Snowboarder

Mark Carter

Jackson, Wyoming

Whether it’s herding cattle over 100,000 acres on a dirt bike, drifting flies in a mountain stream or riding big lines in the Tetons, Mark Carter is an outdoorsman in every sense of the word. Who else has a toothpick sponsor? A working man’s snowboarder, Mark is a third-generation rancher in Ten Sleep, Wyoming who credits the grit and gratitude he’s gained through ranching for shaping his career as a snowboarder. Known for his fast and powerful style, Mark is comfortable riding big lines and navigating complex terrain like he’s done in nine film appearances since 2008.

While Ten Sleep, Wyoming is only four hours from Jackson Hole, it’s a world apart in terms of culture. None of Mark’s 23 other high school classmates could have guessed the kid who was trampled by a horse when he was four years old would make enough money snowboarding to buy a house in Jackson and to travel the world filming snowboarding segments with the biggest production companies in action sports. Mark learned to ski at Big Horn Ski Area and got his first snowboard as a Christmas present from his mom when he was 10. On Fridays, if he had good enough grades, he could get $3 lift tickets and a school bus ride to the hill. In middle school, he attended summer camp at Mt. Hood and won a halfpipe contest, but football soon took over. After graduating from Ten Sleep High School, Mark went to college on a scholarship to play middle linebacker. He realized he hated football and decided he was a better snowboarder than student. Mark moved to Bozeman, where he snowboarded and lived on ramen noodles. He finally made it to Jackson, where the Wyoming native snowboarded Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for the first time. He found a job on the park and pipe crew and before Mark knew it, Travis Rice was vouching for him and Teton Gravity Research was inviting him to film in Japan. He went on to win a stop on The North Face Masters big mountain series and placed second to Rice in a contest called “Natural Selection”.

Since then, Mark has starred in major snowboard films and shared unique projects with the snowboarding world, like his foot-powered trip through Montana’s Crazy Mountains with Jeremy Jones and Robin Van Gyn and his motorcycle trip through the Canadian Rockies to the Columbia Icefields with Callum Pettit.

During the summer, Mark and his brother R.C. work on their father's ranch, fixing fence, herding hundreds of cattle and branding calves. And in the fall, Carter helps his brother guide hunting and fishing trips.