Once upon a time... on a mountain that does not appear on any modern map, somewhere between Aspen and absolute chaos, three men forged a brotherhood and carved a destiny that would change skiing and mortgage banking forever. Dave Hurt, Jeff Moran, and Nolan Turner didn’t set out to become legends. They just wanted a weekend away from rate sheets and repurchase requests. Three names whispered across mountain hideaways, SEC filings, and après-ski hot tubs from Aspen to the Alps.  They didn’t just start a ski trip - they started a lifestyle, a legend, and at least two international incidents.

 

The same year the fax machine was cutting-edge, and mortgage rates had commas - three men decided that the slopes needed leadership, liquidity, and a little bit of leverage.  It started innocently enough in January of 1986, when Dave accidentally approved a jumbo loan on a ski chalet that didn’t technically exist while later that same day financing an entire ski lodge using a cocktail napkin, two credit cards, and an FNMA 1003 form.  Jeff, sensing opportunity, securitized the imaginary property into a snow-based CDO, received a AAA rating from a local lift attendant, and handled the “due diligence” by taste-testing every whiskey in Colorado. Nolan, ever the visionary, turned their misadventure into the inaugural Hurt No Mor Ski Summit - part networking event, part survival experiment, part myth but always a tax-deductible leadership retreat.  The Hurt No Mor was born, equal parts powder, portfolio, and pure pandemonium.  There are ski trips… and then there’s The Hurt No Mor.

 

The 1990s: Expansion and Infamy

Throughout the ‘90s, the trio expanded globally - not because they meant to, but because several ski resorts and local authorities politely asked them never to return.  In Switzerland, they were mistaken for an IMF delegation and accidentally restructured Liechtenstein’s banking system. In Japan, they introduced “sushi shots” - a short-lived tradition involving sake, wasabi, and regret.  In Chile, they convinced an entire heli-ski company to rebrand as a subprime lender.  And in Whistler, legend says they outran an avalanche while simultaneously discussing negative convexity and yield curve inversion.  The avalanche lost interest halfway through Nolan’s explanation.  They were banned from France, knighted in Canada, and honored in Davos for “Outstanding Use of Leverage in Cold Weather.”  Rumor says they once sold a timeshare and an extended car warranty to a snowman and he never missed a payment.

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The 2000s: When Finance Met Frostbite

When the dot-com bubble burst, Hurt No Mor didn’t panic - they shorted snowboards.  Dave once locked a mortgage rate from a gondola at 14,000 feet using a Nokia flip phone and sheer willpower.  Jeff taught locals in St. Moritz to hedge inflation with après-ski cocktails. And Nolan was briefly detained by Swiss authorities for trying to trademark the phrase “Collateralized Après Obligations.”  They became so notorious that CNBC once referred to them simply as “The Mortgage Musketeers.”  Rumor has it, Ben Bernanke once attended a Hurt No Mor après party… and left with ski boots and quantitative easing.  By 2005, The Hurt No Mor Ski Trip was whispered like a myth.  Was it a ski trip? A syndicate? A cult? By the mid-2000s, their trip had become a movement. Mortgage executives whispered about it in hushed tones: “The Hurt No Mor… is it real?”  Indeed, it is.

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Every February, as the yield curve inverted and snow reports rolled in, the trio would emerge from spreadsheets and snowdrifts like mythical auditors, clad in retro one-piece suits, armed with shot skis, Bluetooth speakers, and inexplicable confidence. Today, four decades later, they remain unstoppable.  Jeff still believes he can out-carve Lindsey Vonn (“if the slopes were fair”).  Dave still swears he once locked a loan at -0.25%.  And Nolan still treats every après bar like an M&A opportunity.  No one knows how they do it — or if they should.  One thing is certain.  Mountains fear them. The mortgage industry reveres them. And hangovers have filed a restraining order against them.​

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Over the decades, they have…

• Heli-skied off the wrong glacier in Iceland, where Dave convinced locals to accept mortgage-backed fish futures as collateral.

• Outdrank a team of Swiss bankers while teaching them how to hedge basis risk using shot glasses.

• Accidentally founded a fintech company in Zurich that still sends quarterly statements to a PO Box in Breckenridge.

• Were banned (politely) from an entire French valley for attempting to securitize lift tickets.

• Skied into a G7 summit in Davos, where Nolan gave an impromptu keynote on “Liquidity, Leverage, and Après-Ski Leadership.”

• Served as keynote speakers at Burning Man, where they securitized sand.

• They once negotiated a margin call from the summit of the Matterhorn — on speakerphone. 

• While skiing backwards down the Eiger, they explained GNMA Servicing to a documentary crew – in Latin.

• They’ve been featured in three SEC audits, two avalanche documentaries, the Book of Revelations, and one Vatican miracle review. 

• They were briefly considered for a UN peacekeeping mission in the Alps, but negotiations broke down over bar tabs and the wine list. 

• They’ve never lost a drinking contest, a ski race, or a debate on conforming loan limits.

 

​They don’t chase powder days.  Powder days chase them.   

 

The Modern Era: Legends Never Retire

Now... four decades later, the myth only grows.  Each year, they return — older, wiser, and somehow still able to expense it.  Their pre-trip prep includes:

• Running stress tests on tequila reserves.

• Conducting a full snowpack audit.

• Updating the official Hurt No Mor bylaws (Rule #1: There are no rules, only disclaimers).

 

Hurt No Mor is living proof that leverage and altitude do mix - but not responsibly.  When they arrive at a resort, the snow gets nervous.  Bartenders whisper: “They’re back.”  Ski patrol prepares emergency plans.  And somewhere, a hotel manager updates their insurance coverage, hides, and deadbolts their door.  Fearless. Flawed. Fantastic.  And somehow; 40 years later, they are still on the approved vendor list.  They are…The Hurt No Mor. ​

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