Crystal Globe series: The Johanne Killi interview

After being one of the most consistent competitors on freesking's international stage since she first hit the top tier back in 2014/15, Norway's Johanne Killi finally broke through in 2022/23 to claim the first crystal globes of her career with an near-perfect season of slopestyle performances.

Claiming three wins, a runner-up and a 3rd-place finish for podiums in five-out-of-five slopestyle World Cups entered last season, Johanne would also earn herself both the slopestyle crystal globe as well as the winter's biggest trophy with the Freeski overall crystal globe win - despite the fact that she didn't start in a single big air World Cup.

Though she's still just 25 years old, Johanne Killi is already set to drop in on her 10th season of World Cup competition in 2023/24, and with all that experience comes a unique perspective on what it takes to make it in the high-pressure, fast-progressing world of freeskiing. We caught up with JoJo last week to talk mental toughness, motivation and making it happen when it counts in for the second installment of this off-seasons crystal globe winner interview series...

(FIS) Hi Johanne, how’s it going?

(Johanne Killi) Good, thanks. I’m enjoying the sun at the moment. I'm home at my parents.

Nice. Where's their place?

It’s a small town called Dombas.

Ohh yeah, Dombas is famous, in ski and snowboard circles at least, because of rippers like you and Marcus Kleveland.

Yeah, that's why (laughs). I got home yesterday, but I'm leaving already tomorrow because I'm going to a sports festival where you can bike and ski. So I'm gonna ski a little again finally.

Nice. Maybe before we get to skiing, let’s talk about the off-season so far, because I think that you've had a pretty interesting few weeks. Can you maybe tell us what you've been up to since the competition season ended?

Yeah, the last skiing trip I went to on was in mid-April. Then I came home on the 25th or something and after that I joined a TV show for a month, the same TV show that Birk (Ruud) did a couple of years ago.

The show takes place out in nature with other celebrities, competing and doing different challenges and stuff. So that was really cool. I really enjoyed being outside, living outside, not having my phone as much as I do normally and just living in the moment. I didn't have to think about what to do or obligations or anything.

We didn't know what we would be doing from day to day, and since it was a competition it was kind mentally hard. And also it was so physically hard. Like, we were carrying backpacks with 25 kilos, hiking for 10 hours a day. So yeah, I got good training out of that and I got to get to know some other celebrities. So that was really cool. 71 degrees north, is what the show is called.

Super cool. So when's the show going to be on TV?

Sometime in September, they said.

So I guess you can't tell us how it went for you until then…

Oh no, I can't tell anything it until it's finished on TV, which I guess it's like November or something. There's so many of my friends and family that really want to know, but I'm like, 'No, you have to wait.’ It was so hard for me to not tell them what I was doing during filming because I was doing so much cool stuff. But also there were a couple of times I was scared, and crying on TV. You get so mentally down, and then you get shown a video from people you care about and you miss home. But really it was such a cool experience.

Yeah, that must be super emotional, out there struggling in the wilderness and doing unfamiliar things and not having any real contact with anybody you care about.

Yeah, that's right. Then after that when I got home, I was kind of living in a bubble. I was like, ‘Oh, I don't want to go home and go back to Oslo where there are so many people.’ I was kind of shocked when I got back to the city. I was like, ’Is there really that many people and that much traffic?’ I just wanted to go back to nature.

But then I went to my sister’s bachelorette party for that weekend after I came home and had a lot of fun, so that was really nice. Since then I've been just hanging out and also training a little bit. I also went to Turkey with a friend for a week. So yeah, the off-season has been going fast.

So you haven't been in the ski dome in Oslo or anything?

No, I'm like…I’m not thinking about skiing at all in summer. Kind of weird, but I think that's the best for me to stay motivated through the season. But I think I should go once or twice to the dome when I get back to Oslo just to have the feeling, and also I’ll do some trampoline and airbag sessions. And then the Norwegian team will be going to Australia in August, so hopefully I get motivated before that. But this is how I how I feel every year in summer time…

Yeah, that's actually a good lead-in to my next question, which is - you just came off the most successful World Cup season of your career with two crystal globes, World Champs bronze, and a podium at almost every event. But at the first first competition of the season at the Big Air Chur you were there and not competing, and you weren’t sure if you would compete at all in 2022/23. Could you maybe tell me where you were mentally at the start of the winter?

Yeah, it was such a hard time. I I was so stressed cause I didn't love skiing like I did before. But also it was like I didn't know who I would be without skiing. So yeah, I was kind of like…I wanted to quit, but then who am I without skiing? And something in me wanted to stay, as well. So I was having these thoughts in my own head for a while and not telling anyone, and that was so hard.

We were training and people were like, ‘Oh, you should do the switch double 10 again,’ when we were in Australia, and I didn't know what to say because I I barely wanted to ski. So it was so hard. I felt like I was faking it when I was skiing, like, ‘Oh, I'm having fun and I'm going to stay on the mountain until it's closing,’ but actually on the chairlift I was like, ‘What time is it? I want to go home.’

So first I told my family how I was feeling, and then I eventually I had to tell the team when we were in Australia, and talking to them really changed things. Like, after that I could actually show how I felt.

So like, you’re on the hill and you feel like you’re expected to step up and do these huge tricks that take so much commitment, but you’re not mentally there and you know you can't fake your way through your hardest tricks…

No, that's too scary. It was still fun cruising and doing like small tricks on the jumps, but I didn't want to do the big the bigger tricks. I felt scared and just lost in my mind because I wasn’t motivated. But then after I told (Norwegian team coaches) Christoffer and Herman they were like, ‘You are definitely gonna do whatever you choose to do this season. If you want to go home and don't do any competitions, you can do that. Or, you can join us where you want and just be around the team.’

So to have that option was really nice for me, and I was able to join join the team in Chur without skiing myself. Just being around in the environment really helped me to figure out that I wanted to continue being in the environment still. But only focusing on slopestyle this past season was also nice. That was an important choice for me.

That's awesome that Christopher and Big Herm gave you that opportunity. That's really cool of them and good coaching. Good support.

Yeah it was. And that's what I'm going to do next season as well, just do slopestyle.

From Chur you went to Stubai slopestyle and won, and that was the first of three World Cup wins in a row to start the season. When you walked away from that win in Stubai, did anything change? Did you realise that your readjustment was going to work?

It was absolutely a lot of fun winning, but I didn't feel that it helped that much with the motivation. I just had more fun skiing there and through the whole season I tried to focus on having fun. And then I actually did good, as well. I actually enjoyed skiing way more in the end of the season than I did in the beginning.

But I think always before Christmas, there’s always just so much training on the airbag and I get frustrated because I'm working on tricks that don’t work, and then that also makes me even more demotivated. I wish I could just ski in the slush all year.

Is the airbag training kind of high pressure because you're expected to be learning new stuff all the time? That’s what the airbags are for, right? Trying new stuff…

Yeah I mean, from my side, I really wanted to learn like a forward double cork, and I've been trying now for three years and I still can't really do it well. So I get more like…I don't feel the pressure from the outside, it's more like me wanting to learn that trick. And I see the progression of the other girls, everyone is nailing it and I'm like, I can't do it. So I figured out I was more like a switch skier (laughs).

But, I'm gonna try it again this year on the bag. I got some advice from PK Hunder. You remember him?

Yes, of course.

Yeah, I talked to him at the Norwegian champs, so I I showed him the video from the bag, trying to dub 12, and then he has been making like, a document on the the computer, analyzing how I should do it. Like, he made an analysis of one of the boys doing it and showing what I should do, kind of. So that was really nice of him.

That's so sick. What's the what's the difference between big air and slope for you? I mean, it's obvious the competition format, but like what is it that makes you not want to do big air?

Yeah, it’s because the level is insanely high now. Like, I can do one of the biggest tricks of the girls (switch double cork 1440) but after landing it in the Olympics, when I was back on bigger jumps I didn't really want to do it again. I was like, so scared because the the level is so high and the risk is so high. So that's why. I see how much the girls are progressing - like the triple cork from Megan (Oldham) at X Games - and I don't wanna join that progression.

You can still see bigger tricks in the slope course. But I see think it's gonna be a lot of years until it's like doing triples in the slope, or 1620s. Tess (Ledeux) can do it, but…

And of course I get little breaks during the season when I don’t do big airs. It helps for my motivation to to get a break sometimes. It was really hectic just doing slopes this season and it looks more hectic here in the coming season. But yeah, mainly because of the the level is so high and I’m getting older and more scared. For me I like slopestyles because you have to stay focused for one minute instead of just 10 seconds. And I I feel it's more challenging and and you can show that you're a good skier in between the jumps and rails not just go to a bag and learn the trick and then you can just do the trick on the city big air.

Yeah, there's definitely some people who are good on one jump, but you see them out on the rest of the slope and it's like, oh, you're not the best skier.

Yeah, some pizzas. Cheese pizza skiing.

As you say, the level in women's freeskiing is outrageous at this point and everyone just keeps finding ways to progress more and more. Is it fun to be part of that when you're looking around at what the other girls are doing? For me as a fan, it's so fun watching Megan land that triple at X. It must have been the scariest thing ever to do it, but to watch it happen, I got chills.

Oh, my god. Yeah. It was incredible.

For me, it’s of course so cool to to see the girls send it. But of course I can feel like the pressure a little too, because I'm a competitive skier, so I really want to do good. So I definitely feel like, ‘Ohh, now I have to go and learn that trick and that trick.’ But mostly it's so good to see how much the sport has progressed the past three seasons. And finally we get cred from the boys now, too.

Yeah, big time.

Yeah, for sure. It's way more creds now than like four years ago, so that's nice.

I think a lot of people really like watching the women’s comps now because maybe it’s more relatable. There’s constant progression and never-been-dones, and now there are the first triples, and Tess doing steezy 16’s. It’s just like, at the World Champs at Bakuriani Troy Podmilsak and Lucas Muellauer did amazing 2160s but it’s also like…that’s a lot. It's a lot. And I talked to Birk (Ruud) last week and he thinks it'll get to 2520.

Oh, but Birk’s actually keen. That's because he knows that he's probably one of the only ones that can do it, and that then he can win (laughs).

Ha! Sticking with the topic of your teammates, maybe talk about the season for the Norwegian team in general, because there was so much success across the board for you guys. It really seemed like a fun thing to be a part of.

Yeah, so cool. Like for Sebastian (Schjerve), I think this season he finally starting to to get rewarded for the good skiing. Because he's been skiing good for so many years, but never like ended up on the podium. So he started doing good and then he got more confident in comps and got, I don't know three podiums or something. And yeah, Tormod (Frostad) is always skiing so good, but he’s always unlucky somewhere in the course. But I really enjoy watching him ski. And unfortunately Ulrik (Samnoy) tore his ACL so that was sad for the team, but he's been working really hard and he’s stoked to be back soon. And Sandra also got her first World Cup podium in Chur. So that was really cool and that really helped her mentality in in the comps because she was in every finals this season, both slope and big air. So that was good for her too.

And then Birk, Birk won almost everything you can win (laughs). Win or podium.

And then Christian (Nummedal) is always skiing good, but he’s decided to stop competition after getting silver at the World Champs. That was really cool, but now he’s decided to quit competitive skiing, so that’s really sad for the team.

But like last year he was so sure that Silvaplana was going to be his last comp, and then we all talked to him like, ‘You can't stop now, you’re skiing so good.’ And then he joined us for one more year. But now it's he’s really decided to retire and it’s kind of weird for me because we were talking together about it and like I was so sure that this is my last come comp season, too. Already in January I thought that it was going to be my last. But yeah, I'm still here.

Yeah I mean, it’s crazy to say it because you're only 25, but this is going to be your 10th season of international competition coming up.

Yep, started young.

So are you planning to go all the way through to like the Milano-Cortina Olympics or is it going to be season-by-season? What’re you thinking?

Yeah, everyone is like, ‘Since you're joining for one more season, now you have to wait until the Olympics in Italy.’ But like next season is gonna be 2024, and it’ll be 2026 by the time we get to Milano, and I told everyone like, no, that's too far ahead. I haven't 100% decided, but I feel like that's too far ahead. I'm just going to take one season at a time and see. But like, as I have been telling myself, the Olympics is not everything. I got fifth in PyeongChang and I was so disappointed. And then I got 6th and 7th in Beijing, and was like, ‘Ah, sh*t.’ But then I told myself that it's not everything, and I've been doing good in all the other comps. So…yeah.

But now I’ve got the crystal globe. That was one of my biggest goals. Next I just need like a gold from X Games Aspen. That would be sick to get before I'm done, slopestyle gold from Aspen. So that's probably what I’m aiming most for next season. Let's see.

But yeah, about the Milano Olympics. I've been telling my team that if I'm not skiing there, I am going to be there with you and be doing something. I really want to be the commentator, the announcer on TV, together with another like ski dude from Norway. He's really funny. So maybe that's my plan. I really want to experience an Olympics in a European city.

I don't really know who I am outside of skiing, so that's what I need to find out. This is so I know where to I have to go with my life. I've been there reading a lot of books to try to learn more about myself. Eventually what I'm planning to do is like something completely new, because I've been in the sport for so many years. Maybe I should continue to work with sport, but not with this sport because I really want to get to know other people and do different stuff.

Yeah, and you still have so much time to figure it out. I think a lot of the things we’ve learned in the ski world work in the bigger world, as well.

Yeah, actually me and Christian (Nummedal) joined a program designed for athletes who might retire soon, as well as like military people that are looking to leave the military, and they teach us that what we’ve learned through all through the years, a lot of it is what companies and organisations are looking for.

Oh for sure. Performing at your best in the highest pressure situations, problem solving, pushing yourself to be better all the time…I think there’s a million things that will carry over. That’s awesome that you’re learning more about that. Ok, maybe just to wrap it up here, tell me what if you could have one perfect day this summer, what? Would it be like?

Ohh, that's hard. Maybe like a boat trip together with my friends and a couple drinks in the daytime, maybe get to know new people…just having a long day in the sun on a boat. Yeah. Good vibes. Or like a a perfect day would also be home here in Dombas and go for a hike in the mountains, bring some good food…yeah. Hopefully I get to do the boat day when I'm back in Oslo because my friend has a little boat. It's really beautiful.

Sounds pretty much perfect to me, too. Thanks for your time, JoJo! Stoked to see you in Chur.

Nice talking to you! Bye bye.

Johanne Killi FIS Profile