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THINGS TO YOUTUBE: MA X HAMMER’S INBOUNDS SKIING AT JACKSON HOLE
Down by the river with the Hammers. PHOTO: MARK FISHER
Hammers and Nails Two of the most talented and unknown skiers happen to be brother and sister BY MEGAN MICHELSON
HADLEY HAMMER MADE HER DEBUT on the Freeride World Tour last winter, finishing sixth overall. She earned a reputation on tour as a tiny figure (she’s only 5-foot, 3-inches tall) who’s not afraid to launch big cliffs, and already she’s being called a promising contender for a future overall title. But if you ask Hadley, it’s her brother, Max, lines and he’s incredibly strong on the up and 26, who’s the natural athlete in her family. the down. This is just the tip of the iceberg for “I’m still trying to perfect my skiing,” Max in terms of where he’s taking his skiing.” Hadley, 28, says. “But for Max, he’s been skiing The two siblings, plus eldest brother competitively since he was a kid. He is defiMichael, who’s also a great skier, grew up in nitely the gifted one athletically in our family.” Jackson, Wyoming, children of a mother who Last spring, Max, along worked in education and with Griffin Post, Angel a father who did developCollinson, and photograment for hotels. As kids, Both of them pher Mark Fisher, spent Hadley was a figure skater became known for four days on Mount Moran and Nordic skier, while skiing smooth, fast, Max got into ski racing. in Grand Teton National Park. Max was the only At 14, doctors diagand completely one to ski the triple threat nosed Max with rheumaunder the radar. of Skillet Glacier, East toid arthritis, a lifelong Horn, and the Sickle Couautoimmune disease that loir, a consequential line even for the most causes painfully inflamed joints. While underexperienced ski mountaineers. going treatment, he eventually made the U.S. “Typically these lines have been skied Ski Team’s development roster and then raced in a ski mountaineering style, with lots of for Dartmouth College, where he studied short, controlled turns,” says Fisher. “But studio arts, film, and animation. Max approached these lines with a freeride Meanwhile, Hadley enrolled at the style—big turns at high speeds. He’s able to University of New Hampshire, and after bring his skills from his race background and graduating, went to work in the wine indusbig-mountain skiing to ski mountaineering try in Washington, D.C. At age 23, she moved POWDER MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2014
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Hammers and Nails (C O N T I N U E D)
Max Hammer pounds another beauty turn in Jackson Hole. PHOTO: MARK FISHER
back to Jackson, burnt out on the fast pace of life in the nation’s capital. A year later, Max moved home after earning his Dartmouth diploma and coached Jackson Hole’s race team. Together, the duo picked up a few sponsors. Max garnered small film parts with KGB Productions and Teton Gravity Research—he’ll appear in a segment shot in the Tetons in TGR’s fall 2014 release, Almost Ablaze. Both of them became known for skiing smooth, fast, and completely under the radar. When Freeskiing World Tour competitor and childhood friend Crystal Wright suggested Hadley sign up for a bigmountain contest, Hadley booked a flight to La Parva, Chile, in 2012 for her first big-mountain contest. Through a series of qualifiers—in which Hadley would either crash or place high, thanks to her robust line choices—she earned a spot on the 2014 Freeride World Tour. “I have never seen anyone progress so much and work so hard as Hadley. She is going to continue to be a force to be reckoned with,” says Wright. “Max just makes everything look easy. I think they both have a huge future in skiing if this is what they choose to do.” And that is perhaps the biggest question: Despite their immense talent, will Max and Hadley continue to pursue a career in skiing? Both have life plans beyond the sport—Hadley would like to own a restaurant one day but for now is washing windows and working for a caterer; Max, who doesn’t make any money from skiing, has a business selling soap. Says Max, “I think skiing is a silly thing to do, but I figure I might as well put my all into it because it’s so much fun.”