At just 22 years old, Mac Forehand is no stranger to making ski history. In 2019, the then-17-year-old became the youngest person to ever win a World Championship in Slopestyle skiing. Since then, Forehand has gone on to amass just about every award there is in competition freestyle skiing. From X Games gold to the coveted World Cup Crystal Globe, there isn’t much this impressive and still young skier hasn’t done.

That is until he started cooking up the idea to be the first person to ever hit a rail upside down. After pitching the project to his energy drink sponsor, Red Bull, the crew was all-in on Forehand, making history yet again. An incredible physical feat that defies the laws of gravity, we caught up with Forehand to get inside the brain of one of skiing’s most impressive athletes. Keep reading for the full Q&A below.

Rail facts: 

• Rail weight: 500 to 700 lbs
• 50ft table from jump to landing
• The rail was a 50’ long x 70’ wide table  
• The landing was almost 100’ long and 50’ wide
• Jump was 15’ tall by 8’w by 15’ long

What inspired the idea to hit a rail upside down? 

I mainly got the idea from when Luc Ackerman, a dirt biker who rides for Red Bull, did a backflip and tapped a shipping container mid-flip. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for my first Red Bull project, and after I saw that video, I just started sketching how it would work on skis with a rail involved. 

What logistical hurdles did you know you were going to have to go through? 

Logistically, the hardest thing on my part was trying to figure out what angles I wanted the rail to be at. During the process, we could adjust the height and steepness of it, which was a huge help, but finding the perfect placement was definitely tough. When it came to hitting it switch or forward, the rail was maybe a foot higher or lower depending on what worked. 

Anything unexpected that added to the challenge of hitting a rail upside down? 

Mainly I just didn’t know what was going to happen. I thought that if I slammed into the rail too hard, I would just get shot right back onto the ground upside down, but it was the opposite of what I thought. On the last attempt I did, my skis hit the rail with so much force that I got like sucked up onto it. That attempt was for sure the best one as well. 

What were your biggest concerns when attempting to hit this rail upside down?

My biggest concern was not getting it done at all. When you go into something that hasn’t been done, nobody knows if it’s going to work. I’m glad that I walked away unscathed and with a couple of shots I really liked.

How do you train to hit a rail upside down? 

Honestly, a lot of visualization. Once I knew that I was going to go and try this, I instantly started picturing how it would all work. I had a super busy couple of weeks with contests and video shoots prior to it, and a lot of the time during those events, I was really focused and nervous about this project.

For big stunts like this, it takes a village. Who would you like to credit for helping you achieve this vision? 

We had a massive crew working day and night to make sure that it would all work. I want to give a massive shoutout to the whole Sunday River crew and their cat driver Quentin. We dealt with little snow, rain, sleet, freezing temps, fog, you name it. Classic East Coast weather. Quentin reshaped the landing so many times and got it dialed for the day we wanted to get this done. Also, the light action crew were the guys that set up the whole scaffolding, and they were so dialed with setup the entire time I was there. And, of course, I have to shout out Red Bull for making this possible. Without them, none of this would have ever happened.

How much time do you think you and your team have dedicated to this trick?

I probably thought this up over a year ago. Then pitched it to Red Bull and went through the whole logistical process. All last year we had meetings figuring out where it was going to be and how we would hold the rail up. It took a while and overall, I’m stoked on the outcome. 

Now that you’ve achieved this feat, are there more crazy tricks you’d like to try? 

As of now, I don’t have anything like this in the making. I’m a freeskier, so naturally I’m going to keep pushing and scaring myself, but for now, I’m going to keep skiing and we’ll see what happens. 

How do you mentally prepare for a big trick?

I’ve said it a lot, but visualization is key to learning new tricks. I’ve been lucky enough to have been on trampolines at a young age and develop some air awareness skills but I’ve always learned new tricks by playing it back in my head hundreds of times. 

What advice would you give to skiers who are attempting seemingly impossible tricks? 

Just go skiing and enjoy it. The more someone is on snow, the better they’re going to get at skiing, so take advantage of the bad days and just get out there. Also, I love skiing and enjoy so much about this sport, which really fuels my hunger to try and get better.