In the ski movie, “Magma 3,” published to Youtube on Nov. 20, 2023, anyone can see what type of man Hunter Hess is. Magma, a group centered around Hess and fellow professional skier Alex Hall, populates its films with careful demonstrations of inhuman excellence on the stage of park skiing. In the most inhospitable environments, such as the dry concrete floors under gazebos abandoned in the harshness of winter, or the brutalist walls of drab, colorless buildings, every utilitarian element of an urban scape, such as countless thoughtlessly crafted handrails, transcends into an obstacle.
Hunter Hess is a skier in love with the rail. In what seems like an endless myriad of clips in “Magma 3,” Hess balances on the edge of slippery handrails never once designed to be grinded upon. Nonetheless, again and again, he launches onto rails like a cowboy onto an angered bull. Momentarily, the Wild West returns, as Hess turns a sight so commonplace to our eyes to something gravitating and unimaginable.
In an eighteen minute long rough cut of “Magma 3” featuring only Hess, every slight miscalculation and their effects are put on display. For every landed trick, there seem to be five falls. The rough cut makes obvious the pain that comes with every clip. Hess’s achievements are never handed to him. The wind is knocked out of his lungs time and time again. He groans, and bleeds, and hoists himself up awkwardly over and over.
Such perseverance and determination is required to become an Olympic athlete in freestyle skiing, a title Hess now possesses. In this year’s Winter Olympics, Hunter Hess travelled to Milan to represent his country in freestyle skiing alongside athletes like Alex Ferreira, Aaron Blunck, and his Magma collaborator, Alex Hall. For someone like Hess, this honor is the epitome of a lifetime dedication to their craft, a heaping milestone in an odyssey of pain and ecstasy. In some ways, it can also be a burden.
For example, as American athletes like Hess compete in Milan, the reputation of American Olympians worsens with every offense committed by the Trump administration. I grow exhausted of a thousand foregone conclusions playing slowly, an inescapable cataclysm approaching each and every person’s door. Mass deportation campaigns by the Trump administration show no signs of halting, not from ICE’s long list of needless brutalities, or nationwide protests, or broadcasted dead bodies. I grow tired of honoring a debate about the topic, especially as, internationally, our nation is rightfully ridiculed and criticized. If other countries can recognize the barbarism that slowly has become the rule of law in the United States, the egregious habit of dancing around our disapprovals cannot continue.
At a press conference, Hunter Hess was asked his opinion on representing the United States during a time when the country is not nearly as favorable as it has been during previous Olympic Games. Hess said, “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now, I think, (…) there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” Hess continues to elaborate, stating that by representing the United States, he is representing the people he cares for, and the parts of the country that align with his moral values. Without overly criticizing Hess, who is a professional halfpipe skier and certainly not a politician, his statement is not very controversial. In terms of a political message, it is predictable and rather safe, criticizing vague elements of the nation’s government without taking a definitive stand against any specific policies. Hess makes clear in this moment that the way he intends to be an ambassador is not with his words, but with his athletic prowess. Our president, however, proved to be less understanding.
Donald Trump, in a characteristically emotional outburst on Truth Social, opened his response to Hess’s comments in an utterly naive way. Without an understanding of Hess in any aspect, Trump made his conclusion about the athlete monolithic and absolute, as if he alone is the final judge of human worth: “U.S. Olympic skier, Hunter Hess, a real loser, says he doesn’t represent his country in the Winter Olympics.” Trump kept ranting, saying that he finds it difficult to root for Hess, and that it is a shame he is on the team. It is a harsh reality I face to admit that none of this is shocking to me. Any American now has an obligation to expect these character traits from our president. He is graceless, careless and daft. He has no care for truth or mutual understanding. He speaks in brutish ways in accordance with his brutish political mechanisms. To President Donald Trump, the farther something is from his direct sphere of influence, the more of a “loser” it becomes.
I began to snowboard this year, and with my newfound hobby came a pantheon of newfound heroes. Hunter Hess is undeniably one of them. While I only became truly aware of Hess’s accomplishments while writing this article, I felt President Trump’s message as I believe it was intended: a punch thrown at a community. The world of extreme sports has always been one of societal upheaval. Undeniably, some of the greatest models for counterculture movements have come from surf, skate and ski/snowboard culture. Found in the chemical imbalance it takes to truly be able to attempt the dizzying feats of professional athletes like Hess, a similar fearlessness to censor oneself is revealed. To surmount the obstacles of nature placed before the human body, one must first revolt against their fears. They must find the ability to reject, totally and entirely, that which holds them back. Any athlete must be a revolutionary, whether they are aware of this or not.
If there is one thing that President Trump and Hunter Hess have in common, it is an objection to fear. Trump finds no fault in his upheaval of political norms. In the same way that one might cringe at the thought of Hess tumbling down a staircase as a result of a slight mistake in motor functions, too many American citizens cower at the fearlessness of Trump’s destructive governance. In this act, these people stand to the side and let Trump’s cabinet flood our nation’s legal systems in a sputtering hope that there will be some form of Deus Ex Machina to halt the funeral procession of a long decaying system of democracy. Their idea of salvation will never come.
Instead, the only way that budding authoritarianism can be quelled is through an equally belligerent and fearless opposition. In the same way that, as I write this article, hundreds of Americans put their safety on the line to make their country proud, everyday people have an obligation to do everything in their power to create a country worth holding pride in. At every corner of debaucherous victory, a mound of screaming, scratching citizens must stand in clear rejection. When one man is murdered or abducted by our government, the country must wail back in endless anger until justice prevails. In every instance where our nation once again conflates the names of its caretakers for the uncaring cry of selfish yokels, our huddled masses must prove to the world that every worker disrespected and forgotten is a brother or a sister we will uplift.
Before any staggering trick, the world becomes incredibly still. In the highest moment of fear, there lies the strongest opportunity to spring forward into greatness. As a great wind ceases, and a crowd suspends its breath, you know to take the jump. We have entered a world of no return. The chaos machine of American politics is finally crumbling, and with it all of the preconceived notions of a dilapidated justice system. There is no better time to take a leap than now.
