Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Mike Hattrup has moved from bump skiing boss, to ski movie star to gear designer, covering smooch ground on snow that his work has touched just about every skier in the sport. From chasing his four siblings on the slopes of Alpental to winning mogul medals to hanging with Stump, Schmidt, and Blake in the seminal “Blizzards of Aahhh’s” to building backcountry skis and gear for top ski shops, Hattrup’s career has covered a lot of ground. Today, he’s the director of skiing for Eleven Experience, helping folks plunder powder in Alaska, British Columbia, Chile, Colorado, France, and Iceland. Listen in as Mike traces his extraordinary career from pro skier to guide to gear builder. 

Topics: 

3:05: Growing up skiing during the freestyle rage of the 1970s 

4:00: Athleticism of mogul skiing 

6:30: Training for mogul competitions 

10:00 Filming with Greg Stump in “Time Waits for Snowman” in 1985 

11:20: Filming “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” in Europe 

14:00: Why “Blizzard” resonated so deeply with skiers 

16:00: Moving over to K2, helping the company transition from race 

22:50: The emergence of the transformative K2 Four 

26:00: Moving into telemark ski design, flexible ski boots, and backcountry gear 

34:00: Working at Kastle, Fisher, Black Diamond, Marmot 

40:30: AMGA guiding on Mount Rainier 

46:00: Improving through technique as we age 

Quotes: 

“I never thought that skiing was a career. Not like now, I mean, you can go be a film skier, right? But back then it really wasn't an option.” - Maike Hattrup 

“We'll for sure look back on that era from early to mid-90s to the mid-2000s as the golden era of ski design.” - Maike Hattrup 

“I learned to tele purely from a touring standpoint.” - Maike Hattrup 

“In terms of fitness, that certainly becomes more of a challenge as you get older and I think you just gotta find a way to, I mean, find a way to keep training and make it fun.” - Maike Hattrup 

Resources: 

Maike Hattrup, LinkedIn 

Maike Hattrup, Instagram 

Eleven 

Wagner Custom Skis