"Hot Dog" "Freestyle" The old school... - Page 15

Winter Equinox Update

 

We've made progress on Winter Equinox since my last post. In late 2010 I received the original 16mm Kodachrome print and 16mm full coat magnetic soundtrack of Winter Equinox. Translated, this means we have a good picture source and good sound source on which we may base a restored version of WE. I transferred both to high resolution files and now have the original 73 minute WE edit on DVD and BluRay. It looks and sounds great. More recently I received the master stereo mixes of all 26 music cues we recorded for WE on 3 - 10.5" reels of tape. Next step will be to get them transferred to a digital file so we can re-edit the music sequences in stereo.

 

John Clendenin recently overcame some WE legal hurdles, clearing the way for us to proceed with a restored version. We are planning an updated WE with new commentary from the skiers who are featured in WE as well as other competitors, organizers, and manufacturers who competed on or were involved in the 1974 IFSA Freestyle Pro Tour.

 

The next step is to raise the money needed to move forward with the restoration and the new edit. And we need to determine how we will distribute it...DVDs over the internet, theatrical, cable TV, some of the above or all of the above. At this time we don't have a target date. I'll keep Epic Ski posted.

 

Thanks for your interest. I hope this will be worth the wait.

 

Chuck

Sweet!

crgildart,

 

Thanks. You've been a WE supporter. I don't recall if I sent you one of the 2006 DVDs I made from the old 35mm print. If so, you'll like what you'll see and hear on the new version compared to what you saw and heard on the old one. Not only is it sharper, less grainy, has better colors, and improved sound; it now shows the entire frame the way we shot it. The image on the 3/4" videocassette that was the basis for the 2006 version had been cropped twice, once top and bottom for theater screens, and again on the sides to return it to TV screen proportions.

 

Chuck

Chuck;

I was indeed fortunate enough to get one of the DVDs you created from the 35mm film.  Loved it.   I look forward to the digital version on the horizon.  Consider at least one theater ticket/DVD/Blu Ray/Download/Whatever media you end up going with next as SOLD!

To paraphrase Carly Simon (in a slightly different context),  'Anticipation....is makin' me wait'.  This is better than the one big present you know you are getting for Christmas!!!!!

 

Chuck,  any thought to raising money through pre-sales? I would be in for that!!!!

This is a good time for devotees of 70s vintage Freestyle. Brian Gilmore screened a promo for his history of Freestyle documentary at the recent Sun Valley Hall of Fame gathering to a very enthusiastic audience. His film and WE are aimed directly at Freestyle back in the day and the people who made it what it was. Both will be required viewing.

 

We shot WE 37 years ago, and with the exception of the new interview footage Brian did with the Pioneers of Freestyle, his film consists of footage that is 35+ years old. I guess good things are worth waiting for. I truly believe there is more interest in this now than there was when we shot WE. And with current technology, it looks and sounds better than it did when it was new.

 

Chuck

 

Here are those old films I discussed in the previous post.  I may have gotten the names wrong.of the skiiers, John Clendenin, Eddie Ferguson and Scott Brooksbank...I think. 

 

 

 

Skeewiz, What a great share! Thanks so much. I'm in the process of independently producing a documentary on the start up of freestyle skiing. I'm going to put a link to your video on my site. I don't think you have the skiers correctly identified, though that does look like "Airborne" Eddie. Perhaps Roger Evans is one of the skiers. I don't see Brooksbank. I'll see if someone can get them identified when I post on the facebook project site.

 

What a gem! Thanks again.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/True-Grit-Productions/344944731077

I posted the YouTube link on my freestyle doc project Facebook site and Roger Evans confirmed that it is indeed Eddie Ferguson, Michael Grazier and himself. Three of the "top dogs" from the first era of freestyle. I'll send the link to the other skiers. They will get a kick out of seeing this.

 

Thanks Skeewiz!

 

 

 

I updated to video with the correct names this time, I hope.  Enjoy

Chuck, have you considered taking pre-orders for the DVD or Blueray as a way to finance the restoration and new edit?  I don't know what kind of $ you require, but I'm sure you could make a lot of pre-sales to Epic members using Paypal.

 

Cheers.

 

Wow!  I just came across this 12 minute "Hot Dog" film from 1975, posted today on YouTube.  What a flashback!!!  Most of the early greats are featured.

 

If Carrot Top had a twin sister, her name would be Penelope Street

 

 

Well, it's taken me 4 years to revive this thread.  I've finally put this book up for auction on eBay if anyone is truly interested.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/350547021513

 

Hope I can find a good home for this guy!

I see you're moving some Snurfers too.  I think we have a thread about those in the Snowboard forums somewhere.

Brian Gilmore has quite a few clips on Vimeo. Here's one...

 

Tribute to The Pioneers of Freestyle

 

Thanks jc-ski and others for the plug. It was discovering this thread about 3-years ago which inspired me to take this adventure in filmmaking and freestyle ski history. Here's a promo poster/postcard that I put together to try and build blog and facebook followers. The facebook page has been a great spot to share old school freestyle stories and many of the comments have come from the athlete/performers who got it all going.

 

If you have an interest, click like. I've posted clips from interviews with legends:John Clendenin, Scott Brooksbank, Eddie Ferguson, Wayne Wong, Suzy Chaffee and many more (over 30-see the names on poster image). Thanks to Vail photo for this incredible shot of "Airborne" Eddie on Look Ma (1973). Just one of hundreds of images that will be featured in the documentary.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/True-Grit-Productions/344944731077

Been looking myself my friend.  Maybe that's why they are legends?  I know that Wayne Wong and the Plake used to tear it up in their own way back then.  Trying to find some of the lesser known names who were out shaggin the slopes with some old school style before I was even born.  GL to us both.  Please share any info you find.  Thanks ;)

 

Shit...Plake is still tearing it up on his 210 straight skis.....that is hard core!

 

googlegurf... if you're interested in getting in touch with John Eaves and adding him to the interview mix, PM me and I'll send you his coordinates (he lives down the street from me).  With 3 world champion combined freestyle titles (beginning in '77) and three world champion individual event titles, he should probably be included, imho.

http://youtu.be/5L2Zdaq9PA0

 

John Eaves in this one apparently.

 

From Dick Barrymore's "Golden Years of Ski Films"

See comments on youtube.

Talk about aerial .........

Did you see this thread?

1975 footage of first Quadruple Backflip on record

 



I skied Greek peak back then. Could "Boat" be short for "STEAMBOAT!"
I skied with Dee Wallace, Sammy Peters, Pj Oniel and I think you were part of the Ithace pack. Dave Clarke and I were out of Dryden and skied bumps with you guys on Fields. I was in the freestyle program at Greek and later at Waterville.

Let me know if your Steamboat. I'm puttin money on it that you are.

Steve Hill
Vail, Co

Edit: Fix quote tags.

exracer,

 

I'm in the process of putting the final touches on a cleaned-up edit of Winter Equinox. The music is now in stereo. I've done alot of work on the soundtrack. The image is much sharper and cleaner than on the 35mm print - based DVDs I previously sent out. It's hi-def and will be on DVD and Blu-Ray. All in all, it's an enormous improvement. If I can get it where I want it to be in the next week or so, John Clendenin will take a prelim DVD with him to Portillo to show at his winter camp.

 

It's has been a long and strange road since my kids gave me a mini-DV boot of WE in 2005. Tomorrow is the last day of me either working, being in school, or both for the last 50 years. Now I'll have time to do what I want to do, including spending time on WE.

 

Concurrently with WE, I'm doing a similar DVD / Blu-Ray restoration of Time To Go For It, a 12 min 1974 promo film we did for Raichle from WE footage. It focuses on Clendenin, Penelope Street, Wayne Wong, Genia Fuller, Bill O'Leary, Bob Theobald, and Rolf (I can't spell last name). A couple years ago I had the honor of hanging out with Brian Gilmore when he shot new interviews for Dog Days of Winter, his excellent freestyle documentary. Scott Willingham was there and told me he had a 16mm print of TTGFI. I had it transferred to a high def file and digitally cleaned up. And thanks to Sandy Santucci...now a film maker in Denver CO...I have a WE 35mm print that has footage from Whoopie Jump, the First Time, a short film Bill Burks and I made in 1973 in Vail.It was the seed that lead to WE. I hope to get it transferred and restore it as well.

 

So the plan is to come up with the Winter Equinox Triology...Whoopie Jump, Time To Go For It, and Winter Equinox. That should keep me off the streets (and broke) for awhile. Thanks to all of you for your interest, and for your considerable patience while I've been working on this project. Finding the original elements...a Kodachrome 16mm WE print, the original narration and the stereo music masters, etc...has been a time consuming but rewarding endeavor. These films are not looks-back at Freestyle in the early 1970s...they were and still are a look at what was going on, but in the present tense.

 

Combined with Brian Gilmore's outstanding Freestyle documentary based on the present-day words and recollections of the skiers who made it happen and archival footage, Whoopie Jump, TTGFI, WE, and Dog Days will give those who weren't fortunate enough to be there an opportunity to experience what it was like during Freestyle's Golden Era. To All...thanks again for your interest and patience. Hopefully that we can get these out for all to see in the near future.

 

Chuck

That is so great, Chuck!! Really looking forward to it. Talk about premium porn!

I'm so glad you checked in.  Been thinking about you. 

 

I'm getting my popcorn bucket ready for your new release. 

Weems posted this pic on facebook and asked who it is.  

I thought I'd seen that photo here on EpicSki but I can't find it. 

Anyone want to enlighten me? 

Was looking at Sierra Jim's "Nordica Blemish Ski Sale" video on youtube, and as so often happens something caught my eye on the side of the page, so I ended up watching a vid that contained this...

 

 

I'm guessing that Head Yahoo is just back there for contrast, maybe grins, not a retro reissue, right?

 

Regardless, that led to this...

 

 

 

70's Head Yahoo Ski Demo by Roger Brown at Summit Films Featuring Debbie Mead, Eddie Lincoln and Marc Jones. The Head Yahoo was the worlds first shaped ski. Please note: Debbie Mead later married John Howe the designer of the Head Yahoo and they are living and skiing happily ever after in Maine.

Ken,

 

I'm not Dan61 but if you are who I think you are, Kim, you and I drove from MA to CO in 1982 or 1983.

I new Bob, Skip Spatacinni, etc.

Remember the "Lester Roadhawg and the Cadillac Cowboys" "Blind Melon LeFlouer" Gig and Bilodaeu chewing up shot glasses in the roundhouse.

 

Later,

Steve Feathers

( Firby )

Edited by Firby - 11/8/12 at 2:12pm