Mark Abma admits if he is logging hours in the terrain park it is to improve his backcountry skiing. As a result, Abma had a breakout year in terms of filming segments for Matchstick, Poor Boyz and Warren Miller in 2004. While his focus may be the backcountry, don't count him out on the slopestyle course. Mark's ability to land switch in powder is just one example of how versatile he is on skis, a key ingredient to doing well at WX.
Although he took fourth in big air and 7th in the halfpipe at the 2002 World Skiing Invitational, most people hadn't heard of Mark Abma until he was featured in Freeze magazine's Oct. 2002 issue as a member of the "2002 Rookie Class." Since then, Mark has proceeded to rack up results, including a fifth place at the 2003 U.S. Freeskiing Open slopestyle. This will be his first WX.