Words Twig Spensley “Lupe” Hagearty is not a social media star. He has never been part of the competition scene, nor has he starred in a big-budget ski movie. In some ways, it’s hard to explain quite how this style master from West Hartford, CT, became a pro at all. Hagearty’s career has been cut from the unforgiving climes of urban skiing, where endless days of looking for spots, bitter cold and the reality of smashing skis (and bodies) against metal, brick and concrete are merely par for the course. Still, in a sport where athletes typically have a short shelf life, Hagearty’s story is one forged by slow and steady progression. He’s a skier doing things his own way, hearkening back to a school of skiing born over two decades ago. Hagearty had perhaps the biggest moment of his career in 2021 with an appearance in the X Games Real Ski competi-tion and a shot at an X Games medal. While his all-street segment, filled with classic style and timeless tricks, did not put him on the podium, he showed a national television audience that there was still a place for the style-heavy street skiing that gave birth to the more technical and competition-focused freeskiing of today. After years spent quietly earning his place among street skiing’s original superstars, Hagearty is now helping to keep the streets in the spotlight. our first 720s,” O’Gority says. “As a skier, [Lupe] has always had a pretty natural style. He is a few years younger, so me and my cousin Justin were always pushing him a little bit. He knew if he didn’t hit a certain jump or rail that he would be hearing about it from us.” It was the kind of familiar peer pressure that drove a young Hagearty to not only push his skiing, but also to immerse himself in the freeski world. In addition to honing his skills at Burke and Ski Sundown near his Connecticut home, he had his first exposure to the wider ski scene at the IF3 Festival in Montreal in 2010. “There was crazy energy and stoke, the vibe inside the theater was incredible,” he says. In many ways, the then-16-year-old had stumbled into a golden age of ski cinema, when production companies had substantial budgets, premieres were multi-day events, and IF3 was the biggest show (and party) around. “It was the first time I saw pro skiers in real life and I was freaking out,” he says. “I vividly remember sit-ting next to Will Wesson and Andy Parry in the theater in disbelief. After that weekend in Montreal, I was dead set on becoming a part of the community and getting myself up on the big screen.” LUKE HAGEARTY WAS A CHILD OF WINTER. Before he could walk, his parents were putting the toddling Hagearty between their legs and skiing down Burke Mountain, VT. The Vermont family cabin was a snowy escape for Hagearty and his 15 cousins. As a kid, he was into all kinds of action sports— biking, skateboarding and inline skating as well as skiing and snowboarding. But it wasn’t long until his cousins introduced him to freeskiing. An older cousin, Patrick O’Gority, became his regular ski partner. “I remember Lupe and I both landing our first 540s on the same run then following up the very next run both landing 074 The Ski Journal
The Ski Journal Volume 15, Issue 3: Page 74
