Inside freestyle skier Nick Goepper’s starter pack: the tech, recovery tools, and rituals powering his comeback in the halfpipe for the 2026 Winter Games.
But gifts this prodigious cannot be denied. After months of adjusting his routines and attending therapy, Goepper was ready to come back. He is still terrifyingly good. In 2025, he traded slopestyle for halfpipe, taking gold at the 2025 X Games and silver at the 2025 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships.
“When you get into your early thirties, you get better at turning it on and off,” he tells WIRED. “When I was 18 to 25, that button was always on. As you get older, you learn there are moments to go balls to the wall, psychopath mode, and then moments to relax, sleep, and not worry about falling behind. You get confident knowing exactly when to be a killer.” Now 31, the soon-to-be four-time Olympian says his mindset has shifted. “I’ve been soaking up the little moments and enjoying the ride a bit more,” he says. But after the competition, he plans to decompress the same way he always does: “Get a bowl of chili and be around loved ones.” We caught up with Goepper to chat about what he’s packing for Milano Cortina 2026. Crispy Underwear Performance starts with the basics, and Goepper is oddly particular about his underwear. “I gotta have super clean underwear,” he says. “Kind of new and crispy.” He refuses to ski in the same pair he slept in. A fresh pair goes on five minutes before he walks out the door. It’s not glamorous or sponsored, but when you’re dropping into an Olympic halfpipe, starting the run in a clean pair just feels right. Snow Goggles “I am a lens freak,” Goepper says. It’s why the Pit Viper BN5000 goggles are nonnegotiable. “When I get to the top of a course,” he says, “some of the younger guys’ goggles might be fogging up because they’re sweating, but mine aren’t, because I have extra lenses in my bag.” Pit Viper’s Magic Magnet system makes lens changes easy, even with gloves on. Goepper rotates between just two: a blackout lens for daytime sessions and a clear lens for nighttime. With an ultrawide field of view, the BN5000 delivers sharper spatial awareness at full throttle, and the bold flames on the grippy strap don’t hurt either. “They make you go faster,” he jokes, “and they keep your head nice and warm on those cold days.” His Bluetooth Speaker “I’ve got music going 24/7,” he says, holding up his Sony SRS-XB100. It’s compact enough to clip onto a backpack but loud enough to cut through wind and open space, with a deep bass that does justice to Goepper’s eclectic rotation. On any given day, that might mean Juicy J’s “Moonwalking,” Sum 41’s “Underclass Hero,” or Kreator’s “Satanic Anarchy.” “These days, it’s a combination of metal, hip-hop, and the occasional country song,” he says. The speaker is IP67-rated against dust and water and lasts up to 16 hours on a charge. That’s long enough to survive long training and travel days. A Cheap Foam Roller Goepper travels with a 12-inch foam roller to work through sore legs and tight back muscles. It’s compact, cheap, and durable. Plus, it wipes clean easily, an underrated feature when you’re bouncing between hotels and locker rooms. “Bonus tip,” Goepper adds, “It’s a great pillow if you ever get stuck in an airport.' The Reading List “When I’m traveling, I have a lot of time waiting around, and I like to read a lot,” Goepper says. Right now, that’s Courage Is Calling, Ryan Holiday’s stoic meditation on fear, courage, and heroism. Drawing on figures like Florence Nightingale, Charles de Gaulle, and Martin Luther King Jr., the book frames courage as a daily practice rather than a personality trait. For an athlete who’s stepped away, come back stronger, and learned how to compete on his own terms, it’s an apt companion. Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that's too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
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