{"id":172,"date":"2008-11-09T21:48:04","date_gmt":"2008-11-10T03:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=172"},"modified":"2010-04-17T15:13:03","modified_gmt":"2010-04-17T21:13:03","slug":"movie-of-the-month-last-of-the-ski-bums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/movie-of-the-month-last-of-the-ski-bums\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie of the Month: Last of the Ski Bums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, Frank and I have decided to add to the character of our blog by doing reviews on various ski movies. We plan on reviewing a wide variety of ski movies from both past and present. Our first review begins today, with Last of the Ski Bums. Please also check out my review of STEEP<\/a>, which I reviewed last January. <\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Movie of the Month<\/strong>: <\/span>Last of the Ski Bums<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director<\/strong>: Dick Barrymore<\/p>\n

Year<\/strong>: 1969<\/p>\n

Where can I find it?<\/strong> <\/span>Netflix, Amazon.com, REI<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s ski movies are fun to watch. <\/span>I mean, who doesn\u2019t love watching people drop over 200-ft cliffs, or straightline a sick line, or ski a steep slope in Alaska trying to out-ski their slough? <\/span>Yet, all of these amazing stunt-like shots make the brain go numb. <\/span>After 15 minutes it begins to lose the thrill and excitement that the movie had at the beginning. <\/span>Frankly, today\u2019s movies lack soul. <\/span>It\u2019s a collection of thrills and spills with no seeming meaning or story being portrayed. <\/span>In order for a ski movie to have soul, it needs a story. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Greg Stump was the master of ski movie stories in the \u201890\u2019s. <\/span>I grew up being able to recite several lines from Blizzard of Aahhhs<\/em>. <\/span>Anyone who has seen this movie will vividly remember the climax of the story- Scott Schmidt and Glen Plake on the Aiguille du Midi. <\/span>When stories are used to build toward thrilling ski shots, the movie suddenly becomes electrifying. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Since I was a teenager I\u2019ve long viewed Blizzard of Aahhhs<\/em> as a standard for ski movies. <\/span>I\u2019ve compared every ski movie I\u2019ve seen to this classic, and the majority of ski movies I\u2019ve seen don\u2019t come close to meeting this standard. <\/span>So, when I kept seeing Last of the Ski Bums<\/em> being compared to Blizzard of Aahhhs<\/em>, I decided I had to see it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Created nearly 40 years ago by Dick Barrymore, Last of the Ski Bums<\/em> might not have all the thrills standard in today\u2019s movies. <\/span>But it has the more heart and soul than any ski movie made in the last 15 years. <\/span>The places are the same, but the shots are different. <\/span>The ski bums in 1967 act just like the ski bums of today. <\/span>It\u2019s a movie that any avid skier past or present will enjoy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The movie starts out with stunning scenery of the Alps, and then your classic powder-day shots. <\/span>Then, the narrator chimes in, \u201cThis is Ron Funk. <\/span>He\u2019s 33 yrs old and has never held a permanent job. <\/span>His whole life has been dedicated to the sport of skiing. <\/span>He would rather ski than do just about anything.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Upon hearing this, I knew I was going to like this movie. <\/span>And I knew I was going to like it even more when The Sandals began playing their ski bum song. <\/span>All ski bums will appreciate these lyrics. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Then the movie introduces ski bum #2: <\/span>Mike Zuettel. <\/span>He\u2019s 28 yrs old and a graduate of MIT in mathematics\u201d. <\/span>Zuettel spent 8 yrs in school, graduating with a Doctor\u2019s degree then working in the space-missile industry and then quit because \u201che wanted to fulfill his lifelong dream of skiing the Alps\u201d. <\/span>Along the way they meet ski bum #3: Ed Ricks who is \u201c24 yrs old, just out of the army and tired of everybody telling him what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

So then the story begins. <\/span>It\u2019s the story of these three ski bums, traveling through Europe. <\/span>Their one goal was to \u201cski as much as possible, work as little as necessary, and enjoy the simple pleasures of an unhurried life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The ski bums\u2019 journey takes them to places like Chamonix, Val D’Isere, Alpe D’Huez, Zurs, Coeur Cheval, and Sestrierre. <\/span>Flash back memories take them to places like New Zealand and Jackson Hole. <\/span>Along the way, they have encounters with people who are still famous today, such as Jean Claude Killy. <\/span>They even talk about Bob Smith testing out his double-lens anti-fog goggles (Smith goggles). <\/span>The skiing, by today\u2019s standards, is relatively mellow. <\/span>But when they show the equipment these people skied on- leather boots and scary looking bindings- any skier today will begin to have respect for what they were able to do given the limits of their equipment. <\/span>The scariest scene was a giant slalom race in Sestrierre. <\/span>Watching skiers go 60 mph down an ungroomed slope in leather boots turns my stomach upside-down!<\/p>\n

\n

My favorite scene was when the three ski bums met Gaston R\u00e9buffat<\/span>, the famous Frenchman who was a climbing pioneer. <\/span>Funk asked Gaston why he climbed and he replied, \u201cThe joy of climbing is the joy of discovery- of being able to see further and from a greater height.\u201d <\/span>The ski bums went on to ask Gaston if he climbed for the danger. <\/span>Gaston then stated, \u201cI do not climb for the danger. <\/span>I climb because of the difficulty\u2026. <\/span>It is not enough for a man to exist. <\/span>He must live, but not live dangerously. <\/span>That is too easy. <\/span>Yes, to climb well between heaven and earth, is to find an inner peace- a religion that cannot be found in books. <\/span>No my friends. <\/span>I do not climb for the danger of being close to death but for the difficulty of being close to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Dick Barrymore created a masterpiece with Last of the Ski Bums<\/em>. <\/span>He got just about everything right. <\/span>The only thing he got wrong- the vibrant ski towns of today are still chalk full of heartfelt ski bums \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Update: Dick Barrymore passed away this year on August 1 in his home in Ketchum, Idaho.\u00a0 He was 74 yrs old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, Frank and I have decided to add to the character of our blog by doing reviews on various ski<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1112,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/1112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}