomb mountain which is about an hour and-a-half from their home.
“Freestyle is free. You can go and have fun with your buddies and hit the rails. That’s what the cool kids are doing, that’s what I wanted to do. I couldn’t be a racer. It’s not free.”
It took some time to win over his father Kevin, who comes from a rowing background. He won two Henley medals from his time at Trinity College. Lynch’s older brother Thomas also excelled in that sport, winning the famous boat race with Cambridge on two occasions against Oxford.
Ben recalls family rowing trips along the Indian Arm in Vancouver, but he never felt the call to row competitively. He found his release in his skis, and can remember being in competitions on Cypress Mountain in Vancouver from when he was 11.
“I think from an earlier stage, my mom especially was the one really supporting me. My dad was a little bit like, ‘Why is he doing this? Like, why isn’t he rowing?’ I don’t want to say he wasn’t supportive, but he wasn’t as involved.
“And then in the later stage, once I started competing, that’s when my dad was like, ’Ok, he’s really doing stuff.’ So, he started to really like get more involved.
“But my mom is the one that’s really been here since day one.”
****
Skiing is an expensive hobby and it’s not a cheap competitive sport either. First, there’s a lot of travelling involved. Lynch punched his ticket to the Winter Olympics through four World Cups which were held at different locations around the globe over a month and-a-half.
The first one was in Beijing where the 2022 Winter Olympics was held, but Lynch was unable to go due to his knee injury. He was there for the one in Copper, Colorado where he came 26th, and was placed 23rd after the third World Cup in Calgary.
The last one was in Aspen, Colorado but Lynch also skipped this one as he was assured of his pace at the Games. He had done enough to stay inside the top 24 of the Olympic allocation list.
“I almost didn’t qualify,” he continues. “There’s some Chinese athletes that were doing really well and moving up the ranks.
“So, I had to kind of hold on to my spot. Definitely a lot of doubts throughout because my knee was feeling not fully strong. I still am very nervous that it’s, you know, not going to be able to fully perform at the Olympics. That’s why I’m doing all this rehab.”
Access to facilities is another challenge for Lynch. Canada has just one Olympic-sized halfpipe, which is located in Calgary. There’s not many of them throughout the world and according to Lynch, they are costly to maintain.
All in, Lynch estimates that his total cost comes to about $30,000 over the course of a season. He’s currently studying a business course online but he also picks up work labouring and in restaurants to keep the wolf from the door. His family are a big help to him too.
“I’m very lucky to have parents that are able to support me in that. We’re not like super well off but they see that I’m passionate about it and they’ve been able to support me in that.
“And I also get support from national teams. I only got carding on the Canadian team like two years ago. And so I had some funding through there. And then I also have funding through the Irish team now.
“But it only covers maybe like half the season, so it’s not super amazing. I still have to pay for a lot out of pocket but it’s definitely very helpful.”
****
Representing his country of birth was something Lynch always wanted to do. He was previously on the Canadian development squad and began contemplating the switch to Ireland in 2020.
Lynch was involved in ‘slope style’ and ‘big air’ forms of freestyle skiing growing up, but it was difficult to make the Canadian team through either due to the depth of talent and competition for places.
He then fell into the halfpipe and developed a love for it. And so that became his chosen event to compete under the Ireland flag. He just needed a coach, and linked up with a man called Rex Thomas who he remembers from those early days of competition on Cypress Mountain.
“The main issue for me with transferring to Ireland is there’s not really a team. You just have to find your own coach and they’ll have you and you can switch nations, but you have to kind of figure it out on your own.”
****
Reaching the finals at the Winter Olympics would be a good result for Lynch. A top-10 or even top-15 finish is in his sights too.
He’ll have to be patient though. The qualification round is set for 19 February and the final is the next day. The halfpipe in Livigno doesn’t open until 15 February but Lynch has found one in Switzerland to train on for now. He’s in the gym too, rehabbing that strain to the LCL [Lateral Collateral Ligament] and popliteus ligament in his knee.
The knee tends to take a lot of punishment in those falls but Lynch is learning to balancing the risk and reward in his jumps these days.
It’s not all hard falls and horrible injuries though. A smooth return to earth is of course the goal, but embracing the danger is part of what makes it thrilling.
Go hard and go big.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling. And right when you land in that sweet spot, as we call it, right at the top of the transition, it feels great. And you get a big rush of adrenaline.
“It’s very scary sport and amplitude is a huge part of it. You’ve really got to scare yourself and you’ve got to put yourself in that uncomfortable situation and push yourself to go big.”
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Ben Lynch Half Pipe Freestyle Winter Olympics