1. Mahler grew up with a chairlift 100 meters behind his house, the son of a flight attendant and tradeshow booth builder. He landed his first trick on skis -- a backflip -- at age 9.

2. He performs a variety of double corks all four ways -- forward, switch, left and right -- but his favorite trick is a switch double misty 1440. "He can do them really easily," Noto said. Mahler said he'll likely throw the trick Saturday night, but with unprecedented grabs. "I try to do tricks that no one did before. For example, switch double misties with Japan grab or tail grab." He's thrown triples into a foam pit in Laax, Switzerland, but never on snow. "I don't know if I want to do a triple," he said. "I'll try to do my best with my switch double misties. Maybe if I'm ready and if the other guys do triples, maybe I will try one. But I'm not sure yet."

3. His biggest inspiration is Ambühl, who also happens to be the most constant influence on Mahler's skiing. "For Kai, it's all about having fun with Elias," Noto said. Added Mahler: "He always pushes me to try new tricks." But don't expect a clone of Ambühl. "I don't try to copy anyone else," Mahler said. "I just do my own style."

4. Though Mahler is best known for his jumping and rail skills, he's also an accomplished pipe skier, having consistently landed switch double cork 1260s. His coach anticipates Mahler will represent Switzerland in both slopestyle and pipe at the 2014 Olympics. "I'm definitely sure that he's going to be ready for the pipe for Sochi," Noto said. "He's actually ready in slope, but we're going to focus on pipe more next season."

5. Like many European skiers, the Winter X Games have represented Mahler's biggest goal in his young career. "A dream will come true if I win X Games," he said. "I'm just really stoked to get an invite, but if I could win it, a dream would come true." Noto, for one, believes a gold medal isn't out of the question. "If the kicker is big enough, Kai is able to do anything he wants."