One of the biggest names in freeskiing, Hall pulled out of the event he's dominated so thoroughly in recent years. Slopestyle's prima donna became Slopestyle's prima cheerleader.
“I liked being on the side and actually checking it out for once instead of having to deal with the craziness all the time, you know,” Hall said. “It was a little bit of a relief to just chill out.”
“I've been skiing a lot of my life and been competing a lot of it, too,” said the 22-year-old. “To come to the X Games so many years in a row and just get second so many times in halfpipe and do good in Slopestyle, it's just like ‘man, it's time.' It's time for gold, man, and that's like the last thing I have to get until I feel like I've accomplished everything that I want to do in the competition ski world.”
A SuperPipe gold would complete Hall's ski competition resume, but the fan favorite has been building up his career ever since he turned pro in 2000. He has won seven medals in the X Games and more than 25 in other competitions. But that's not all Tanner Hall has.
A Kalispell native, Hall now lives in a four-level, 4,000-square-foot condominium in Park City, Utah. He's got his own truck, a snowmobile and is part-owner of The Bigger Picture, a ski film production company.
“What a great life, huh?” said his dad, Gerry Hall.
As recently as this summer, Tanner's life wasn't so great.
Tanner was coming off the worst injury of his career. He fractured the talus bone in both ankles and broke both heels attempting to land a move called a Cab 900 over Chad's Gap in Utah last March. He spent several months laid up at home.
“It's still a trip for me,” Tanner said. “I haven't even been out of surgery a full year yet. It's been eight months, so it's a little weird, you know. I just thank God every day that I'm skiing like I am right now. My ankles feel better and better every day. Sure, they're a little bit sore still, but just being on snow is so good. Skiing's my passion, it's what I love and it's what makes me happy. When I'm on my skis, I have no worries, so being off my skis for a long time just sucked.”
Luckily, Tanner's mom, Darla, came and stayed with him during his recovery. The two watched a lot of movies, including one all-day Jim Carrey marathon. Tanner edited a lot of ski clips and Darla treated him to some home cooking.
Tanner's favorite meal is fried chicken and mashed potatoes, she said, but he likes toast and gravy for breakfast on competition days.
It's not the first time Tanner's parents have been there for him.
They both tried to convince their youngest son to stay in school as long as possible, but eventually had to deal with his getting kicked out of school at age 16. The smooth-talking skiing sensation softened his parents, though.
“He said, ‘Mom, I can sit in a classroom forever, but I can't do what I'm doing forever,' ” Darla remembered. “ ‘I have to go for it.' ”
And when the wins started piling up, so too did his parents' praise.
“There's more than the traditional way to be successful,” Gerry said. “And he's proven that in spades. He's well on his way.”
Tanner's celebrity status has made him a lightning rod for criticism, too. In fact, sometimes it seems the only thing that can stop Tanner is Tanner - and more specifically, his mouth.
“It gets him in trouble,” Darla said. “But the thing about Tanner, if he's got something to say, he'll say it whether you like it or not.”
Most recently, Tanner has verbally sparred in skiing publications with Olympic downhill skiers Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves. Tanner believes pipe skiing should be an Olympic sport,
“It would definitely be really sweet,” Hall said. “FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski), unfortunately, is run by a bunch of guys that just don't know what they're doing. They're idiots. I'm going to say it right now, I'm sorry. It's going to be tough, but I'm going to do my best and my part for these next four years to do everything I can to hopefully see halfpipe skiing in 2010.”
Hall has gained off-the-slopes attention for more than just comments. He was arrested at a night club during last year's U.S. Open and his partying has come under fire in recent years. Yet, his partying doesn't bug his parents.
“I wasn't a big partyer in college,” Gerry said. “But every party I went to would have put his parties to shame. Their parties are mellow. Somebody got a totally wrong read on their lifestyle. They're too busy.”
Many people simply don't get a chance to see Tanner's sensitive side. Just like the medals he's accustomed to wearing around his neck, Hall has a heart of gold.
He loves to sign autographs for kids and he once spoke to a middle school in Kalispell, where he delivered this message:
“If you like to ski, you can do anything you want to do,” he said. “I came from Big Mountain, where there was never really a park at all and my love of skiing kept driving me to do what I wanted to do and it's brought me to where I am today. So just believe in yourself.”
Tanner dedicated his 2003 Slopestyle win to his late grandfather. He pulled his mom up on the X Games podium in 2004 when he won gold on her birthday. And he even gave her a brand new BMW X3 sport utility vehicle after winning a competition - for all those years of shuttling him back and forth to Big Mountain, which he calls “the third foggiest mountain in the country.”
Tanner says Discovery Ski Area near Philipsburg is his favorite hill in Montana.
Through it all, Tanner has stayed true to his Montana roots.
“I'm more stoked to be a Montanan right now, more than ever,” he said. “It's not like Utah or California, where they have the best ski resorts all over the world, where kids can just train and train and train. It feels good to come from Montana. Montana's produced a lot of good talent. It's just a great place, man, with a bunch of good people. It's definitely where I'm going to move back to when I'm done with all this madness. That's the place for me, for sure.”
Hall talks about his career as if it's winding down, but he's not willing to discuss future retirement plans unless it's about the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“It'd be so cool,” Hall said. “It's so close and to end my competition career on an Olympic gold medal, I think that would be anybody's dream in my situation.”
First things first. There's a SuperPipe competition to win on Tuesday. And maybe a little celebration?
“Oooh, if I do get the gold around my neck, I guarantee you're going to see me painting the town,” he said. “I'm going to go out and pillage, man, because that would be it. I've been staying away from partying a whole lot this year, just trying to take care of my body a lot better and just trying to make smarter choices - and if I did win the gold, all that would go out the window for one night, for sure.”
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