It’s mid-March 2020, merely the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when things hadn’t really reached pandemic status yet. Isaac Freeland is in a car, driving six hours from Innsbruck, Austria, to Verbier, Switzerland. Freeland is a skier—a rising pro skier, in fact, but no blame if you don’t know his name. Until recently, you wouldn’t know who he is. Because, not long ago, he was just a college kid, studying computer science at the University of Utah, who happened to be a very talented skier.
But then Freeland got in that car, headed to Verbier. There, he was scheduled to compete in the finale of the Freeride World Tour, which takes place every year on Verbier’s famed Bec des Rosses, a pyramid-shaped behemoth of a mountain scattered with cliffs and steep chutes. Before the contest though, there was an athlete meeting. Freeland was late; his ride didn’t make it in time for the meeting. And his phone didn’t have service.
So, when he rolled into Verbier that night, he had no clue what had just transpired. He walked into the hotel, carrying his bags, and another athlete said, “Congrats!” “For what?” Freeland wondered.