Last updated January 11 @ 12:23pm PST

About the Film

Twenty five years after unleashing the award winning ski film “Blizzard Of Aahhh’s” upon the world, Greg Stump (Lifetime achievement award from International Ski History Association, Maine State Ski Hall of Fame, Named one of the 25 most influential people in skiing by Skiing magazine) returns to the ski film genre with “Legend Of Aahhh’s.”

After fifteen years working the Hollywood scene directing commercials including Disney’s 2001 Tony Hawk Super Bowl spot and music videos for Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real, Seal, Art Of Noise, Dinosaur JR., and The Beach Boys, Greg Stump returns to the ski film genre with “Legend Of Aahhh’s”.

Through a semi-autobiographical approach, Greg explores the history of the ski film and how these films influenced big mountain skiing… and pop culture with the birth of the extreme sports movement following the release of “Blizzard Of Aahhh’s” in 1988 and Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt’s pivotal appearance on NBC’s Today Show where the word and concept of “extreme” exploded into the consciousness of mainstream America.

From Otto Lang, John Jay, Warren Miller and what the young film makers (TGR and Matchstick) are creating today, “Legend” follows the life of the ski film and impact on big mountain skiing.

One of a kind interviews with Warren Miller, Dick Barrymore, Otto Lang, John Jay, Klaus Obermeyer, and the skiing of Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, Mike Hattrup, Lynne Wieland, and many more, drive the film to the peaks.

Bursting with an amazing soundtrack featuring Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real (Willie Nelson’s 22 year old musical prodigy and his ripping band), Fort Knox Five, and Bran Van 3000, Troubleman, Atomic Bonds, Makana, AME and Liquid Stranger, “Legend” is in a genre of it’s own.

Another silky journey down the ski bum highway from Greg Stump.

About the Filmmaker

The New York Times
“…a maverick filmmaker in the ski business.”

The Hollywood Reporter
“Electrifying…dazzling ski sequences…expertly captures the culture and lifestyle of the ski world.”

Playboy Magazine
“A true master of gonzodom…fascinating and guaranteed to entertain.”

The Atlantic
“In fact, Stump… does not make G-rated, safe-and-sane ski travelogues with elevator music. What he does make are wildly original, nonstop ski action films with comic and dramatic subplots and original scores.”

Greg Stump

From the very start of his career to the present, Greg Stump has produced, filmed and directed hundreds of commercials and music videos for national and international clients like Swatch Watch, Coors, Adidas, Salomon, Chapstick, Wrigley’s, United Airlines, Whistler Resort, Aspen Colorado, and in 2000 a Disney Super-Bowl commercial starring skateboard legend, Tony Hawk. Greg’s music video and music documentary subjects include Willie Nelson, Seal, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Neil Young, Ricki Lee Jones, Los Lonely Boys, Dinosaur Jr., and The Beach Boys.

Greg Stump’s ski pioneering began at an early age when he joined a junior masters program at Pleasant Mountain Ski Area in Maine. In 1970 at age nine he won his first competition at Sugarloaf and his prowess in this PSIA style technique competition led him to freestyle, a discipline that took off at Pleasant Mountain in the seventies.

In 1978 Greg won the Junior National Championships at Copper Mountain, Colorado. His strengths were moguls and ballet which combined with aerials to fill out the competition. It was a family effort as one year Greg, Sister Kim, and brother Geoff all won their age groups at the Nationals. In 1979, Greg won the the North American Freestyle Championships at Edelweiss Valley in Ontario, becoming the first ever international amateur freestyle champion. This was followed by two years on the professional freestyle circuit where he continued to score victories in bumps and ballet.

His freestyle prowess caught the eye of another ski pioneer, Ski magazine editor Doug Pfeiffer who introduced Greg to Harry Leonard who featured him on revolving ski decks at his nationwide ski shows. This led him to an introduction to ski film maker Dick Barrymore and he appeared in “Vagabond Skiers”. This was Barrymore’s last ski film and Stump’s next appearance was in a Warren Miller film.
His work with these two ski film pioneers convinced Greg that he could make ski films and this is where he had his greatest impact.

Not content with displaying pretty skiers in Powder, his films combined offbeat skiing with rock sound tracks appealing to a new audience. In his first movie in 1983 Greg focused his cameras on snow boarders as well as well as skiers and his 100 college tour helped that sport grow.

Before Stump extreme skiing was known to only a handful of skiers who skied beyond the boundaries of ski areas and within ski area boundaries beyond the groomed runs. Extreme skiing appeared in each of his films but in 1988 “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” considered by many to be the best ski film ever produced, brought Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, and Mike Hattrup together on terrain that would terrify most skiers. They skied near-vertical chutes and dropped over improbable cliffs, all shot with great cinematic film angles. In his narration and sizzling soundtracks powered by English rock producer Trevor Horn’s music, Stump set a new standard in ski films.

Each year he brought a new film with more extreme skiing in more spectacular settings. From Chamonix in France to remote Alaskan peaks his skiers and snow boarders challenged the slopes and the steeps. His use of the latest music from the likes of Seal, Iggy Pop, The Beastie Boys, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood added to the appeal of the younger set and his nationwide college tour filled auditoriums with skiers and non-skiers alike.

From “The Droids” in 1983 to “P-tex, Lies, and Duct Tape” in 1993 a film a year introduced a new generation to skiing as a way of life, a thrilling, captivating presentation of our sport. For bringing this exciting new life to skiing, in 1999 Greg Stump was honored by Skiing Magazine as one of the twenty-five most influential people in skiing of all time, and named to the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2005.