Image from tannerhall.com Soundboard
By, Abbott Gilbane
Tanner Hall has amassed countless medals, stacked an unsurpassed mountain of footage, and comeback to continue to amaze after sustaining knee and leg injuries that would make even Adrian Peterson’s jaw drop. The Ski Boss has spread the word of his Rastafarian flavored shred mission the world over—popping pillows in British Colombia, performing under the lights in the X-Games half pipe, spinning down avalanche barriers in Japan, and lounging in speed boats in Jamaica.
He is a global ambassador of the sport, and a legend in ski towns everywhere. Tanner is skiing’s Allen Iverson. Luckily for fans of skiing, Tanner is the version of AI who continued to play ball for the Grizzlies, coming off the bench but still displaying the must watch T.V. crossover. Tanner is past his 30ppg seasons, but, unlike Iverson, he’s still producing. Whether Tanner is casually rolling his head back to add a second back flip to his rotation, or tapping the Caps Lock button in preparation for a fired up Facebook post, when he performs you better tune in. Without further ado, here are the top five quotations from Tanner Hall, Boom-Bwaw!:
5: Tanner Hall On Recovery
On his recovery from micro fracture surgery in his knees:
“I’m pretty much back to 100 percent, almost even past that. Just been working as hard as I ever have. I haven’t had any tobacco. I only burn one doobie a day, right before I climb into bed. So I’m pretty much completely sober and just workin’ my fucking ass off… I’m ready for world domination.”
Pipe Dreams Part 1 Tanner Hall on the 2014 Olympics, January 4, 2012, TGRSam
Note: Tanner did not make the 2014 Olympic team, but he has put out some seriously sick footage.
4: Tanner Hall 2006
Perched between two trees, above a pillow line, in his 2006 seminal masterpiece of powder shredding, “Believe:”
“This is the thing about lines, the whole reason why they are a lot scarier than you see on TV is because you can’t see what you’re going down and that, uh, can kind of screw with the brain. But, this is no longer than 15 seconds from where we are standing all the way to the bottom. So, in between those 15 seconds you just got to be on it, feel it, and, uh, Let ‘er Buck.”
Tanner Hall, Believe, 2006
Note: I pray all season to stand on top of a sweet line and have the feeling of confidence that Tanner has here—Allen Iverson before an NBA game in 2002 might have had the same feeling—he probably never said “Let ‘er Buck,” though.
3: Tanner Hall The Poet
Tanner channels his inner poet at Windell’s:
“We’re skiers from day 1.
We’ll be skiers till the day we die.
And it’s a beautiful thing,
just to come back year after year
and see the new faces
and old faces,
but still the same smiling faces.”
Poor Boyz Productions, Reasons, Tanner Hall and Sammy Carlson
Note: Tanner appreciates skiing so much he freestyles poems about it—And is there any better way to measure a skier by than their appreciation for skiing?
2: Tanner Hall’s Words of Encouragement
As Henrick Harlaut climbs the stairs for the X-Games Big Air Jump Tanner has some words of encouragement. This is the skiing version of Al Pacino’s “Any Given Sunday” speech:
“Dollo, you know what we need to do?”
“No.”
“If you’re feeling it, Nose Butter Trip, but let’s set fucking you in the history books, son… You will be fucking in the history books. You got it dog, that’s your trick dude. It’s basically 180 to switch triple to forward. You got that.”
Henrick is still hesitant,”It’d be so ill, though, to win without it.”
“I know but it’s still like, yo, put yourselves in the history books, you know…”
“Yeah.”
Henrick is in! Tanner goes wild: “Just stamp it, stamp your approval cuz… I know you have it. I know you’re going to stomp it… You know exactly what you’re doing, son.”
“Let’s put it in the history books. Let’s take skiing to the next level. Ain’t even snowboarding got that shit!”
Note: With Tanner’s excitement flowing through his veins E-Dollo launches the most innovative, stylish Big Air competition jump of all time. Tanner pushes the limits of skiing, even from the bench.
1: Tanner Hall on Space Travel
In a rare moment in the national spotlight, for both Tanner and the freeskiing world in general, the Ski Boss expresses to the folks at Real Sports with Bryant Gumbell exactly what his athletic ambitions are:
“I want to land on Mars!”
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Episode #181 Extreme Skiing, April 16, 2012
Note: Again, he loves it. And unlike NBA Basketball where AI had to compete against the best in the world within the confines of the court on a nightly basis, in skiing Tanner can get out and do whatever he’d like. Skiers have their own Allen Iverson but he’ll never get old. He doesn’t need to keep breaking ankles with his crossover—all he needs to do is keep those knees glued together and point the Go Pro down hill.
And he’s got to be the best skier to follow on Instagram. Trick shots for days: @tannerhall420