But he also acknowledges that the road to becoming Jay Riccomini was neither smooth nor straightforward.
“It’s not a linear line. It’s a freaking roller coaster through it all,” he told The Associated Press recently, in one of his first interviews with a national news outlet.
SILENCE, SECRECY AND DEPRESSION
From a young age, even before he realized what it was, Riccomini began experiencing gender dysphoria, when a person’s gender identity doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. But he kept it secret.
The mountains provided both a refuge and an escape. Growing up in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, he spent many winter weekends with his brother at Tussey Mountain, which featured a terrain park loaded with jumps and rails.
On numerous occasions, his family also traveled to Copper Mountain, Colorado, where coaches at Woodward, a training ground for kids interested in action sports, recognized his talent.
But not being able to share his secret weighed heavily on him, and ultimately led to such a severe depression that even the mountains couldn’t save him. His parents didn’t know the depths of his struggles, either.
“I just wanted Jay to be happy, and Jay was unhappy for so many years,” said his mother, Andrea. “That’s been the hardest part for me, that he was unhappy for so long.”
Rock bottom came at 17, while Riccomini attended a winter sports school in Park City, Utah. He missed classes. His grades suffered. And in perhaps the most worrisome sign that something was wrong, he was often absent from the terrain park, one of his favorite spots.
“When people saw that I wasn’t there, they’re like, ‘Where are you?’” Riccomini recounted. “I was depressed. I wasn’t eating. It wasn’t good.”
Even when he had a memorable moment — finishing 18th in his World Cup debut in Aspen in March 2021 — he wasn’t able to truly celebrate. It was under his old name. Every time someone referred to him as “her,” it gave him anxiety.
“I just felt like I was going to throw up,” he said.
FINALLY BECOMING JAY
He decided to take action.
First, he told a close friend he was trans. Then, he changed his pronouns on his Instagram bio to “they/them” and told more teammates and friends. Not long afterward, while out skiing, he came up with a new name.
“I was like, ‘Should I call myself Jake or Jack or Ace?’” he said. ”I thought, ‘Jay — Jay is perfect.’ It’s just easy” — and it happened to echo his father’s middle initial, J.
Teammate Colby Stevenson began calling him “Jay-Bird.”
“I like that,” Riccomini said. “I really like that.”
With his name in place, Riccomini went public on Instagram, writing that he was “over constantly feeling trapped in my own body.”
The announcement set him free, transforming his anxiety into hope and happiness.
“Seeing him happy,” his mom said, “is priceless.”
