Hartstein: Hotdog Hans evokes what skiing used to be like

This past Friday was the 50th anniversary of something called “Freestyle Friday.” Hosted at Aspen Highlands on Scarlet’s Hill, it was a freestyle bumps and jumps competition. Having lived in Aspen for over a decade I was surprised I had never seen this event before let alone it being its 50th year in a row of running it in the same spot on the same mountain.

As a snowboarder, I’m often ignorant of the lifestyle, lingo, and history of actual ski culture. However, I sure do like being educated in the ways of flagrant fun that skiers insist on having. Thankfully I live in a town with a ski community that includes me even though I snowboard. And this past Friday I got indoctrinated in the ways of Hotdog Hans and Freestyle Friday.

For those of you like me, who until this past week were in the dark on who Hotdog Hans is, let me clue you in. On the chance you’ve been living under a rock, we have several hometown heroes living among us here in the Roaring Fork Valley. One of which is none other than Olympic bronze medalist Alex Ferreira. Known for making appearances in the Buttermilk half pipe, kids and adults alike look up to Alex for being a model athlete and competitor as well as for bringing the bronze medal not just back to the USA but right here to the Roaring Fork Valley; inspiring the youth and future Olympians of tomorrow to follow in his footsteps.

Well … Alex has an alter ego — and his name is Hotdog Hans. Never having heard of Hotdog Hans before, my friends Dustin Lutomski, Carl Nelson, and Evan Fanshel (all hardcore skiers), decided to host a movie night to educate me in the ways of Hotdog Hans. A YouTube miniseries had me laughing and jaw dropped as Hotdog Hans, an elderly man with a mouth that suits his age, shows these young whippersnappers how it’s done on the slopes. I’ll leave you to watch the miniseries yourself.

The point of this story is that Hotdog Hans was out among the rest of the locals this past Freestyle Friday, sending back flips and bumps amid the cheers and laughter. He also signed autographs alongside gold medalist Jonny Moseley, who I also learned was the original bad boy of skiing. He was doing inverted tricks in the ’90s when it was illegal to do so and winning gold medals all the while. I was told by my friends they had to rewrite the rules of the contest for him as he was doing maneuvers that no one else could do but everyone wanted to see.

A gold medalist, a bronze medalist, and Hotdog Hans all at the same place at the same time made for quite the spectacle. Though the competition was really fun, with some great local athletes taking the podium and winning a $250 cash prize at the end of it, what struck me most about being in attendance was how fun and silly the event was. Hosted right out front of the Merry-Go-Round restaurant, there was plenty of room for the audience to watch. Hot dogs were being sold, music was being played, kids were running up to Hotdog Hans who happily signed autographs and took pictures with his star-struck fans. Both Hans and Jonny Moseley were very gracious with their time, making sure any fan who wanted a photo with them got one.

It was that element of the event that stood out for me. It’s my experience that skiing these days has gotten quite serious. Be it the fervor and urgency of a good powder day, people pushing in the ski line to get one chair ahead, aggressive skiing that leads to confrontation at the end of a run, I often ask myself, “Where did the fun go?”

Well, I’ll tell you, the fun was out in abundance this past Freestyle Friday. Fans dressed up in silly costumes, ’80s neon jackets, and denim from top to bottom were just some of the ways the audience was invited to participate in the contest — not to mention the bumps and jumps that were on display. Combined with great music and an all-inclusive party scene, I couldn’t help but think, “This is how skiing used to be.” Admittedly, it was refreshing. It was a pleasure to witness. Between the backflips, the laughter and the communal friendship and bond around skiing I found myself wanting to tell the story of a time when skiing and ski culture promoted these goofy antics. Freestyle Friday did just that.

When I got back from the event my friends and I were all going on about how much fun we had and why events and vibes like that were a thing of the past. I was told that once upon a time 1,500 people would show up for Freestyle Friday. This was the 50th year running for Freestyle Friday which meant it’s been happening since before X Games and before halfpipes were a thing. Being able to zipper line down the bumps was the pinnacle of being a good skier, not to mention the jumps or inverted maneuvers no one had seen yet. The top skiers in the country would gather to witness the greatness of the talent at the time, knowing full well there was no other place in the country where this kind of event was happening and these kinds of unique skills would be on display. I felt that. It made sense to me that back in the ’70s you would come out to Freestyle Friday at Highlands to witness what the best of the best could put down, while you partied slope side and got weird with your friends.

This past Freestyle Friday was a throwback to a time when skiing was silly. When it wasn’t an aggressive extreme sport but more of a counter culture activity and middle finger to the man. It was a way of saying, “I’ll do what I want” among a community of like-minded friends who pushed you to do it bigger and harder than the guy before you.

With that in mind, I’d like to thank Hotdog Hans, Jonny Moseley and SkiCo for hosting an event that brought back the silliness to skiing. Thank you for keeping the fun and goofy element that skiing used to embody alive.

At the end of the event they made an announcement that it will happen again next year and I hope that next year, with a little more attention and the grace of super stars and legends like Hotdog Hans and Jonny Moseley, we can get the audience back to those 1,500 kinds of numbers of the days of old. If only for the kids, exposing them to ski culture and the life lessons learned on the mountain.

To learn how to have fun and be silly, and to not take life (or yourself) too seriously, is in my humble opinion one of the most important lessons a kid can learn from being on the slopes. This past Freestyle Friday brought that lesson from the ’70s into the new millennium carrying traditions, but more influential, the ethos, of a time long since past into today with smiles, laughter and awe along with it.

I look forward to doing it again next year with hopefully a lot more of you there to partake in the goofy and fun that makes skiing well … skiing.

Are you a know-it-all? Know something Landon doesn’t? If you have a suggestion or hidden gem you’d like Landon to highlight and share with the town, email him at LandonLikeAPlaneWrites@Gmail.com.