Stump shares “Legend of Aahhh’s”

It’s more than just a ski movie.

“The Legend of Aahhh’s” explores the ski film genre with a semi-autobiographical approach. Director Greg Stump documents how ski films influenced big mountain skiing and the pop culture with release of “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” 25 years ago and the birth of extreme sports movement.

The screening will be held 7 p.m., Saturday at Star Hall. Stump will be there, as well as one of the athletes from the film. K2 gear will be given out during the trivia quiz before the film.

“I moved to Moab nine years ago and have yet to see a fully fledged ski movie in Moab,” said Matthew Bedford. “I grew up watching ski movies on their tours every fall to get ready for the upcoming season. I’ve missed this tradition since moving to Moab.”

Stump’s ski pioneering began at an early age when he joined a junior master’s program in Maine. At age nine he won his first competition. In 1978 he wont the Junior National Championships. His strengths were moguls and ballet, combined with aerials.

His freestyle prowess led him to work with ski film directors Dick Barrymore and Warren Miller.

Not content with displaying pretty skiers in powder, Stump began making his own movies with offbeat skiing and rock sound tracks to appeal to a new audience.

Before Stump extreme skiing was known to only a handful of skiers who skied beyond the boundaries of ski area and within ski area boundaries beyond the groomed runs. Extreme skiing appeared in each of his films, but in the 1988 “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” brought Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake and Mike Hatrrup together on terrain that would terrify most skiers. They skied near-vertical chutes and dropped over improbable cliffs, all shot with cinematic film angles.

“’Blizzard of Aahhh’s’” is the ski film that brought ski films to the masses,” said Craig Geipel, action sports film producer. “The industry as a whole is interested to see how he takes his legendary film from generations past to produce a modern sequel the class ski film.”

Author: Moab Sun News Staff Report

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