Hunter Maytin, seen here competing at the Rev Tour competition at Buttermilk in March, is on the World Cup circuit for the first time. He is 16.
Thanksgiving break offered only a brief reprieve for Hunter Maytin. After training in Austria, he was back in Aspen for just a few days before heading off to China for his first World Cup in the pipes of Secret Garden.
For the 16-year-old Aspenite, three continents in a week is just the new normal: Coming off a United States of America Ski Association national championship in the skiing halfpipe, Maytin is a full-timer on the World Cup circuit for the first time this season, marking some early steps in what he hopes develops into a career akin to similar local halfpipe stars like Hanna Faulhaber, Alex Ferreira and others.
But for the even-keeled Maytin, it’s one step at a time.
“I really don’t know (what I see for myself in the future), I’m just trying to do the best I can right now and see where it goes,” Maytin said.
On April 4, Maytin became a national champion with a 92.75 third run at Copper Mountain, leapfrogging Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard teammate Nick Geiser and topping a ladder that featured competitors as old as 19. It capped a season that saw him take fifth in the Youth Olympic Winter Games in South Korea — the first trip to Asia on his FIS results page — and his first World Cup start in Calgary, taking a 20th place and a 33rd in two competitions.
After it all, he earned his first trip to Cardrona, New Zealand for the 2024-25 World Cup kick off, ultimately taking 24th in the 40-man field. When someone on the U.S. Ski Team dropped out from training camp in Austria for a couple weeks, Maytin was able to slot in and join, getting even more exposure.
He said he’s now looking to compete in all of this season’s World Cup events, all of the Revolution Tour events and all of the Nor-Am Cup events. He highlighted getting to come back to Aspen at the end of January for the World Cup, as he hasn’t cracked getting the X Games invite yet.
Maytin said it’s been a big learning experience.
“It’s a lot more professional, the way everything’s set up and how people go and train and how people react to you and to your runs, not just theirs,” Maytin said. “All the older guys will come tell you that you had a good run. It’s cool to train with all of them and get tips and stuff.”
But one of the biggest lessons has been the price tag of the whole thing. Maytin noted that he’s focusing on his runs and the competitions, but added that as he takes the next step in his career, the costs have gone up.
“It’s really expensive to go to all these places with flights and lodging and whatnot, so it’ll really help me out to be able to fund that,” Maytin said. “You realize how much stuff costs, just groceries and stuff like that.”
According to a GoFundMe page launched by Maytin’s father Jay, Hunter’s career has relied on the financial support of his parents “who work three jobs between them to help fund his dreams.” They’ve also relied on sponsors for equipment and tuning.
“We are reaching out to our community for support,” the page says. “Whether you can contribute monetarily or with an item for our silent auction, your contribution will play a vital role in helping Hunter focus on skiing. Together we can turn his dream into a reality.”
The page estimates the annual cost of chasing a freeskiing career to be $60,000. As of Thanksgiving Day, $6,274 had been raised toward a $20,000 goal.
Maytin hopes to one day represent the U.S. on the national team and compete at the Olympics.
“It would be really special to go,” Maytin said. “They only take two athletes per event, so being one of the top two athletes would be really crazy to think about.”
On top of the GoFundMe page, a live fundraising event at The Wine Bar in Aspen will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Dec. 6 (Saturday). Maytin won’t be there himself; he’ll be dropping into the pipe on the other side of the globe.
The GoFundMe page can be found at gofundme.com/f/support-hunter-maytins-olympic-skiing-dream.
