The MAGMA Crew Talks Their Show Stopping New Ski Film

What started on a whim between professional skiers Alex Hall and Hunter Hess and filmmaker Owen Dahlberg in 2019 has come to a bittersweet end. This fall, the final film in the MAGMA trilogy—the aptly titled MAGMA 3—dropped.

MAGMA 3 reflects Hall, Hess, and Dahlberg's ever-expanding filmmaking and skiing talents. It's a bookend, a swan song to freeskiing sans glitz or glamour.

Notably, Dahlberg didn't record Hess and Hall's moves with a swanky, stabilized cinema camera like those used to film other major ski movies. Instead, he opted for various handheld camcorders, including the Panasonic AC-160 and HC-X20. Thus, in brief flashes, the movie feels like a home video or bootleg skate film from years ago (albeit with much crisper visual quality), before Dahlberg's precise editing and soundtrack selection remind you that MAGMA 3 certainly isn't something you found in your grandma's garage, unless your grandma secretly knew how to make killer ski movies.

Hall and Hess' approach to skiing presents another contrast. The pair spent the past winter skiing competitively in different freestyle disciplines. Still, they made time to work on MAGMA 3 whenever they had free time, stacking footage in the streets and backcountry.

This commitment to filming and competition is rare in modern freeskiing—most skiers pick one path and stick with it due to the ever-increasing demands of competitive skiing, a departure from the 2000s and 2010s when professional skiers functioned as Swiss army knives, appearing in competitions and movies alike.

That notion, alongside Dahlberg's fresh take on the camcorder, makes the movie feel simultaneously new and old in the best way possible (Author's note: Dahlberg isn't the only ski filmer to get into the camcorder game—camcorders are all the rage right now, particularly in street skiing).

MAGMA 3 is a call back to a different time—when you didn't need a massive production budget and a helicopter to make a ski movie—without losing sight of what's so special about freeskiing's current moment. It's proof that a few dedicated friends can make magic. In short, MAGMA 3 rocks.

POWDER caught up with Hall, Hess, and Dahlberg to learn more about the film's creation.

To our readers who might not be familiar, what is MAGMA?

Alex: MAGMA initially started as a single movie that Hunter and Owen and I made back in 2019. Since then, we have made several other movies, as well as lots of behind-the-scenes videos that we all post to our YouTube channel. On top of the vids, we also have merch that we drop.

How did you three meet and decide to start working together?

Hunter: Well, I met Owen at Mt.Hood a while back, maybe in 2017 or 18. Alex and I have been friends for forever, especially since we travel a lot with the US Team together. We all started linking as a crew in 2019 I'd say.

What's the hardest part about making ski movies that viewers might not be aware of?

Alex: Oh, man. Pretty much everything, haha. For starters, Hunter and I pretty much compete full-time, so squeezing in film trips can be really tough. Then, once we are on trips, it really depends. In the streets trips, we are always traveling to places and hoping there is enough snow, and that we don't get kicked out of every spot. For backcountry stuff, we usually build pretty big or weird jumps that can take days to make. All this doesn't include the postproduction process either. We get like a clip or two on days that we film, so you can pretty much count up the clips in the movie, and that's about how many days we spent making it.

MAGMA 3—and its prequels—is heralded as one of the best ski movies ever made by the freeskiing community. How has the positive feedback felt for you three?

Owen: Thank you! Yeah, it really means a lot to us. It's so cool to see all of our hard work get appreciated over the years. The positivity also gives us fuel to keep creating stuff and constantly strive for better.

When you first started MAGMA, did you have the inkling that you were going to create something special?

Alex: Honestly, I would say not really. The first one we filmed was so spontaneous and just on our own dollar, so it felt really lowkey. Once I saw the final version that Owen made of the first movie, though, I knew we were sitting on something sick. From then on, we have just been trying to one-up ourselves.

Hunter, walk us through MAGMA 3's ending clip. How do you approach a trick that large on a backcountry feature?

Hunter: Yeah, it's always a bit of a process to warm up to something that big. We all knew all year that we had to get a trip for the movie, so there was some pressure to get that one done. That was actually our very last day of filming for the entire movie, which is pretty crazy that it all worked out. Owen had to get back to Utah, and Alex had a trip he had to fly out for. I pretty much just did a bunch of warm-up dubs on the jump until I felt comfortable, and then I just went for it. That jump went down on June 13th.

I read a YouTube comment under MAGMA 3 that said the movie was "about skiing and friendship." Are you guys still best friends when the cameras stop rolling?

Alex: Sometimes I need a lil break from the guys after a long trip, haha, especially Hunt. Just kidding. But yup, we are best homies all year round. Whether it's skiing, surfing, skating, or whatever.

How was the film debut tour? Any highlights there?

Owen: The film tour was so sick! We had five stops; New Zealand, Denver, Bozeman, Salt Lake City, and Innsbruck. I'd say the highlight was definitely the SLC stop. We just have so many homies in town which made it super special. We premiered our movie with the Child Labor one and had a huge venue that pretty much sold out completely. It was the biggest MAGMA premiere we've ever had. I think there was about 1000 people that night which is crazy.

MAGMA's YouTube presence has a funny, tongue-in-cheek take on the platform's slant towards click-baity content. I'm thinking of MAGMA video titles like, Is this the best ski event EVER?! Are these titles an ongoing inside joke, a way to play the numbers game, or both?

Hunter: Yeah, some of the titles are pretty funny. I'd say it's both. As a joke but also so we can get some people who are less familiar with who we are to watch our vids.

What's the plan with the MAGMA YouTube channel? World domination?

Alex: Exactly. Ha, nah, you gotta get the intel from Hunter, probably.

Hunter: I think we all just love the thought of having all our content in one spot. That way if someone stumbles on our stuff, then they can explore more on the channel. It's fun to have ski vids, behind-the-scenes vids, skits, and more all on there for people to enjoy.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the last MAGMA movie, right? What's next for the MAGMA crew, and what kind of content can we look forward to?

Owen: Yup, this is the last one that we are going to officially call MAGMA, but we are going to keep making all sorts of vids. People really seem to love the weekly behind-the-scenes vids, so we'll try to keep those going. And we are always filming together, so it's just a matter of time before we have another ski edit or movie.

Thanks for taking the time, and congrats on the movie. You guys crushed it.

Alex, Hunter, Owen: Thanks! Also, we just want to thank all our supporters over the years! This wouldn't be possible without you all. 

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