JACKSON Wyo. — Jack Hessler, like many kids from Jackson Hole, had dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder. Jack fit most of the traditional mold of what is a “professional snowboarder;” naturally talented, yet incredibly persistent and hardworking. A “cool guy” loved by all, with an affinity for skateboarding and hip-hop, yet incredibly thoughtful and compassionate, with a deep intellectual curiosity, and he’s gay.
Hessler grew up in Massachusetts snowboarding with his two brothers Jimmy and Phil, before his family transplanted to Jackson while gaining another adopted sibling and fellow snowboarder, Brolin Maweje.
Having already spent winters in Jackson competing with his brothers, and being a ripping snowboarder in his own right, Jack was quick to fit in and be accepted.
“I moved to Jackson going into my freshman year of high school, a pivotal moment in life. I had to choose how I was going to present myself, even though I knew my whole life I wasn’t straight.”
It’s fair to say that being out of the closet when Jack was in high school would not have been easy, but being a snowboarder was. On the hill, he was growing into his own style and attacked the mountain with confidence, yet the monkey on his back that was his sexuality remained.
“So much of me now thinks I could’ve just started [come out of the closet] there, and life could’ve been so much easier and way different. It could’ve been this butterfly effect — maybe if I was this out snowboarder and new kid from the East Coast, maybe other kids would’ve come out too.”
After competing in the slopestyle and big mountain competition series throughout high school with the Jackson Hole Freeride Program, Hessler took his talents to the University of Denver. In no time, he gained sponsorship from Arbor Snowboards and was doing 60-foot double-corks at Breckenridge.
“The experience of being an out college kid sounds so fun…being able to do that in an open supportive environment sounds awesome, but my college experience was way different because there was always this monkey on my back.”
As Hessler climbed the ranks of the snowboard industry, he still struggled with confidence in his true identity.
“So much in snowboarding is building these personal connections that make people want to invest in you, and I think sometimes being in the closet stifles that because you don’t want to overshare with somebody. You never quite build that level of trust with people if you can’t trust yourself. ”
Many say hindsight is 20/20, but Hessler acknowledges how difficult it is to apply that hindsight to something as monumental as coming out of the closet.
“On the one hand, I wish I had been out my entire life, but on the other hand, I think the journey of spending so much time in the closest, builds your sense of empathy to understand that people are going through things they might not be expressing. I’m thankful for that experience and the process of coming out, learning how to support yourself and be happy with who you are.”
Yet as Hessler was coming into his own, and seeing more of the world, he still wasn’t seeing much representation of athletes like him, whether in snowboarding or in his hometown of Jackson.
The first glimpse the world had of openly gay action sports athletes was in 2015 when Olympic medalist and freeskier Gus Kenworthy came out in an interview with ESPN. A year later, well-known professional skateboarder Brian Anderson (BA) came out as gay in a Vice Sports video.
“of course — that was a game changer” said Hessler.
Anderson, a gnarly, raw blue-collar skateboarder, found support and affirmations from his peers and sponsors, as well as national news coverage. While BA’s announcement didn’t take away any clout for him as a skateboarder, he was also exactly the sort of person the LGBTQ community needed. He is unabashedly himself and people continued to respect him for it – much like Hessler himself.
“[Anderson] came out at a point where I had come out to a few people. I was still trying to figure it out. It really helped show me the power of representation.”
As Brian Anderson began to grow from everyone’s favorite skater to many LGBTQ’s favorite queer figures, Hessler began to feel like he wasn’t alone.
Get into a conversation with Jack, and he’ll impress you with his ability to connect a theme in his favorite hip-hop artist’s album with his journey into the gay community. One of Jack’s favorite rappers, Ab-Soul released an album in 2016 titled “Do What Thou Wilt.” Ab-Soul’s whole album connected to ideas of humanism; “it is what it is” – do whatever you want and the world will do what it will. Despite there being no openly gay big-name professional snowboarders, and few people out in Jackson, if those worlds weren’t ready, Jack knew he was, and knew that the world would follow.
“Over the next couple of years it began to change in both snowboarding and in Jackson. People like Andrew Munz started throwing pride events, and snowboarders like Jake Kuzyk started coming out…and it was another one of those things where you evolve with the world.”
Jack set his sights in the Fall of 2021 on competing in the Freeride World Tour – the top big mountain ski & snowboard competition circuit in the world. He had committed himself to train like a real athlete and running regularly to prepare.
“I wanted to be the first openly gay snowboarder on that tour. All I had to do is finish top 2 in these events.” Yet things didn’t go his way and Hessler came up just a few spots short of qualifying.
Earlier in the year, while back at work with his full-time job at WZRDmedia, Hessler worked on a film project with his brother Phil, about a conversation their brother Brolin had with Jimmy Chin about being minorities in their respective fields.
“As Jimmy Chin said in our film A Conversation, “whether or not you make it, being on the path is what matters” I didn’t make that goal, but it changed my life, and now I’m healthier and much stronger, and more dedicated to myself.”
As Hessler became more comfortable with himself as a queer snowboarder, he has inserted himself into the Pride Month celebrations in both Jackson and Salt Lake City. From helping with Andrew Munz’s Pride event at Jackson’s Center for The Arts to showing and directing a film on drag queens, to marching in SLC’s 70,000 + person pride parade with the Snowbird Resort team, Hessler finally feels like he is finding his place within the LBGTQ mountain west community.
“Before I moved to Salt Lake [City] there was this stigma that it’s this unaccepting Mormon community against gay people, but that’s all changed —the cup has overflowed —it’s no longer this small movement trying to gain momentum, we’re past that.”
“And it’s the same with Jackson, every pride event at the Rose is now sold out, there are drag shows…sold out”
This past Pride month, Hessler had the opportunity to be a part of a night in Jackson, which he would have never dreamed be possible when he first moved to the small mountain town over 10 years ago.
Hessler was able to show a film he edited about local queer ski/adventure photographer Stephen Shelesky, followed by a variety of drag kings and queens performances. And then Jack premiered his film about a local drag queen – Aurora (Cody) – Shy Little Boy – directly followed by a performance by the two drag queens in the film.
Hessler plans to continue his career as a full-time filmmaker working with his brother Phil – owner and founder of WZRDmedia, creating films in the unscripted documentary space. After writing multiple feature film scripts, Hessler plans to produce his first feature film, a “queer psychological horror.” However, in the near future, his next project is about queer snowboarding with the Pink Dollar Possy – an all-queer snowboard crew out of the Midwest.
Whether it’s on a ski hill, film screen or stage, Jack Hessler is certainly one to watch.
