There’s more than a few big bad freeride skiers doing New Zealand proud on the world stage, but Jess Hotter has to be one of our favourites. We can say that, she’s a Mons girl. As fearless on the planks as she is in her everyday, Jess has always put her heart and soul into skiing. And she recently threw in a knee.
Earlier this year in February 2026, Jess copped a gnarly knee injury at the Freeride World Champs, putting her out of the season and racking up a list of just about every injury possible in one body part. Six months later, we caught up with the legend herself to yarn all things crash, post-crash, and her rehab journey to date.
Hey, Jess. Stoked to have you here. Want to introduce yourself and your skiing background?
I’m Jess Hotter. I’m a freeride skier and I competed on the Free Ride World Tour for three seasons. I won it in 2022 and I continue to compete.
Can you tell us what happened at the FIS Freeride World Champs this year?
So this year at the World Champs in Andorra, I absolutely obliterated my knee. Which was really unfortunate. The knee diagnosis was I ruptured my ACL, ruptured my MCL, tore my meniscus, tore some cartilage under my kneecap, high-grade tear of the MPFL, so I probably partially dislocated my kneecap a little bit at the same time. And low-grade tears of the LCL and PCL.
So a bit going on, then.
Yeah, a lot of stuff going on in there, haha.
How were you feeling on the day?
Ultimately, on the day, I was in quite a good headspace. I was really excited to compete, which I’m very proud of. We just had an unfortunate day where we had a lot of postponements in the competition. There was cloud on the face and we couldn’t compete straight away, so we were waiting for a lot of the day. I didn’t stay warmed up like I should have, and when I got to the top of the face, I was feeling good, having a great time, really excited to drop in, like I said. As I dropped in I felt amazing and felt great and my run felt really fun, and I was having a great time. Unfortunately, on my last, or second to last hit, I over-rotated my backflip. As I tried to muscle into not backslapping, my ACL snapped, and that was the end of that.
Have you ever had an injury this big before?
I’ve never had an injury this significant. This is definitely the worst injury I’ve ever had. I’m definitely somebody who is up for a challenge, but this has definitely been the biggest challenge that I think I’ve ever faced. There is a lot of ups and downs. Mentally, physically. And it is tough. It’s really tough, and you need good people around you. I would never have been able to do it without the people that have been around me.
How did you feel when you knew you were out for the season?
When I knew that I was in this for the long haul and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to ski for the winter, I pictured myself sitting at the lake and looking at the mountains. So that ultimately is what I’ve, you know, gravitated towards. I’m going to cry.
It’s been almost six months now post-injury. What’s your rehab plan looking like?
For the next four or five months, my rehabilitation plan is, I’m in the gym 3 days a week with physio. And then I’m also doing sessions outside of that, not focusing on my knee, just focusing on the rest of my body. We’re six months post-injury now, and I am finding that the rehabilitation, the exercises and everything, is something to get up for, which is really important. I think if I didn’t have that, I would be really struggling. And I know I’m always working towards something, even if I don’t see those changes every day.
What’s been one of the biggest challenges so far?
I think the biggest challenge so far has been post-surgery. Between 4 and 6 weeks post-surgery, my mental health took a really, really big dip. I wasn’t sleeping because of the pain, and that was really, really tough. That was really tough, and I had to get help for that.
Has this injury changed your perspective on the sport? Or on life, in general?
I think the biggest thing that this injury has done for me is really changed my perspective on even just being able to move your body. I think even just skiing at all, I feel like I’m going to be very lucky to be skiing again.
Our Proximity activewear is designed for girls getting ‘mountain strong’. What does that mean to you?
I think the words mountain strong can mean different things for different people. But for me, mountain strong isn’t necessarily skiing, it’s spending time in the mountains. So it could be hiking up a mountain, hiking up a hill, could be going ski touring. I think that’s what it means to me the most. It’s just moving in the mountains. When I think of mountain strong, I think of moving in the mountains.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Make the most of the little things. Like a nice cup of tea.
[laughter]
