Subscribe to Jackson Unpacked. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Jackson-born-and-raised professional skier and fitness trainer Max Martin died in a ski accident in Hakuba, Japan last weekend. Martin, 32, was known as a fearless adventurer and a constant source of encouragement. We spoke with some who knew Martin over the years and hear how they’re remembering him.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity. – Ed.
Cam FitzPatrick: [My name is] Cam FitzPatrick. I’m a professional snowboarder, born and raised in Jackson, Wyoming. [I] started skiing when I was two and Max was in the same boat. And we started this little ski team that our parents would call the “alien ski team.” We’d put our hands on our heads with our poles and pretty much ski around like that.
Aidan Meiners: We could find each other by putting our poles on top of our heads like two antennas.
My name is Aidan Miners. I live in Driggs [Idaho] now. I’m a landscaper by trade, but I’d say I’m a skier and snowboarder.
Our dads worked at the mountains up at Jackson Hole [Mountain Resort]. Once, Max got lost right behind their house and I think just him and Ty [Tyler Martin] were going down to feed the horses and they got separated. But I think Steve found him and he was just chilling. He was just like, ‘I live here now. In the woods. I’m a wild man.’ He was probably five years old or something like that and had been out on his own for hours. He was fearless. As a kid, he would have led the way the whole day if it were up to him.
Cam FitzPatrick (left) and Max Martin have been friends since childhood. (Courtesy of Cam FitzPatrick)
Dylan Robinson: Earliest memories of Max: we were jumping on his trampoline and playing lightsabers.
My name is Dylan Robinson. I’ve been a bartender, server.
One thing that I always really loved and respected about him, something that I wanted to have more in my life was, the ability to be fun and laugh, but at the same time… to be well-educated. The pride that can come from knowing that you’re good at something, knowing that what makes you good at that thing is [having] some humility and knowing that you don’t know everything.
Corey Jackson: It was almost like his head was placed perfectly center on his shoulders between hard work and discipline, yet at the same time, he never let a good time down.
My name is Corey Jackson. I’m a sushi chef at King Sushi downtown.
We were [born] three days apart. My last name is Jackson, his last name is Martin. So our school lockers were always really close together. We’d do combined birthdays. And I actually have a picture of all of us at my birthday. I would say [we’re age] 10 to 12 maybe but we’re all sitting on a picnic table there’s eight or nine of us. Thinking about all the different routes we’ve all taken. I only saw support from him.
“Thinking about all the different routes we’ve all taken. I only saw support from him,” Jackson said of Martin and their childhood friend group. (Courtesy of Corey Jackson)
Veronica Paulsen: I remember it didn’t matter the conditions. He was just always excited to be out there, and it made everyone around him excited as well.
My name is Veronica Paulsen. I am a professional skier.
Max and I started our professional careers together. I moved here without knowing a soul, and I met Max in the Wright Training Gym. And immediately he was so welcoming and invited me to ski with him and introduced me to everyone. He just really welcomed me into the community. He was always happy to guinea pig the jump for me if I was nervous. He would do the double backflip. He would always stomp it, first try, and that would always give me the motivation to give it a go.
Martin cheers a day of skiing. (Courtesy of Veronica Paulsen)
Max Martin and Veronica Paulsen. (Courtesy of Veronica Paulsen)
Corey Jackson: His support system is what really, truly shaped who he was, from his parents and his wife and his brother. Even if he didn’t know you, if you rode up the chair with him one time, you’d feel like he included you as part of his family.
Dylan Robinson: You ever get an invite to a party and you don’t really wanna go? I had one of those and I walked in and I made eye contact with Max and I was like, man, I didn’t know Max was gonna be here. It was just that moment where you’re like, ‘Hell yeah, I can hang here.’
Aidan Meiners: Not only did he have humble self-confidence, but he really did believe in everyone else. And he could get you fired up and Ty, his bro, is the same way. You kind of felt more assured that you could handle whatever when you’re with the both of them. Definitely being his mom and dad’s son had something to do with that, I think.
Cam FitzPatrick: Every run you would take with him he would always be just literally caked with ice or snow it was just hilarious he wouldn’t even do anything about it. I’m gonna I’m going to miss that mustache, for sure.
