How a No-Budget Ski Movie Turned Two Friends Into Freeski Icons

Somewhere on the side of Mt. Hood, Oregon, Hunter Hess needed some courage, so he started screaming at himself. 

Then, a hiker wandered by. “You gonna try something scary?” he asked. Hess said yes, that was the plan, which was an understatement. The hiker offered some words of encouragement before ambling off. Hess dropped into the quarterpipe and went for the triple.

He blacked out in the air, flipped three times, and landed on his feet. The next thing he remembered was regaining his awareness just fast enough to tear his skis off before his buddy charged him for a hug. One more shot stacked, and it was a big one. That night, Hess and the rest of the crew ate at the Huckleberry Inn, a beloved diner in Government Camp, before falling asleep in their cars. Despite the win, there were more jumps to build the next day. 

It was one moment, among many, that led to the creation of MAGMA, a DIY ski movie effort from Hess and his good friend, Alex Hall. The two are members of the U.S. Freeski Team, and their professional demands are rigorous. But almost every ski season since 2019, when MAGMA released, they’ve managed to squeeze a joint movie project into the margins of their packed schedules, studiously making art as they push for the next podium with their faithful filmer, Owen Dahlberg, in tow. They hit handrails in the streets, scout the backcountry for places to build jumps, and spend time in unexpected ski locales, like Kansas or North Dakota. Neither seems interested in slowing down.

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Years ago, Hall and Hess met, unsurprisingly, through skiing. As burgeoning freeskiers often do, they hatched plans to make a movie together, eventually recruiting Dahlberg.

Those aspirations led them to Oregon in July 2019, where they relied on the state’s lingering snowpack. It wasn’t a well organized production. They had no sponsor funding, so Hall and Hess paid Dahlberg out of their own pockets.

“We didn’t know what we were doing, and we were all trying to front like we did,” said Hess. 

Still, they figured the resulting movie, MAGMA, was strong, with Hess’ triple becoming a perfect end note. What they didn’t anticipate, however, was that they had created a cult classic. The internet quickly told them otherwise. Dahlberg’s swooping footage and the boys’ expert skiing struck a chord, earning hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube—no small feat for an underground ski video built with no expectations. 

“It just blew up right away,” said Dahlberg. “After getting that big of a response, it definitely lit a fire, I think, in all of us to keep going.”

The next season, they followed MAGMA up with an aptly named sequel, MAGMA 2. More movies under the Magma name—their adopted crew call sign—followed, culminating with their latest project, TKO, which dropped last fall.

Simultaneously, Hall and Hess’ athletic standing and public profiles have risen. 

Hall claimed gold in slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He counts the luxury brand Moncler among his sponsors, and modeled for a recent Vogue shoot in London, looking very much in his element. 

Hess, meanwhile, took his first X Games halfpipe medal in 2024, snagging bronze, and kicked off the 2025-26 season with back-to-back World Cup podiums. A slew of brands now back the Magma movies, offering a travel budget.

The scrappy ethos that drove MAGMA remains, though. Hall and Hess ski and throw tricks. Dahlberg films them, sometimes with some additional help. Then, he spends all summer sifting through the footage. “We still do it the same style,” said Hall. “We’re still just as hungry.” When they step off the plane from a far-flung competition in China or France, they’re ski bums again. 

That makes for some funny contrasts. Once, Hall went from roughing it on a film trip to staying at a fancy hotel in Jackson for a Moncler shoot. He doesn’t think that he’s straddling two worlds, though.

“I never need to think too much about how I’m walking this rope,” he said. Instead, Hall sees himself as a bridge between the handrails and the rarefied spaces he sometimes occupies. 

“Just now, because I’m in a Vogue mag or I’m sponsored by Moncler, there’s no reason for me not to go out and still hit street,” he continued. “It’s cool to do both.” He wants to show those outlets and kinds of sponsors that skiing involves more than high-profile competitions. 

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Increasing recognition hasn’t granted Hall and Hess more time, though. Training, competing, and other professional skiing obligations count as a job. Making a killer ski movie can, too.

At most available windows, the two join Dahlberg to eke out a bit more footage. A four-second clip of one challenging rail slide, per Hall’s estimation, can take eight hours to produce, factoring in all the work involved, let alone landing the trick. For context, TKO has a runtime of about 20 minutes, with minimal b-roll. 

“If we’re both getting a clip every day—Hunter gets a clip, I get a clip each day—we’re really hyped,” said Hall. 

Street skiers need two things: snow in urban areas and spots. The first factor is relatively easy—they just watch the forecast. Spots, which are often handrails but might be bridges or concrete walls, take more searching. That’s where Dahlberg and Hall’s penchant for Google Earth comes in. They cruise the digital globe for architectural arrangements that look fun to ski. Then, when storms arrive, they can start ticking off their checklist. 

“Alex has an actual obsession with Google Earthing,” said Hess, explaining, with a chuckle, that his friend uses a color-coordinated map that includes “maybe every spot ever.”

The hunt extends to the winter holidays. When most are kicking back and relaxing with their family, Hess and Hall are often filming, taking advantage of the pause in their competition schedules. 

During the Christmas of 2024, while filming TKO, the three bounced from Utah to Canada. They drove in Dahlberg’s van, which was packed with stinky ski gear and, instead of a fourth seat, had a dining room chair strapped to the wall. “It was a scene in that thing,” said Hess. “It definitely smelled like shit.” There wasn’t any duck or ham on Christmas Eve. Instead, they ate at the only open restaurant they could find: McDonald’s. 

A chunk of the U.S. Freeski Team, including Colby Stevenson and Mac Forehand, also compete and film. Figures from the past struck this balance, too, like the Swedish superstar Henrik Harlaut. But Hall and Hess don’t need to throw tricks in front of the camera every winter, and plenty of freeskiers aiming for Olympic hardware can’t be bothered. 

For now, however, they wouldn’t have it any other way. Hall put it succinctly. If they ever start slacking or lose motivation, he said, maybe they’ll try a different approach. But that moment hasn’t come yet. The travel, the promise of another trick, and inspiring the next generation of kids keeps Hall and Hess coming back. The people do, too.

“We’re so lucky to do what we do on the competition side, but we came from the grimy side of it,” said Hess, turning to the cast of characters they meet on the road. Each season, a roving group of street skiers traverses the continent, just like the duo, filming their next video. They aren’t all X Games or Olympic medalists, though.

“A lot of these guys, they don’t get paid,” said Hess. “They work summer jobs, and they’re doing it because they love it. And when you’re in that realm, you find people that are so appreciative of what they have and just the sport itself.”

Check out the latest from Magma, TKO, right here, or watch below.

Watch: TKO by MAGMA

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