Why Nick Goepper Built a Quarter Pipe in the Desert

Somewhere in the Nevada desert, halfpipe skier and Olympic medalist Nick Goepper built a quarter pipe with his roommate, Finley Quible. Goepper hinted at the development yesterday on Instagram, sharing images of the ramp alongside the hashtag #milanocortina2026 .

After a brief retirement from professional skiing, Goepper, now 30, announced that he would return to competition this past fall. For his comeback, though, he'd compete as a halfpipe skier, eschewing slopestyle, the discipline where he claimed all of his previous Olympic hardware.

The pivot's gone swimmingly so far, with Goepper earning several top-five finishes during the 2023-2024 competitive halfpipe season, but he aims to take his new career further to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and the quarter pipe, he said, will help him try new tricks.

"If I want to win the Olympics in 19 months, I really want to have these specific tricks, and I couldn't think of any other way that I would rather practice them safely at a facility such as this that I could access, sort of at my leisure," Goepper explained, noting that halfpipe training camps are often crowded and expensive. When I texted Goepper after our conversation to ask if he'd specify which tricks he aimed to learn with the new quarter pipe, he replied, "You'll see at X Games," followed by a winky face emoji.

I should've expected that response. Since Goepper's career relaunch, he's leaned into social media, where he oscillates between light irreverence and surprising honesty. In one Instagram reel, he compares his halfpipe prize earnings to what other athletes make (hint: it's a lot less). In another, he parodies the popular "get ready with me" video format. The rebrand reached a zenith when Goepper appeared at the X Games Aspen 2024 halfpipe event wearing jeans instead of snow pants.

Separating the irony from the seriousness might be difficult with Goepper 2.0, but it's clear he still cares deeply about his skiing and inspiring others.

"I have to keep chasing the dream and doing what I love, and I'm sort of going all in because I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be able to do this, you know. Life's short," he said when asked about the quarter pipe project. "I love skiing, I love halfpipe. I love rollerblading, which is what the training facility will be used with. And, yeah, man, I want to inspire people."

The quarter pipe was constructed on a hilly piece of cheap acreage with what Goepper calls a "shoestring budget." He and Quible worked on it alone and didn't hire any contractors. At its core, the project is very DIY and, Goepper said, the polar opposite of well-funded training facilities.

"What I want to show people is that you can blaze your own trail, and you don't have to follow the crowd," said Goepper.

For now, the quarter pipe and in-run are set up to be used with rollerblades. Next to the quarter pipe is an airbag, so Goepper will have a soft landing while he tries new tricks, simulating the experience of catching air in a halfpipe on snow.

"You're on two things that go straight, and you know, as long as you're sort of replicating sh*t that's similar to the ramps and like the feeling of hitting a jump on skis, it's brilliant cross training," said Goepper.

Aside from allowing Goepper to hone his air awareness further, the future of the quarter pipe is uncertain. "I'm just not much of a planner, and I never have been. I just really love to just kind of start something and see where it goes," said Goepper. However, he explained that he's open to "anything" and confirmed, "We're gonna be making a lot more stuff, and it's going to be super fun. I can't wait."

Yesterday, Goepper shared an Instagram story that showed the quarter pipe and included a poll with two options: "Desperate attempt to save a dying career" and "He's gonna win the godd*mn Olympics." The latter option received the most votes.

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