Team USA Freestyle Skier Alex Hall On Landing ‘The Hardest Rail Run’ Of His Career While Winning A Silver Medal (INTERVIEW)

Team USA men’s freestyle skier Alex Hall came home from the Milan-Cortina games with a Silver Medal in Slopestyle after throwing down what was by far the most challenging rails run of his career. With the Silver, his trophy case is filling up as he won a Gold in the 2022 Beijing Olympics in Slopestyle, has 2 World Championships medals in Slopestyle, and 14 X Games medals (7 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze).

Fresh off his return to the US from Italy, BroBible spoke with Alex Hall (aka ‘A. Hall’) about life behind the scenes at the Olympics, what set this year’s course apart from the 2018 and 2022 Games, his partnership with Rao’s Homemade and how that was borne out of his Italian roots, growing the sport of Freestyle Skiing, and more.

Interview With Team USA Freestyle Skier Alex Hall

Cass Anderson: “So you just got home last night, was it just incredible to sleep in your own bed after weeks in the Olympic Village?”

Alex Hall: “Oh yeah, the beds were nice at the Olympic Village, but they were twins, they were like tiny twins. They were about 1 ft too short for me. It felt nice like sleeping in a queen bed again, actually not my feet hang off the end.”

How Milan Compared To Past Olympics Freestyle Skiing Courses

Cass Anderson: “This was your third Olympics. How did the course compare to the previous two?”

Alex Hall: “It was interesting. Usually they run a test event the year before, either a World Cup event or something, but this time they didn’t. So when we showed up, they had to make adjustments to the course.”

“The top section was really steep but the bottom was flat which made speed tricky, especially for the snowboarders trying to clear the jumps. The rail section at the top was great, though. The rails were massive, shoulder to head height, which is rare.”

“Competition day was tough because of flat light. It was overcast and in Europe there aren’t always many trees for contrast. So it’s hard to judge the snow which made the finals challenging. But overall, it was a really fun course.”

Cass Anderson: “At 6’4″, do you feel like a giant compared to other freestyle skiers?”

Alex Hall: “Kind of but I’m used to it. In freestyle skiing, being shorter can often help with the spins and flips, so I definitely stick out. But I’ve been tall my whole life so I’m used to being the tallest guy out there.”

‘The Hardest Rail Run I’ve Ever Strung Together’

Cass Anderson: “Going back to Beijing and the right double-cork 1080 which defined your performance that year, what would you say, if anything, defined your Milan silver medal run?”

Alex Hall: “This time it wasn’t one defining jump trick. I had planned something bigger, but the speed on the course wasn’t there.”

“What really defined the run was the rails. My strategy was to hit the biggest and longest rails because they score well. The first rail, a ‘down flat down’ with a steep kink, was especially nerve wracking. In the Finals, I decided to slide the entire thing with a single trick, which is really hard. I messed it up twice before landing it on my second run.”

“Honestly, it was the hardest rail run I’ve ever strung together. A lot of those tricks I’d only landed once or twice in practice. So I needed some luck and thankfully I got it.”

“Once I got through the rails, it felt like smooth sailing. Ironically, I had a slight hand touch on the first jump landing, which probably cost me the Gold Medal. But it was still a strong score.”

On Expanding Freestyle Skiing In The Winter Olympics

Cass Anderson: “How do we get the Knuckle Huck event into the 2034 Salt Lake City Olympics?”

Alex Hall: “I honestly have no idea how sports get added. That’d be hilarious. I know Freeride might be added in the France Olympics, which would be cool. A team event could also be awesome, like your best two women and two men doing Slopestyle, Halfpipe, and Big Air together. We talked about it among the crew and with so many other sports having team events it would be really cool if we got one of our own.”

Alex Hall on his Italian Roots and Partnering With Rao’s Homemade

Cass Anderson: “How did the Italian food in the Olympic Village compare to your mom’s cooking?”

Alex Hall: “Oh, mom’s cooking is always better. But honestly, the food was pretty solid. I probably overdosed on pasta while I was there but that’s not a bad thing. I love pasta and the food was fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised.”

“At my last two Olympics, Korea and China, the cuisine was great but the Athlete Village food wasn’t quite as good. This time around it was really strong.”

Cass Anderson: “How did the partnership with Rao’s Homemade come to be, and is everyone in your life jealous that you’re sponsored by what I consider to be the tastiest sauce in the game?”

Alex Hall: “Yeah, I mean, I was hoping to do something that connected with my Italian roots. Especially with the Games being in Italy. I wanted to make something work that spoke to that culture. Then the Rao’s partnership came up, and that was really exciting because I’m a huge pasta fan.”

“My mom’s a really good cook. She keeps it simple, mostly pasta dishes. But she does them extremely well. So it felt like the perfect collaboration. And yeah, people are definitely jealous. It’s pretty hilarious. Everyone’s asking me to bring them sauce. I actually did a shoot with Rao’s Homemade and they gave me some on the way out, so my mom made a bunch of it before the Olympics, which was pretty sweet.”

The Food!

Cass Anderson: “As a fan at home, the food content from the Village was incredible. It seemed like there were unlimited cheese options.”

Alex Hall: “Yeah, it was unreal. Unlimited mini mozzarella balls, those big flakes of Parmesan. Tiramisu every day. And the local pasta dishes from the area we were staying in was some harder to find stuff in Italian cuisine that was really, really good.”

It Helps To Speak 5 Languages!

Cass Anderson: “As a polyglot, did you get to speak much Italian while you were over there?”

Alex Hall: “Yeah, I spoke a decent amount, not a ton. In the Athlete Village, all of the volunteers spoke great English. But my mom’s side of the family came up from Bologna and they only speak Italian so I was speaking Italian with them.”

“My brother came out too, so I was speaking German with him. It was nice being in Italy and getting to use the language when I could. But when you’re rolling around with the U.S. Ski Team crew, everyone’s speaking English. So it almost throws people off if you switch to Italian. I think sometimes people there were excited to practice their English, too.”

It just means more with family there

Cass Anderson: “I saw that emotional clip of you hugging your family after winning the Silver Medal. With your parents living abroad and your brother in Europe, how often do you all get to be together?”

Alex Hall: “That was really special. They didn’t get to come to the China Games and my brother had missed my previous Olympics too. So having everyone there for this one really meant a lot.”

“I actually see them a fair amount since we have a lot of events in Europe, but it’s rare that we’re all together at the same time. My brother and his wife were there, my parents, and a bunch of my childhood friends from Zurich drove down since it was only about three hours. They stayed for a few weeks and watched a bunch of events. That was really cool.”

Real Recognizes Real

Cass Anderson: “What was the most fun non-skiing event you got to watch?”

Alex Hall: “Definitely the Women’s Gold Medal Hockey game. I was so lucky. I had to go down to Milan for Media and Sponsor stuff. So I Ubered over and caught the second half and overtime. It was so cool. Some friends went to the Men’s Gold Medal Game too. I was back up in the mountains by then, but that women’s game was amazing.”

Cass Anderson: “Did you do much pin trading this time around with other athletes?”

Alex Hall: “Not as much as past years. I got a few that I really wanted, including one from Snoop Dogg, which was pretty cool. We only met him briefly but it was awesome. Some of my teammates did better than me. I was giving a lot of my pins to volunteers, they’re usually really excited about that.”

Alex Hall On Watching Footage, Making Adjustments, And Balancing Competing With Spectating

Cass Anderson: “After competition runs, how often do you watch footage of yourself? Are you making real-time tweaks based on the footage or how does that inform your decisions going back out for another run?”

Alex Hall: “During practice and training I’m constantly watching video with my coaches and making small adjustments. Then during the actual event, especially in the Finals, you barely get to watch anything because you’re so focused on your own runs.”

“But then I’ll usually re-watch the full event afterward just out of curiosity, since I didn’t get to see my friends compete. I miss all the action because I’m too busy competing and like to go back and see what everyone did.”

Life Behind-the-Scenes at The Olympics

Cass Anderson: “What does a typical day at the Olympics look like outside of competition?”

Alex Hall: “When we first arrived we had a couple of light days to adjust and explore the Athlete Village. We went skiing at a nearby resort just to get used to our new Olympic gear since it is all different from what we usually train and compete in.”

“Practice days were about three to four hours, from aound 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We’d warm up, train, then review the videos. In the evenings, we’d watch other events, hang out with the snowboarders or hit the spa. The spa was incredible.. Hot pools, outdoor infinity pool, saunas.”

“We’d also do light recovery work like stretching, core, and spin bike. The gym was always packed early on, so we’d go at odd hours. It was intense. Just the best athletes in the world all locked in.”

Alex Hall On Getting Back To Life After The Olympics

Cass Anderson: “With these Olympics in the rear-view mirror, what’s next, straight back to competition or some downtime?”

Alex Hall: “I’ve got a couple of World Cups at the end of March. I’ll probably do one. The last one’s in St. Moritz, Switzerland, which is beautiful and a good friend is retiring, so there’ll be a big party.”

“After that, I’m doing some filming on the East Coast. My girlfriend lives in Cleveland, so I’ll visit her, then head to Boston where a bunch of my friends are. We’re filming video projects for next fall.”

Cass Anderson: “With filming skiing videos and content creation being such a large part of your life, is it tough being at the Olympics where filming is strictly controlled?”

Alex Hall: “Not too tough. The funny part was that while I was at the Olympics, some of my friends were in Pittsburgh filming street skiing because it snowed a ton there. I was FaceTiming them almost every day… I was so jealous. And now Boston just got a massive storm, so I’m meeting up with them. We’ll film in Boston, maybe Providence and Hartford too.”