Hunter Hess is an American freestyle skier who specializes in freeski halfpipe and has become one of the notable younger names in the sport in the mid‑2020s.

Quick Scoop: Who is Hunter Hess?

  • Born October 1, 1998, in Bend, Oregon.
  • Discipline: Men’s freeski halfpipe , competing on the FIS World Cup circuit and at the X Games.
  • Known for: Technical, stylish pipe runs and a creative, film‑driven ski culture persona.

Early life and background

  • Grew up skiing at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon and started skiing at about age 3.
  • Initially did ski racing and played soccer, but switched paths after entering the “Enter the Dragon” freestyle contest at Mt. Bachelor, which pushed him fully into freeride/freeski.
  • Came up through the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), which shaped his fundamentals and style.

Competitive career highlights

  • Made his FIS World Cup debut as a teenager and worked his way up with regular top‑10 finishes and multiple podiums in halfpipe events.
  • Achieved his first World Cup podium in December 2018, then put together several podiums in the 2023–24 season, finishing second overall in the World Cup standings behind Alex Ferreira.
  • Won X Games Aspen SuperPipe bronze medals in both 2024 and 2025, and by early 2026 had at least seven major podiums, including strong results at Aspen, Copper Mountain, and Secret Garden in China.
  • Has been selected for the U.S. freeski halfpipe team and is part of the current U.S. Olympic‑level freeski pipeline heading into the Milan‑Cortina Winter Games.

Style, films, and culture

  • Reputation on snow: Very technical runs, mixing complex spins with his own signature tricks and a smooth, creative style.
  • Off the competition circuit, he co‑creates the MAGMA ski film series with Olympic slopestyle champion Alex Hall and filmmaker Owen Dahlberg, focusing on backcountry and urban features, made more for passion than for sponsors.
  • MAGMA projects have won awards like Best Urban Segment at the iF3 Film Festival and have a cult following among freeski fans.

Why he’s trending now

  • Recent X Games podiums (2024, 2025 and strong 2025–26 results) plus his presence in ski films have made him a regular topic in ski communities and on forums.
  • A recent wave of discussion frames him as part of a new generation of freeskiers who blend high‑level competition, film work, and cultural influence rather than being “just” contest athletes.

TL;DR: If you’re seeing “who is Hunter Hess” in searches or forums, it’s almost always referring to the U.S. freeski halfpipe rider from Bend, Oregon, an X Games medalist and co‑creator of the MAGMA film series, now stepping fully into the spotlight as one of the key figures in modern freestyle skiing.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.