Skier Alex Hall Talks Defending His Gold Medal and New Tricks Ahead of Milan-Cortina 2026

Alex Hall grew up sculpting tricks in the Swiss Alps outside of Zurich and later perfected his skills in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains as an inspired teenager.

The Alaskan-born freeskier believes it was this diversity that provided the perfect equilibrium to launch his now illustrious ski career. 

Having already punched his ticket for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the defending Olympic slopestyle champion is excited to write the next chapter of his Olympic journey. Considering he spent much of his childhood skiing in Europe, Hall envisions the Italian Alps to feel like an inviting second home.

“Snowsports as a culture is pretty big in that northern part of Italy, so it’s going to be sweet and help the event to be a big success,” Hall tells POWDER in a video interview from his home in Solitude, Utah. “Having the Olympics back in Europe will be exciting, skiing on good snow hopefully, and around big mountains, which we haven’t had these past two Olympics.

“For me personally, it’s also pretty cool because my Mom is Italian. She’s from Bologna and her whole side of the family still lives right in the city. A bunch of them are coming up for the Olympics, so that will be pretty sweet.”

Slopestyle and Big Air events will unfold on an unknown course, at the untested Livigno Snow Park venue, in an unfamiliar competitive setting. “I’ve skied Livigno and know the area pretty well, but it will be an even playing field,” says the two-time Olympian, alluding to the new course. “We’re pretty used to that with the Olympics coming into a new venue and new place, which keeps it fun.”

The 27-year-old freeskier, often referred to as A-Hall, has thrived in exactly these scenarios, no more so than when he soared to a gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

Hall steps into his skis for the 2025-26 season as the defending World Cup slopestyle champion. Consequently, he is the first U.S. slopestyle and big air athlete qualified for the Games. It is an important first victory considering the infinitely deep and talented U.S. team, as qualifying for the Games, let alone winning medals, will be no easy task.

“It’s sweet that it worked out because doing all the qualifiers can be pretty hectic,” he says. “I’m pretty stoked that I grabbed that early spot, but I’ll still be doing most of the events leading up to it.” The FIS World Cup slopestyle season opens in Stubai, Austria, Nov. 21-22.

Hall is also a six-time X Games champion, topping opponents across four disciplines. Keep reading for more from our exclusive interview with Alex Hall.

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To Spin or Not to Spin, That is the Question?

Hall is an absolute magician when it comes to showcasing an ultra-creative and diverse bag of tricks, just short of pulling rabbits out of hats. From becoming the first skier to land a 2160 in competition, to his ‘Zero Spin’ maneuver at Winter X Games 2025, or his brilliant left-side double cork 1620 and right-side double 1080 pretzel trick at the Olympics, Hall keeps fans and fellow competitors guessing as to what’s next.

He possesses the versatility to dominate events by spinning radically or by dazzling judges with unconventional ‘no spin’ maneuvers never seen before. Hall’s sheer athleticism and awareness in the air is uncanny. 

“I’ve definitely done my share of both. I did the 2160 at the X Games and also trying it at the (Beijing) Olympics, barely falling in the big air event,” Hall says. “For me, it is just a personal thing. I remember watching videos of myself doing these really hard, big spins and thinking it just didn’t look good. Not pleasing to the eye. So, I told myself that I would push my skiing in a different direction.

“I've been going that way ever since, still trying hard tricks, but hard tricks don't necessarily need to involve lots of spins. You can execute a hard trick many different ways, whether it's a creative trick or just one that isn't seen very often.

“And the ‘Zero Spin’ at the X Games was just a show for the crowd. The other guys were doing some crazy spinning and flips, so I wanted to do something different to start off the night.” It was further evidence of Hall’s unpredictability, which simply adds to the thrill of watching him perform.

Watch: Alex Hall Lands First 2160 In Competition at X Games 2022

Watch: Alex Hall Zero Spin, X Games 2025

The experienced 10-time World Cup winner—seven in slopestyle, three in big air—knows full well that this level of ingenuity and guarded cache of tricks amongst his competitors will be elevated into another stratosphere heading into a high-stakes Olympic season.

“It definitely gets pronounced in an Olympic year,” says Hall, who will compete at his third Olympics in Italy. “I guarantee that there's a lot of great skiers who had great results the past couple of years, that will have something up their sleeve.

“Ever since I've done well at big events, in 2018 or 2019, [I’ve learned] you try and take at least one or two steps in terms of, is it a different trick, or perform it smoother with more style. Do you add a different grab? One more 180 or something? You can’t fall behind, so you’re always trying to better yourself.

“There will be a lot of new tricks at the Olympics,” he adds.

Hall, entering his 11th season on the U.S. Freeski Team, can be expected to add to his repertoire over the coming months. Expect it to be one closely guarded secret, in the vein of an Italian Omerta.

New Tricks and Defending His Slopestyle Gold Medal

Unfortunately, Hall isn’t revealing any new tricks to POWDER just yet, but he happily shared what he believes is the secret recipe to savor a second slopestyle gold in the Italian Alps on February 10th.

“Everyone is just so good and on a similar level with what they can do on the jumps and rails, so the main thing will be accepting a certain level of risk in terms of the consistency of the tricks,” Hall says.

“On the rails, it’s easy to come off and then you’ll get docked on your score. It’s a balancing act because as you attempt very hard rail tricks, the consistency goes way down and your risk of messing up goes way up.” Hall’s consistency in flawlessly executing both rails and jumps at Beijing 2022 was impressive, as he scored 90.01 on his first run to bring home gold.

“At the Olympics, you’ll need to do some really risky stuff on the rails, and also the jumps, while maintaining consistency. And maybe add one or two special tricks that you've worked on all summer.

“That's sort of the strategy I took in 2022 (Olympics). When the stars align after you take all that risk and land a run, that's usually how you end up getting a podium or winning. Obviously, that's much easier said than done,” he said.