A two-time world champ in the freeride discipline, Drew Tabke launched from Utah shop guy to freeride contender in his first national contest at Snowbird in 2004. In the decade-plus since, “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” has circled the globe on tour to the burliest big mountain venues, from Chile, Argentina, British Columbia, and Alaska to Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and France. Stacking up fast, fluid superfinal lines, consecutive podium finishes, and two coveted Sickbird awards, he earned his first Freeskiing World Tour title in 2011 at the same Snowbird venue that started his competitive career. His second world title came in 2013 at the freeride mecca of the European Alps - Verbier, Switzerland. Now in his 15th year as a competitive freerider, Tabke, now 34 years old, is begrudgingly assuming the titles of “veteran” and “legend” on the competitive freeride scene, though he remains one of the more progressive and creative riders on tour.

While he has no plans to retire from competition yet, Tabke has added more professional, sustainable skills to his toolkit in recent years. He regularly coaches the Crystal Mountain Freeride Juniors at his home resort, guides skiing in the Chilean Andes during the summer, and holds wilderness medical, technical rope rescue and professional avalanche certifications. He also writes regularly for Powder Magazine, including “The Last Valley”, a 2014 digital and print feature on Arolla, Switzerland, and was profiled as the subject in “The Contrarian”, a 2014 Powder feature.
 

After finishing second in 2012, Tabke repeated as overall world champ in 2013—this time on the unified Freeride World Tour—winning the first stop at his favorite venue on the Mac Daddy Face in Revelstoke, BC. Holding his overall lead by throwing down lines that mixed big mountain skill and freestyle influences in five venues of serious exposure, Tabke clinched the 2013 tour crown in Verbier, Switzerland, under the gaze of 180,000 online viewers. He kicked off the 2015 Freeride World Tour with a podium finish in Chamonix, then finished fifth in the Haines, Alaska, stop and earned fifth place in the 20th anniversary Xtreme Verbier en route to a fourth-place overall finish on the 2015 tour.
When Tabke heads south to Chile each summer, in addition to guiding, he’s notched multiple human-powered first descents on the high peaks of the Andes. where he still embraces his gringo status, even though he has become a bilingual freeski regular. He speaks fluent in Spanish and has been active in the burgeoning backcountry ski community in Chile for the past 15 years. Tabke will complete his avalanche instructor training in late 2019 and looks forward to teaching avalanche courses in both English and Spanish at home and abroad.

Born in Utah and raised in Hawaii, the alternative transportation advocate now calls Seattle, WA, his home turf and Crystal Mountain his local training ground. Sometimes posting under his Trew Dabke alias, the rider’s representative for the FWT is never afraid to take a stance on an issue. Replay his competition highlight reel at www.freerideworldtour.com.