{"id":228,"date":"2008-12-19T15:21:31","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T21:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=228"},"modified":"2009-11-21T22:19:06","modified_gmt":"2009-11-22T04:19:06","slug":"movie-of-the-month-blizzard-of-ahhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/movie-of-the-month-blizzard-of-ahhs\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie of the Month: Blizzard of Ahhs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>Movie of the Month<\/strong>:<span> <\/span>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>Director<\/strong>: Greg Stump<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>Year<\/strong>: 1988<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>Where can I find it?<\/strong><span> <\/span>Netflix, Amazon.com, www.gregstumpproducations.com<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=14erskiers-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;asins=B000NL02Z4&#038;fc1=000000&#038;IS2=1&#038;lt1=_blank&#038;m=amazon&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;bc1=000000&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;f=ifr\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">It\u2019s funny how your perception of movies changes over time.<span> <\/span>I rented <em>Blizzard of Ahhh\u2019s<\/em> from Nextflix recently and watched it for the first time in about 15 years.<span> <\/span>The skiing that I remembered to be so incredible in the movie now seemed tame by today\u2019s standards.<span> <\/span>Still, the movie sits in a special place in my heart and had a huge effect on my generation of skiers.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">One of the first things that struck me in the movie was Greg Stump\u2019s reference (as a narrator) to Dick Barrymore, creator of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.14erskiers.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/movie-of-the-month-last-of-the-ski-bums\/\"><em>Last of the Ski Bums<\/em><\/a>.<span> <\/span>I did not remember this reference before, probably because in middle school and high school I had no I idea who he was.<span> <\/span>Stump states that Dick Barrymore\u2019s movies provided inspiration to him as both a skier and a movie-maker, taking viewers to far away lands that most skiers at the time only dreamed of.<span> <\/span>Since I grew up idolizing the movie and characters in <em>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em>, I suppose that it makes sense that I would like <em>Last of the Ski Bums<\/em>.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Stump\u2019s recurring theme in <em>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em> is the growing restrictions of ski areas.<span> <\/span>He makes it clear that ski resorts were making filming difficult by not providing reasonable access to good terrain.<span> <\/span>Scott Schmidt, he points out, was not \u201cendorsed\u201d by ski areas at the time because his skiing was so extreme.<span> <\/span>The ski areas simply did not want to endorse the kind of skiing, like Schmidt\u2019s, that was so risky.<span> <\/span>In retrospect, these restrictions at the ski areas caused the trend of ski movies today- almost entirely filmed in the backcountry or with heli-drops in Alaska.<span> <\/span>But, in 1988 backcountry skiing was not prolific.<span> <\/span>So, Stump and his crew travel to Chamonix to film the majority of the film, where there are far fewer rules, thus avoiding American lawsuits.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Before filming in Chamonix, Stump did film in two American ski areas: Telluride and Squaw Valley.<span> <\/span>In Telluride, we meet a few local characters, like Scott Kennett and his famous dog Zudnik, for which a trick is now named.<span> <\/span>We also meet \u201cRasta Stevie\u201d who was voted to the town council. Rasta man provides a monologue about how he was among the few who were fighting to keep Telluride\u2019s soul alive, trying to prevent it from becoming another Vail or Sun Valley.<span> <\/span>At Squaw Valley we are introduced to Scott Schmidt- the prime bad-ass skier of the time.<span> <\/span>He is to go film with Stump in Chamonix and Stump is looking for a partner for him.<span> <\/span>Three skiers show up for the \u201caudition\u201d: Tom Day, Mike Slattery, and Glen Plake.<span> <\/span>Glen Plake dominates the field and is sent to Chamonix with Schmidt.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><em>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em> was Plake\u2019s \u201ccoming out\u201d movie.<span> <\/span>Plake was constantly filmed by Stump as a no-fear punk, with his giant mohawk as a symbol of his individualism.<span> <\/span>When he wore the helmet camera, his hair stuck out the front of his helmet- a constant reminder that he wanted to be noticed.<span> <\/span>Well, noticed he was.<span> <\/span>Plake constantly took big risks, often one-upping Schmidt\u2019s skiing, adding an interesting twist to the plot. <span> <\/span>Overnight, Stump made Plake famous.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Watching the skiing <em>in Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em> is interesting.<span> <\/span>Today\u2019s ski movies always make snow look perfect.<span> <\/span>There\u2019s always powder, the snow is always soft, and sometimes the slope is so steep and soft that you see the classic \u201cslough\u201d.<span> <\/span>But in the \u201880\u2019s, movies largely stuck to filming in-bounds at ski areas.<span> <\/span>So, scenes were shot in all kinds of conditions.<span> <\/span>In this movie, there is very little powder, but here is a lot of hard-packed and wind-packed chunky goodness.<span> <\/span>Nevertheless, the skiers in the movie made the conditions look effortless, even on \u201cskinny skis\u201d.<span> <\/span>Although the terrain they chose was less extreme than today\u2019s standards, the skills of these skiers cannot go unnoticed.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">In filming these skiers, Stump set a precedent that is still followed in today\u2019s ski movies.<span> <\/span>Stump filmed the skiers pushing themselves out of their comfort zone- skiing steep couloirs, rappelling into start zones, dodging crevasses, and hucking huge cliffs.<span> <\/span>Stump\u2019s cinematography catches these skiers perfectly at the height of their risk-taking and his influence can be seen in many ski movies today.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The closing scene is the climax of the movie.<span> <\/span>I remember it well, even from 15 years ago.<span> <\/span>While at Les Grands Montets, Schmidt sees a steep couloir and decides he wants to ski it. As a narrator, Stump says \u201cI wanted nothing to do with it.\u201d<span> <\/span>But, Schmidt goes anyway, falling and losing his ski part way down the couloir.<span> <\/span>His ski stops at the top of a hidden crevasse.<span> <\/span>Just as you think the segment is over, Plake takes over.<span> <\/span>He cannot be outdone, so he decides to ski the couloir as well.<span> <\/span>Plake enters the couloir aggressively, but things can turn quickly on a steep slope.<span> <\/span>Plake catches an edge and goes rag-dolling down the rest of the couloir.<span> <\/span>The hidden crevasse located at the bottom of the couloir adds to the growing anxiety as Plake continues to tumble down the mountain.<span> <\/span>When he does get to the crevasse, he somersaults over it.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><em>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em> is a ski movie classic.<span> <\/span>Arguably Stump\u2019s greatest film, it\u2019s influence can be still seen in ski movies today.<span> <\/span>There is no doubt about the powerful impact <em>Blizzard of Ahhhs<\/em> had on an entire generation of skiers.<span> <\/span>It fed our souls and inspired us to seek out new amazing places, to find our own Blizzard of Ahhhs!<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Update: Greg Stump is currently working on a new movie called <em>Legend of Ahhhs<\/em>.  He hope to show it at the upcoming Sundance festival.  You can read more about it at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gregstumpproducations.com\">www.gregstumpproducations.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Movie of the Month: Blizzard of Ahhhs Director: Greg Stump Year: 1988 Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com, www.gregstumpproducations.com<\/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-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","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=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}