THE QUIET REVOLUTIONARY

Of the three skiers who changed the world in “Blizzard of Aahhh’s,” Hattrup was the quiet one. Rock stars Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt parlayed their growing fame as professional skiers into decades of big mountain prominence, but Hattrup broke his own trail, helping develop the products that allowed others to experience the mountains.

When the “Aahhh’s” crew arrived in Chamonix with the idea of exporting the extreme freedom of the Alps to slope-locked skiers back in U.S., the stars aligned—particularly at the summit of the famed Aiguille du Midi cable car, which accessed terrain unlike anything in the U.S. Hattrup grabbed his fair share of footage with strong, quick, and balanced attack lines.

His experience in that historic filming trip led him to later guide on Mt. Rainier and becoming just the seventh American Mountain Guides Associationcertified ski guide in 2000.

Mike Hattrup first opened eyes in Hall of Famer Greg Stump’s seminal 1988 film “Blizzard of Aahhh’s.”

He then spent three decades opening the minds of winter enthusiasts by filming, guiding and developing products that allowed people to safely access big mountains and the backcountry.

Hattrup has worked with more than a half-dozen companies to develop, market and sell gear. For these diverse contributions, in 2006 Powder magazine named Hattrup as one of the “Most Influential 48 Skiers of Our Time.”

Born in Seattle, Hattrup started skiing at Alpental. He truly dedicated himself to the sport when he realized he could take winters off while studying at the University of Washington. He spent those winters in several iconic Western ski towns as part of a moguls-bashing group that dubbed itself the Goon Squad.

Outside of skiing, Graves has been active in a wide range of sports, and has called thousands of events. During the 1990s, he was an expert commentator and host for international mountain biking on multiple outlets and won an announcer of the year award. He served as stadium announcer for every World Mountain Biking Championship from 1991-2007 and handled on-site cycling announcing at the 2004 and 2016 Olympics, as well as in Tokyo in 2021.

Graves now lives in East Thetford, Vermont. He has two children, Willy, who competed on the U.S. Nordic Combined Team, and Katie, who raced for the Putney School, and one grandchild.

Mogul skiing also led him to Stump. Hattrup would appear in five Stump films and three Warren Miller productions.

In 1988, Hattrup entered the hardgoods world as a product manager at K2. It was the beginning of a career in which he would build a rare skill set: Athlete, certified guide, marketer, sales executive, product manager and innovator, and ultimately director.

Hattrup birthed the K2 Backside division, producing skis, skins, probes, shovels, and packs. Over his career, he’s helped lead innovation at K2, Kästle, and Fischer, and aided efforts at apparel companies Marmot and Outdoor Research.

In 2021, he joined Black Diamond’s ski division as its business unit director. He knew, from experience, the different fit, function and performance needs of backcountry versus freeride apparel; that placing holes in the tips and tails of K2 Backside skis allows them to be repurposed for a backcountry evacuation sled. The centimeter marks on probe poles—a K2 innovation—are invaluable for accurate snowpack study.

Hattrup says the “Aahh’s” ski action is child’s play compared to what big mountain skiers do today, but the movie knocked down the ski adventure door. He still gets stopped on the street by strangers quoting lines from the movie, people who say they quit their jobs to move to the mountains.