HELENA — Avery Hammond's life has already been an adventure.
The Helena 17-year-old is a modern-day Renaissance man with an array of interests — he's as comfortable doing double front flips on a trampoline as he is cooking pasta from scratch or teaching people about reptiles.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
"This is a Vietnamese Blue Beauty Snake. They're from Asia. They're pretty dang cool," Hammond said while holding Odin after a recent class at Gym406. "They're one of the longest colubrids, which is what family he's in."
Hammond is equal parts athlete, chef and snake handler.
He coaches ninja classes at Gym406, which his parents own; he won a culinary competition last year; and he showcases snakes and lizards at reptile exhibitions.
"I've always been into animals, but when I was, I think, turning 10, my parents took me to an expo in Missoula, and it just kind of opened up my whole world," he said.
The reptiles are his world, but his family's world is gymnastics.
His parents and sisters are all gymnasts, but Hammond didn't take up the family pastime until 2020.
"I never wanted to do gymnastics. I tried it when I was little, and it lasted a month and I was like, no, this is stupid," he recalled. "And then during COVID, my dad taught me a backflip just one random day, and that was just kind of like the spark that lit the fuse there."
"He was stuck at home with two gymnastic coaches for parents, and then his siblings are flipping all day, and so finally he learned how to do a backflip ... and then it just took off from there," said Cari Hammond, Avery's mom and co-owner of Gym406. "Once he realized he could do it, then there was no stopping him. And I think that was the beginning of a passion that he didn't really realize was kind of hidden inside there."
Avery didn't take any formal training, instead teaching himself how to do bigger skills by watching videos online. He previously competed in a few parkour competitions, but his focus is now on teaching up-and-comers in ninja classes.
The courses are obstacle-based classes, with students ranging from 6 to 13 years old getting work on trampolines, climbing walls, ropes and other objects they can jump on, over or off.
"The kids love him, and he really figured out how to engage with the kids, make it fun, keep them moving, and they all learn something along the way, too," Cari said.
"You can't be, like, the lame coach that's just like, do this, do this. You got to be like, dude, you got to get at it," Avery added. "You know, it's the energy, and they sort of match your energy when they get a feel for the class.
"Watching kids learn these skills that I teach them is a lot of fun. It's an unexplainable feeling just when you're up in the air and you just feel, like, weightless — it's awesome."
Avery spends most days after school coaching at the gym and then going to work at a local bakery. In his free time, he's usually riding dirt bikes, working at reptile expos — for now, Avery thinks he might be interested in a career working with the animals — or sharpening his culinary skills.
He will be traveling with his dad and classmates to Spain this summer for culinary classes.
"I love doing, like, dinner dishes. I like doing steak," Avery said, also admitting baking isn't his strong suit even though he works at a bakery. "The dish that won me our culinary competition last year was chicken cordon bleu in Mornay sauce. Anything that will like, wow the crowd. That's just kind of my personality in general is like, I want to be like ‘who is that guy?’ in everything I do."
"It's been a great adventure," his mom said. "That's what we want for our kids, right? Find what you love, really dig into it, invest in that passion and take it somewhere, so I'm excited to see where it goes in the next couple of years."
