Best 70's freestyle skier.

Scotty Brooksbank?  At least I think he made the most money,other than the chap stick shtick.

Maybe not accomplished and most wins, but the guy most people (old enough) associate with freestyle in the 70''s is Wayne Wong IMHO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundturns 

Maybe not accomplished and most wins, but the guy most people (old enough) associate with freestyle in the 70''s is Wayne Wong IMHO.

Exactly, Wayne Wong is who I thought of when I read the title of the thread. 

If we're talking all around all three disciplines of Ballet, Moguls, and Aerials I vote for Frank Beddor.  Also vote for him just to show the love for USSA Central!

Wayne Wong - great style and great moves

Eddie Ferguson - pure style in the moguls.  He flowed like water.  He's the guy I always wanted to ski like.

Sid Erickson - pure insanity in the moguls.  One of my most vivid high school memories was watching Johnny Carson one night when Susie Chaffee came on with film of an early hot dog contest.  Up until then I had only seen still photos of hot doggers.  Nothing prepared me for that film.  I simply could not believe what those guys could do in the moguls. Most incredible of all was Sid, flying through moguls big enough to have chairlifts on them, at about 40 mph.  I was jumping up and down in my living room, screaming and pulling my hair out (big mistake, if you saw me now...).

Don't forget Bob Salerno- watching him throw double-heli's in the bumps blew most of our minds! Alan Schoenberger was always one of the most creative in Ballet, with his puppet/mime act... And you can't forget the Post sisters- Marion and Ellen, who had many ballet moves named after them...(post toasties, etc)

And of course, Ed Lincoln, the first to throw the full twisting back layout (the Moebius flip) in comp... and Eddie Ferguson, another of the true all arounders...

A whole group of the early day freestylers got together in Sun Valley a couple of weeks ago, to be collectively inducted into the Hall of Fame, as freestyle had such a huge impact on the sport back in it's early days... Amazing how many of them are still actively involved in skiing !

Wayne Wong was the first name to come to mind for me as well.

Hot Rod Eddy Lincoln had the best name. They used to play a few bars of "Hot Rod Lincoln" on the PA system just before Eddy's jump.

John Eaves probably had the best ski career over all. After winning numerous events, including a Datsun 240Z at the Labatts/Datsun Freestyle at my home mountain (then called Tod Mountain), he went on to become James Bond's stunt double for the skiing sequences in the Bond movies. 

Enjoying everybody's comments on this thread. Great photos strato102. I've been working on a documentary telling the story of the start up of freestyle skiing (1971-1974) and the events/people that set the stage in the 60's. Lots of interviews with those mentioned above. For the early era there were tops in each discipline and you could argue that it was the man and woman who won the overall that would be the best. Many of the early freestylers name guys like John Clendenin then Brooksbank and Salerno as the best for the first era. Before the specialists entered competitions, it was all about who was king or queen of the mountain. Bob Theobald mentions that Brooksbank was the one guy on any given day who could win the moguls, aerials, or ballet. Wayne was king of ballet/trick skiing and the face of the sport the first few years. Guys like Roger Evans, Eddie Lincoln, Michael Grazier and Bob Theobald come to mind for aerials and Eddie Ferguson in the moguls. Don't forget the women: Suzy, Penelope, and Genia. The whole lot though deserve recognition for getting things started when the sport was rooted in that anything goes, free spirit, liberating spirit.

Here's a clip from the preview of my work in progress. Includes interview with Wayne Wong and Eddie Ferguson

http://www.vimeo.com/22762192  

An edit I put together from the pioneers of freestyle reunion and their recognition by the Ski Hall of Fame in Sun Valley last month. It was a great event with a huge turn out of legends from the sport. The Hot Doggers were having a blast. There was even a K2 Wet T-Shirt Contest.

Gogglegurf:  I love what you have so far, and look forward to the final work.  You ask for comments on the website as you go into final edit, so here goes:  I realize this is 2011 and all video is built around ½ second jump cuts, but I hope you’ll leave in some longer sequences to show the top-to-bottom improvisation of mogul and ballet skiing back then.  One thing that distinguishes mogul runs in that era from today was that no two turns – or moguls – were alike.  Regardless, what you’ve got there looks great.  One thing that struck me watching clips of those early freestyle legends was that skiing was something fun and playful.  Now it seems to be more aggro and gangsta – a curious attitude when you consider how lucky we are to be out there. 

Thanks strato102, Appreciate the comments and advise. I agree on the moguls and have great commentary from interviews to emphasize your well made point. Bobbie Burns makes a great comment that with racing you know that gates there, it's the same every time, with hot dogging, that bumps there, but everyone goes off it differently. There was definitely an artistry to skiing the bumps and using natural terrain to entertain the crowds. The clock and machine made fall line certainly took away some of that early free style and innovation. BTW-Where was that picture of Eddie found-it's such a great shot and he certainly was one of my heroes as a kid.

The first comment briefly talks about old school moguls. Shots of a lot of the skiers mentioned in the thread. These are the wonderful interviews that I have completed so far. Hoping to find more archival footage to intercut with the story of the start up of the sport as told by the legends. Music is just placeholder until I can license or use composers/royalty free. 

The BEST is  a toss up between Scott Brooksbank and "Fly'in Eddie Furgeson...don't get me wrong...Wayne Wong was great....but not the performer that these guys were...I remember when "hot dogg'in was the thing to do....I grew up during it's infancy...

Quote:

Originally Posted by gogglegurf 

An edit I put together from the pioneers of freestyle reunion and their recognition by the Ski Hall of Fame in Sun Valley last month. It was a great event with a huge turn out of legends from the sport. The Hot Doggers were having a blast. There was even a K2 Wet T-Shirt Contest.

 

 

Very nice. Love Glenn's comment.

Nice vid. I half expected them to be skiing on K2 Bermuda Shorts or Hart Free Styles with Scott boots or Nordica banana boots.

During my interviews for the freestyle documentary, I asked the skiers who stood out to them. Keep in mind, I was looking at the very early era from 1971-1974. Lots of people said Scott Brooksbank in that he could have won any of the disciplines on any given day (Ballet, Free-Style/Moguls, Stunt/Ballet and the overall). Others mentioned Eddie being one of the best in the moguls, John Clendenin and Wayne Wong for ballet where JC exemplified ballet (trained on the ski dek) and Wayne on snow stunts. Michael Grazier and Roger Evans along with a few others were doing some pretty incredible stuff in the air during those first years too.

In the early days, it was all about being the best skier on the mountain and everyone competed in all three events. Most interviewed spoke about how they respected and fed off each other to invent and go for new tricks while having a really good time. This appeared to stay true until money and politics came into play as things evolved from spectacle to sport. More than one stated that when the specialists starting coming into the sport and winning the combined/overall lost it's importance, a whole new era quickly emerged. 

Here's a just for fun little trailer I put together using iMovie that showcases the pioneers. Clips are from the 1972 Tour. The film was directed by Joe Jay Jalbert for Chevy who sponsored the pro circuit.

In the spirit of this thread, here's a Pepsi commercial I remember well from 1974, featuring Wayne Wong.  How he doesn't blow out his right knee in last scene, is beyond me.

Wayne was supposed to be up here skiing with us last weekend, but unfortunately we couldn't pull it together at the last minute.  It'll have to wait until next season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gogglegurf 

Enjoying everybody's comments on this thread. Great photos strato102. I've been working on a documentary telling the story of the start up of freestyle skiing (1971-1974) and the events/people that set the stage in the 60's. Lots of interviews with those mentioned above. For the early era there were tops in each discipline and you could argue that it was the man and woman who won the overall that would be the best. Many of the early freestylers name guys like John Clendenin then Brooksbank and Salerno as the best for the first era. Before the specialists entered competitions, it was all about who was king or queen of the mountain. Bob Theobald mentions that Brooksbank was the one guy on any given day who could win the moguls, aerials, or ballet. Wayne was king of ballet/trick skiing and the face of the sport the first few years. Guys like Roger Evans, Eddie Lincoln, Michael Grazier and Bob Theobald come to mind for aerials and Eddie Ferguson in the moguls. Don't forget the women: Suzy, Penelope, and Genia. The whole lot though deserve recognition for getting things started when the sport was rooted in that anything goes, free spirit, liberating spirit.

 

Here's a clip from the preview of my work in progress. Includes interview with Wayne Wong and Eddie Ferguson

http://www.vimeo.com/22762192  

You need to connect with EpicSki member Chuck.  He's one of the main producers from the documentary Winter Equinox and that is exactly the flavor of his project.  I believe he's finishing up a digital version of that old gem.

I didnt see Salerno mentioned.  He was an interesting guy in Winter Equinox  Johnnie C' still rocks.

All flatlanders take note! The best overall freestyle of the 70s in order were:

1.  Harkin Banks

2.  Rudolph 'Rudi' Garmisch

3.  Dan O'Callahan

12. Squirrel Murphy

He may not have been the best but he wasn't far off. I'd like to give a nod in the direction of Mike Nemesvary. In the top 3 on the competitive circuit at one time and I believe in the opening sequence of the Bond film 'the Spy Who Loved Me.' A training accident in the 80s left him quadraplegic. I saw him on an artificial slope in the UK in the late 70s. He was amazing even on that surface.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adie 

He may not have been the best but he wasn't far off. I'd like to give a nod in the direction of Mike Nemesvary. In the top 3 on the competitive circuit at one time and I believe in the opening sequence of the Bond film 'the Spy Who Loved Me.'

That was John Eaves who did the skiing The Spy Who Loved Me (as he also did in For Your Eyes Only), and the cliff jump was done by Rick Sylvester.

I got pointed to Epic and this topic from the post above on John Eaves.

Hard to say who was best, especially in Freestyle when the changes and improvements in skiers' technique in the first few years.

Wayne Wong definitely stand out. I did a feature on my blog him last year, check out the link to the CBC Archives (I couldn't embed it on the blog post).

Friday Night Video: Wayne Wong

My mistake. Mike did the opening credits for 'A View Ti a Kill.'