Hank Stowers - S03E05

Hank Stowers:
How they are bringing diversity to the slopes

Hank Stowers is a writer, creative and ‘organizer’ for their mutual-air and community initiative, Open Slopes PDX. Their mission is to make the mountains more accessible, ensuring that snow culture isn’t left behind when it comes to representation.

Hank Stowers believes that the mountains are there for everyone and that the slopes should be as diverse and interesting as inner-city streets. Through meaningful media that combines both queer culture and their ski identity, they are opening the slopes to representation.

“I realized I could do skiing in a serious way and create meaningful media and create things that to me, are like an authentic projection of something that I want to see in the world and something that’s interesting from a creator’s standpoint.”

After taking a break from skiing, Hank returned to the slopes in a big way after college. After recognizing how underrepresented the queer community was in snow sports, they realized there was space for them to combine their queer culture and their ski identity.

Hank started writing in a coffee shop one day on a whim. They ended up producing a script for their first ever major creative piece – Maritime Air. At the time, Hank was working several jobs to make ends meet, including online cam work and stripping at the local strip joint. They became aware of the fact, that in the historically stuffy culture that is skiing, there’s a natural exclusivity and lack of authenticity. This goes beyond the people and identities who feel at home on the hill. It includes the style and way people feel comfortable expressing themselves through motion.   

“To me, the coolest skiers are the people who try to look at every part of the mountain in a way that’s totally authentic and unique to them. Like how can I turn this space into something that is a reflection of my identity through motion.”

“Skiing has a history that’s pretty awful. When ski resorts started here, virtually all of them were segregated and for rich white people so it makes sense that a lot of skiing now, some of the culture is quite stuffy and doesn’t allow for a lot of experimentation because it has a tradition of that. It’s a big part of ski history – being exclusionary. It applies to people and identities but it also applies to like style and what people are doing on skis.”

Hank is on a mission to make the mountain more accessible. They see the slopes and the hill as a vast expanse in which one can express oneself. From making meaningful media that portrays both their ski identity and queer culture to opening the slopes to the masses through Open Slopes PDX, Hank just wants more people to be able to experience the luxury of flying through the air on skis firsthand.

This week’s episode is all about challenging the status quo and sharing what you love with those who may not think it’s accessible to them.