Jan 19, 2015 By Eleanor Bailey 4 min read

Tom Wallisch describes his occupation in words few people experience while on the job.

“Exhilarating,” he said. The Bridgeville native added, “fast and fun” to his description of his sport, which will be on display Jan. 22-25 at Buttermilk Mountain.

Wallisch will be among the professional skiers competing in the X Games, which will be televised live by ESPN and ABC. The networks will air 16 hours of live action from Aspen. An additional 18 hours will be carried on ESPN3 and various other ESPN digital platforms.

A Chartiers Valley High School product, Wallisch specializes in the Slopestyle event. He has four Top 10 finishes in the event and struck gold during the 2012 Winter X Games in Aspen.

“Freedom,” he said, is what he likes most about the sport. “Even in competitions there are no regulations on what you can and get to do. The tricks you can try and creativity that you have on a pair of skis is amazing.”

As early as age 3, Wallisch exhibited a smooth, yet complex and composed, style on skis. He skied on weekends at Wisp and Seven Springs and fell in love with the sport.

“My parents were the first ones to take me skiing. I owe all of my success in skiing to them,” said the 27-year-old son of Mike and Patty Wallisch. “They have been very supportive of me throughout the years.

“Thank you Mom and Dad,” he added in a shoutout after one of his training sessions.

Because he wanted to “ski bigger mountains,” Wallisch moved to Salt Lake City. While he continued his training, he also pursued a business degree from the University of Utah.

While Wallisch describes his education as a huge asset that he can fall back on down the road once he retires, he knows all to well how injuries can derail a career. During the 2013-14 season, Wallisch tore his ACL and was unable to qualify for the Sochi Olympics. “Skier’s Discretion,” a video produced by the 4B19 Media, explained the injury and highlighted his attempts to qualify for the games.

“It was definitely a crushing blow for me to tear my ACL and therefore miss out on the Olympics. I would have loved to compete and showcase my sport for the world.”

For Wallisch, however, the Olympics are not the definitive dream. “There is so much more to our sport than that. Skiing mountains and places no one has ever skied before or landing a trick no one has ever done before is the ultimate experience.”

Before his injury, Wallisch’s ultimate experiences occurred during his breakout season in 2012. He finished first at the X Games, first at the Killington Dew Tour, second at Euro X Games in France, and second at the Dew Tour stop at Snow Basin. Wallisch also won the title for the overall Dew Cup and was named the 2012 Men’s Slopestyle World Champion.

Wallisch is just hitting his prime. He said that he hopes to continue skiing for many more years. “There are so many different aspects of skiing that I still have yet to explore.”

One of those avenues is filming and making movies that showcase his skiing abilities. It was a short edit in the 2007 Level 1 Superunknown video contest that introduced the world to Wallisch. After years of filming with Level 1 Productions, Wallisch completed a solo project with cinematographer Kyle Decker for the 2012-13 season.

His future entails complementing his skiing exploits with his education.

“Having an education to fall back on is a huge asset and I hope to implement my education once I retire as a means to stay involved in the ski industry.”

And, from whatever mountaintop he descends, his thoughts are never far from his roots. Wallisch often thinks of his parents and friends back home and of course he misses the sports the most. “It’s hard to root for the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins from Utah, but I always try to wear black and yellow.”