Professional Skier Goes Undercover, Asks Strangers for a Ride and Free Lift Ticket

Would you pick up a random skier on the side of the road and pay for their lift ticket?

Pro skier Alex Hackel, in his latest YouTube video, went undercover to see if he could find people who would answer yes to those questions. 

It didn’t go well at first. Hackel spent an entire day on the side of the road in Salzburg, Austria, watching cars whiz past. Making matters more complicated, Hackel tried to avoid relying on his reputation—that is, not accepting a ride from someone who knows who he is. 

But on the second day, a driver unfamiliar with him bit, and Hackel was off to the races as his social experiment began to unfold. 

Watch the rest of the video below.

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By the time the adventure was done, Hackel had made a new friend and skied with a group of guys who pitched in to buy his day pass (don’t worry: Hackel later repaid them). 

The world’s a hot mess right now, but it’s encouraging to see skiers are still down for small acts of kindness. I’ve long thought that skiing is one of the best ways to make new and maybe lifelong friends. This video did nothing to dispel that idea. 

Although, for the record, I wouldn’t advise going up to strangers and asking if they’ll pay for your lift ticket, particularly if it’s a mid-season Saturday at a major resort. You might as well ask for their firstborn, instead. Hitching rides, though, can be fair game depending on the context (always be aware of stranger danger!). 

Other side-quests documented on Hackel’s YouTube channel include facing the daunting Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole and trying out as many skiable surfaces as possible, other than snow.

While he’s now mostly known for those videos, Hackel also starred in an all-time great street skiing part in HG Skis’ Eat the Guts. To soak up a bit of recent street skiing history, check it out here.

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