Up Close With Olympic Gold Medalist Alex Hall

Kate Agathon

Over the next month, some of the biggest athletes of winter sports will descend upon Colorado for the X Games and the Dew Tour.

 

We had a chance to meet and ski (!) with the reigning Olympic slopestyle gold medalist, Alex Hall while he was promoting Spyder Eyewear’s Dragon FX2 ski goggle collaboration at Copper Mountain during the Toyota Grand Prix.

Alex Hall and Kate Agathon

At 25, Hall is building an impressive career.

 

In addition to his gold medal win at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he won the 2018 Freeski World Cup in Silvaplana, Switzerland, 2019 Freeski World Cup in Front Romeu, France, and his first X Games gold medal in slopestyle in 2019.

 

Where does one go after winning slopestyle gold?

 

“It’s a question I get asked a lot. Honestly, I don’t really think about it. I see a lot of people in similar positions trying to put way too much pressure on themselves,” said Hall.

 

“I’m not going to think about the results too much. It’s really more just about going out and skiing and having fun. Having fun and enjoying it (skiing)- that’s the reason I do it. To enjoy it. If I let pressure and results take that away from me, it’s not really worth it,” he explained.

 

Surprisingly, Hall, a world-class athlete, doesn’t train in the traditional way that other athletes do.

 

In the months leading up to the 2022 Olympics, while other athletes were skiing and training at resorts in between events, Hall was doing street skiing.

 

Said Hall, “During that time, I didn’t really ski at resorts at all. Instead, I went urban and did some street skiing in Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. I just try to ski, have fun and avoid overthinking everything.”

 

“I just enjoy it. It’s not like I’m trying to be cool, but I really don’t think of it as training ever. Training is like going to the gym and all that. But skiing is just skiing for me,” he continued.

 

Hall was born in Alaska, was raised in Switzerland, and currently calls Salt Lake City his homebase.

 

Multiple film projects

Hall was eager to talk about his upcoming film projects.

 

No stranger to filming, he’s worked with Faction Skis and Teton Gravity Research, and currently has other video projects in the works.

 

For instance, a multi-state Midwest trip to the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to film street skiing is planned. Once filming is done there, it’s on to the next project.

 

“A friend and I are working on another movie together (we’ve already done a couple). We’ve got a pretty packed schedule! We are going to Japan on one trip, then Idaho and Montana, and probably a stop in Europe,” he remarked.

 

Hall talks about traveling to ski destinations across the world as casually as one might talk about going across the city to try a new restaurant.

 

“I spend too much time on the road traveling, but it’s part of it. My mid-season travel ratio I’d say is 40 percent traveling, and 60 percent skiing,” he said.

 

While he’s traveling, he likes to listen to music and podcasts.

 

“I’m pretty random and really enjoy all kinds of music, and I don’t have a specific playlist. I’m the guy who listens to everyone else’s music. Whatever the guys are rocking, I’m rocking with them,” he said.

 

“When I’m driving, I’m jamming to whatever playlist my friend’s got, or I’ll pull out a random playlist (mainly rap) or podcasts. I listen to a really funny snowboard podcast called the Bomb Hole. It’s pretty niche. I know a lot of people on it; a lot of my snowboard friends are on it, so it’s fun listening to that,” Hall continued.

 

In addition to Bomb Hole, he listens to NPR.

 

“I don’t have a lot of time to watch TV ever, so when I drive it feels like a good time to catch up with all that is happening in the world,” he added.

 

While Chloe Kim is powered by churros, Hall is powered by burritos; especially on the road.

 

“I love burritos! It’s just an easy snack. I never had them growing up (you don’t find Mexican food in Europe), so I love them!” he said.

Michael Clemente and Alex Hall

 

On surfing and skiing

In addition to skiing, Hall enjoys doing the other “s” activity- surfing.

 

“Outside of skiing I love surfing. That’s been my new thing!” he exclaimed.

 

Last summer, he and Olympic big air silver medalist Colby Stevenson went to Indonesia and Australia to spend some time surfing before heading to New Zealand to ski for a month.

 

“Colby loves to surf, so we’ve been hanging out as well. I like skateboarding too, but skating hurts when you fall. I don’t do as much anymore, surfing is a little more forgiving,” Hall explained.

 

In the rare time he finds himself at home in Salt Lake City, he goes golfing.

 

“It’s so easy to golf here! There’s so many cheap public courses where you can play 9 holes for 15 bucks! A lot of my friends have gotten into golfing the last couple of years. It’s fun!” he said.

 

But, back to the sport that made him a household name: skiing.

 

Where does someone like Hall go to ski? Is there a favorite, secret place where only Olympians go?

 

According to Hall, he doesn’t have a single, all-time favorite place to ski.

He specified that his favorite place depends on whatever activity he’s doing, the powder, the park, and whomever is available to hang.

 

Hall exclaimed, “I love skiing Mammoth Mountain in the spring. We go there in May a lot to park ski. Where I live now in Salt Lake -Brighton, Solitude, Alta, Snowbird- any of those are sweet on a powder day!”

 

Further away? Switzerland. All resorts in Switzerland on a powder day, according to Hall.

 

What about more local? Say, Colorado?

 

His favorite place to ski on a powder day is Vail “when it’s not too busy.”

 

“Vail doesn’t really have a park or anything, but skiing down the mountain is sweet! In terms of park, Copper Mountain is probably the best. They have a really good park, so coming here mid-season is fun!”

 

For Hall, it all comes down to skiing.

 

“Whether it’s competing, filming, skiing powder, skiing in the streets, it’s just skiing. And I think every aspect of doing that will make me a better skier and progress. As long as I’m on my skis and enjoying everything, I’m going to become a better skier,” he finished.

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Kate Agathon

Dr. Of Stoke

Freelance writer, bicyclist, outdoor recreation enthusiast, social justice advocate, and mom to her furbaby, Snsa

A Colorado native, Kate considers the outdoors her mother ship. She brings her passion for bicycling, the environment, and issues of diversity to her writing. Her primary outdoor recreation activities are mountain biking, fat biking, snowshoeing, camping, peak bagging Colorado’s 14ers, road cycling, and Nordic skiing. After suffering two major knee injuries within four years, Kate hopes to return to alpine skiing next season.

 

Kate earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Colorado State University and later an MSEd and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University. In addition to her education, Kate’s background serving on the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee and experience working for non-profits and bicycle sales well position her to bring depth and understanding to the complex changes currently taking place in the outdoor recreation industry.