Meet BFF Ambassador Kaila Kuhn

Picture it for a second. You leave the ground off a kicker, fifty feet up, executing backflips in a silence that swallows everything. And then you land — on a steep pitch of snow, at speed, having made it look like the most natural thing in the world.

This is what Kaila Kuhn does for a living. Freestyle aerials — the closest thing to actual flight that exists in Olympic sport. The feeling, she'll tell you, isn't really describable. The best she can offer: some combination of "I'm freaking out, wow this is so much fun, and holy cow I'm so happy to be back on the ground."

What's harder to picture is where it started. Not in Park City. Not on a World Cup podium. But four miles from her front door, at Boyne Mountain — chasing her older brother through a terrain park, too scared to hit the rails, hitting the side of the little jumps instead. Start small. Get comfortable. Go again. That was the whole formula. It still is.

A Different Kind of Flying

Ask Kaila to describe what aerials feels like and she'll laugh a little before she answers. Because the honest answer is that it can't really be put into words. The best she can do: "I'm freaking out, wow this is so much fun, and holy cow I'm so happy to be back on the ground."

For any kid who's ever had a dream of flying, she says, this is the closest thing to it. The adrenaline. The altitude. The commitment required to leave the ground and trust that everything you've practiced will catch you on the way down. It's wildly addictive — and it all started with a kid trying to copy her brother on a hill in northern Michigan.

The Town That Made Her

When Kaila left for Park City as a teenager to train at a higher level, she took northern Michigan with her. Not as a memory to look back on — as a foundation to stand on.

"Growing up in small town Michigan is the reason I am who I am today," she says. "I have had the opportunity to travel more than I could have ever dreamed, but no place has ever felt like home the way Boyne does."

It's not just the terrain. It's the community — the support that was there long before any Olympic qualification, long before anyone outside of northern Michigan knew her name. "I wouldn't trade my hometown for the world," she says. And she means it in the most literal way possible: she's seen a lot of the world now. She knows what she's saying.

The Kid Who Just Wanted to Have Fun

There's a version of Kaila Kuhn who is an Olympian. There is also a version who is still just a kid from Boyne who wants to have fun in the snow. She's kept both versions intact — and she considers that, without hesitation, a massive win.

"You start hobbies and sports because you find joy in it," she says. "The fact that I turned that joy into an Olympic career while preserving the little girl that just wants to have fun in the process — that is such a massive win."

She thinks the kid version of herself would be completely out of her mind excited. She also thinks she'd recognize herself. That continuity — between the girl on the magic carpet and the woman on the Olympic podium — is something she's actively protected. It shows.

Coming Home to Give Back

Kaila doesn't lend her name to things she doesn't believe in. It's a simple standard, but an uncommon one. So when she talks about the Boyne Forever Foundation, the conviction is immediate.

"I wouldn't choose to represent a foundation I didn't truly believe in," she says. "Boyne Forever Foundation's message is something I'm honored to be a part of — especially being a Boyne native and getting so much support from them over the years. It's special to be a part of something bigger than myself, and to help give back to a community that shaped me."

The foundation's mission — protecting access to these landscapes and experiences for future generations — hits differently when you're someone who knows exactly what's at stake. Kaila grew up with Boyne as a given. She knows it isn't. And she knows that the next generation of big dreamers — the kids standing at the top of a hill, not sure if they're brave enough — deserve the same shot she had.

"Boyne Forever has incredible plans for Boyne's future," she says. "It will be an integral part in the development of the next generations of big dreamers. What a privilege to be a part of that."

What She'd Tell the Kid at the Top of the Hill

There's a message Kaila has for any young person standing at the edge of something that scares them. She's been that person. More times than she can count.

"Bravery is built over time," she says. "With each baby step of growth, more bravery is growing within you. Start small, get comfortable, go again, and build up your confidence. Slow and steady wins the race — and patience is the most valuable skill I've learned over the years. If I can do it, so can you."

It's not a slogan. It's the actual architecture of her career — built fall by fall, jump by jump, from a little hill in northern Michigan. And she's just getting started giving it back.