U.S. Ski Hall of Famer teams up with Aspen Film for February film series

In partnership with Aspen Film, U.S. Ski Hall of Fame member Greg Stump will host four screenings of his vintage ski films during a February residency entitled “Radical Wednesdays” at the Aspen Film Isis Theatre starting on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

“We loved the idea of four weeks of classic ski films, know that Greg is beloved in the community, and his films are ski cult classics,” Susan Wrubel, executive and artistic director of Aspen Film said. “His idea to turn these into events with giveaways and more elevated the series idea for us.”

Events will include Q&A conversations, ski-themed giveaways, and after-parties at Fat City Gallery to follow all four films.

“Aspen is far and away the best ski town in North America and probably the world. Doing a residency at the Aspen Film Isis Theatre is like performing at the Super Bowl for a ski filmmaker,” said Stump.

Stump’s career in skiing began in 1969 when he joined the Junior Ski Masters program at Mount Pleasant Ski Area in Bridgeton, Maine. His prowess in the Professional Ski Instructors of America-style technique competition led him to freestyle, a discipline that took off at Pleasant Mountain and around the United States in the 1970s.

“Maine was pretty abysmal in the late ’60s, early ’70s,” he said. “Portland was not like a huge, gorgeous destination. When we first moved there, it was scary. Skiing was a bright spot, and something we were good at. And freestyle was just coming out, and now we were able to do tricks, and it just took over my life and became my reason to be.”

In 1978, he got his first taste of skiing in the Western Rockies when he competed in and won the Junior National Championships at Copper Mountain. He excelled at moguls and ballet, which combined with aerials to fill out the competition. In 1979, he won the North American Freestyle Championships at Edelweiss Valley in Ontario, becoming the first international amateur freestyle champion under the auspices of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).

His freestyle skills caught the eye of magazine editor Doug Pfeiffer, who introduced him to Harry Leonard who featured him on revolving ski decks at his nationwide ski shows. This led to an introduction to ski filmmaker Dick Barrymore, and he appeared in Barrymore’s last film, “Vagabond Skiers.” Stump’s next appearance was in a Warren Miller film in 1983. These experiences convinced him that he could make ski films.

Stump made his way to Colorado after his sister and brother, who were both accomplished skiers, moved to the state.

“Geoff, my brother, moved to Telluride, and he kept calling me, saying ‘Hey, Greg — you know this skiing movie you keep talking about making? You gotta come out here and see what’s going on.’ At that point, Telluride was just the front side, so you had to be a really good mogul skier or any kind of good skier to get down that road they had,” he said. “But it was really fun, and we got great powder footage, and that’s when people started noticing because we would go out in storms, but we were good enough skiers. And I was insane enough to want to be able to film out there in my bare fingers.”

He admitted it was his love of local journalist and writer Hunter S. Thompson that drew him to Aspen during the 1985 winter season when he was just 24 years old to film “Maltese Flamingo.” Stump was heavily-influenced by Thompson’s gonzo journalism and artist Ralph Steadman’s “Ink Splotched” illustrations at that time of his life. Starring Tony Hawk, Scott Kennett, Lynne Weiland, Mike Hattrup, Glen Plake, Geoff Stump, Chris Haslock, Robert Aguirre, Lee Lee Morrison, Scot Ogren, Jeff “Wiley Coyote” Coffin, “Big Dan” Curtis, Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, and Lance Mountain, Stump’s weaving in of skits, rock soundtracks and scenes of extreme skiing established him as a new kind of ski filmmaker.

Before Stump, extreme skiing was known to only a handful of snow enthusiasts. And while extreme skiing appeared in each of his films, 1988’s “Blizzard of AAhhh’s” (considered by many to be the best ski film ever produced) took the cake. It brought Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, and Mike Hattrup together on terrain in Squaw Valley, now Palisades, and Chamonix, France. They skied near-vertical chutes and dropped over cliffs — all shot with cinematic film angles. Stump added a unique personal narration culled from his radio background and dynamically edited his cinematography to soundtracks that set a new standard for ski films.

Aside from sharing his films with a community he loves, another of the things he is most looking forward to is skiing in Aspen once again.

“I’m excited to ski in Aspen. I had ankle replacement surgery in March, and it was originally scheduled four years ago and got postponed during COVID, so it will be my first time in a while. But I am recovered and have all my gear, so I’m ready to go,” he said.

The series will include screenings of “Maltese Flamingo” (1986) on Feb. 7; “Groove Requiem: In the Key of Ski” (1990) on Feb. 14; “Blizzard of AAhhh’s” (1988) on Feb. 21; and close with “Legend of Aahhh’s” (2010) on Feb. 28.

Giveaways include Leki ski poles, Baist gloves, and a Greg Stump DVD box set at each screening. And one grand prize of a set of Stockli Skis. The winner of the skis will be drawn and announced after the Feb. 28 screening.

Screenings will be held at the Aspen Film Isis Theatre at 7 p.m. Ticket proceeds to benefit the showcase. Admission is $15 G.A., $12 Aspen Film members. Tickets are on sale now at aspenfilm.org/radical-wednesdays-with-greg-stump.