Coen Bennie

.

Biography

From the Australian Alps to the Rocky Mountains, Coen has connected the winters of both hemispheres until everything turns white.

Growing in Melbourne is not the ideal condition to become a skier, especially if your family is not wallowing in riches. However, passion, though unable to lift mountains, can bring them closer. Coen’s parents paid heed to their son’s faith and enhanced it until he took off. At the age of 14, after watching the TGR productions’ movie The Big One, he decided he would ski in Jackson Hole. When he was 15, he purchased his first seasonal ticket in Australia. At 26, he lived in Jackson Hole and toured with TGR, with a series of publications in his name, besides realising a successful video himself. How did he get there? Certainly not on account of his mediocre performance at the Freeride World Qualifier competitions. It is only his determination and talent, accompanied by marked professionalism, which enabled him to achieve a breakthrough at the top level. As proof of this, during the austral winter Coen combined training in his childhood station of Hotham with work in the grocery shop of the same station and studies in economics by correspondence. To complete the picture of this fascinating itinerary, we should bear in mind his encounter with the famous photographer Tony Harrington and prestigious wins in races where the jury consisted of skiers. However, this boundless passion for winter made of 200 skiing days a year between the two hemispheres did not facilitate his other passion: surfing. A cruel dilemma.

Read more