Athlete Profile
Alex Hall: Redefining Skiing Cool
By Nicole Dreon
X Games champ Alex Hall makes everything seem effortless...
At 6-foot-4, he’s as stylish walking the ESPYs red carpet as he is navigating a slopestyle jib line. But he’s not just about looking good. He’s about pushing boundaries -- his own, the sport’s and maybe even gravity’s.
Hall is the only person to earn X Games gold in four different Ski disciplines: Slopestyle, Big Air, Knuckle Huck and Real Ski. He also owns Olympic slopestyle gold from the 2022 Winter Olympics. Some with that resume would have an ego the size of Aspen, but Hall is cooler than that. He’s not about flaunting what he’s done; he’s about what’s next.
And what’s next might just revolutionize skiing. Hall was once the undisputed king of big rotations, famously landing a contest-first, jaw-dropping 2160 for Big Air gold at XG Aspen 2022. Others have followed, but Alex put a pause on huge spins after proving it could be done. “I don’t want to do the crazy spin-to-win stuff, at least not right now,” Hall says. “I feel like I’ve pushed that as far as I want to at this point.”
Instead, Hall did what he does: Set a new standard. At the December 2023 World Cup in China, he landed a mind-bending double cork 1080 pullback into a 900. If that sounds like a physics problem, it kind of is. Imagine a pretzel, but in the air. It was risky, sure. But it was also Hall declaring “This is who I am now.”
It paid off. Hall won, setting the tone for his 2024 season. At X Games, his style-over-spin philosophy helped earn silver medals in Big Air and Slopestyle. Hall’s message was clear: skiing is more than a numbers game. It’s art, it’s expression, it’s cool.
“You always second-guess yourself when you go against the grain,” Hall admits now. But at the end of the day, he wasn’t there to impress anyone but himself. He had fun and stayed true to what he loves.
The Quiet Leader: Hall’s Influence
Image ©Trevor Brown, Jr./X Games
Hall is leading off skis, too, though in his typical lowkey manner. Over the past few years, Hall -- who says he’s kind of a quiet guy -- has become one of the most influential voices in the sport. He’s been advocating for equal prize money in FIS events and is part of X Games athlete roundtables, using his platform to push for fairness and progress. “It’s a fine line between wanting to get what you deserve and not asking for too much,” he says. “But it’s important to make sure we’re not undervalued.”
Hall’s leadership isn’t about dictating, it’s about inspiring. Whether the 26-year-old is speaking up on behalf of younger athletes or encouraging the sport to rethink its definition of success, Hall’s approach is collaborative. “I never want to be the guy who’s deciding what's going to happen or how skiing’s going to evolve,” Hall says. “It’s up to everyone to decide what tricks they want to do, and I’m ultimately still just taking my own path.”
It’s Not Just About Skiing
Images ©Mark Kohlman/X Games
A-Hall is carving out a life beyond the slopes. Take the summer of 2024: In addition to chasing late-season snow, Alex interned at a finance company in New York City. “It was cool to see what other people do and get a different perspective,” he says. It also gave him a chance to be closer to longtime girlfriend Emma Hall, a Middlebury College graduate prepping for medical school.
Hall’s a student himself, majoring in environmental studies at the University of Utah. Most classes are online, and he’s just a year away from earning his degree. Education is important to the Hall family: Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, but raised in Zurich, Switzerland, to university professors, Hall grew up speaking four languages -- Swiss German, French, Italian and English, then moved to Park City, Utah, for high school. Alex’s older brother, Aldo, graduated cum laude with a double major from the University of Utah before earning a master’s from ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
Alex also continues to see his 101-year-old grandpa, Charles Hall, who still goes on walks with friends, knows everyone in Salt Lake City and is one of Hall’s biggest supporters. The former doctor and his recently-passed wife of 76 years, Emily, hosted Alex during high school, when Hall attended the Winter Sports School to further his ski dreams.
What’s Next for A-Hall?
Image ©Joshua Duplechian./X Games
Alex is rewriting ski history. At X Games Aspen 2022, Hall became the first man to medal in three Ski disciplines at a single X Games. Now, he’s chasing something even bigger: In 2025, Hall is set to compete in four X Games disciplines -- Big Air, Slopestyle, Knuckle Huck and Street Style. No winter athlete has won three gold medals at one X Games, and no one ever has taken four medals at an X Games.
Hall isn’t thinking too far ahead, but he is excited about Street Style, which makes its debut as a medal discipline at XG Aspen 2025. Alex recently took second place at Copper Mountain’s Street Style Pro and will be a medal favorite in Aspen. “That’s the one I'm really looking forward to,” Alex says. “I’ve always thought it’d be sweet to have a more rail style event for skiers. I know they've done something for snowboarders in the past, and I was stoked to hear that news and get the invite.”
In a world that’s always spinning faster, Alex Hall makes slowing down look so good.
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Alex Hall Bio Blast
- DOB: Sept. 21, 1998. Age 26
- 5 gold medals from 4 X Games disciplines (Slopestyle, Big Air, Knuckle Huck, Real Ski). He’s the only person with gold from 4 XG Ski disciplines. 11 total X Games medals.
- Nominated for Best Athlete, Men's Action Sports ESPY, in 2022 (Eli Tomac won).
- At 6’4”, he’s the tallest gold medalist in X Games freeski history and tied for tallest Ski champ overall (Stanley Hayer, Skier X).
- Won the 2024 FIS Crystal Globe for Big Air.
- Known throughout action sports as A-Hall.
- Instagram: @alexhallskiing