The Hollywood types tried to trigger avalanches for this production during an unusually stable winter, with no success. They used styrofoam blocks within the avalanche, which remained for days after filming. & as I remember, skiers at Purgatory were frustrated, having to wait for Rock Hudson to get on & off the chair dozens of times. We went to see the film in Durango & laughed & talked throughout. Fun times.
Oh man that was funny. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Most of towns claim to fame was as an extra during the dance. Had to check the comments for the cliff location.
I recall going to the speed skiing event in Silverton in Velocity basin.
and good old pop would tell us to not talk or risk an avalanche. You can imagine how puzzled I was when a snowmobile went screaming by. Pretty sure it was a clever way to keep the kids quiet but possibly derived from the chainsaw scene???
Under Lift 3 on the back side of Purg on the ride up the chairlift, maybe about a quarter of the way up. And I saw ski tracks on it almost every time I rode up!
Haha, just watched it last night - thanks for recommendation! I now need to re-watch it to catch all the details/dialogue I missed (I was trying to read your blow by blow account at the same time). The mayhem in downtown Durango, I thought was caused by the rescue vehicle that didn't pack/lock their cargo well. I live in Ouray, and the shots of the Uncompaghre gorge pre-Ice park are priceless! Also, they need to work on the line probing technique, almost missed Bruce. Speaking of probing, at the end (recovery scene) there was a rescuer carrying a victim on a probe like a harpooned fish?
The Hollywood types tried to trigger avalanches for this production during an unusually stable winter, with no success. They used styrofoam blocks within the avalanche, which remained for days after filming. & as I remember, skiers at Purgatory were frustrated, having to wait for Rock Hudson to get on & off the chair dozens of times. We went to see the film in Durango & laughed & talked throughout. Fun times.
Oh man that was funny. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Most of towns claim to fame was as an extra during the dance. Had to check the comments for the cliff location.
I recall going to the speed skiing event in Silverton in Velocity basin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTzaYqBGG9A
and good old pop would tell us to not talk or risk an avalanche. You can imagine how puzzled I was when a snowmobile went screaming by. Pretty sure it was a clever way to keep the kids quiet but possibly derived from the chainsaw scene???
You get an award for being able to sit through the world’s worst movie again! And here’s to Dirty Hinckley!
I wonder what that slide ranked on the R-scale. Great post!
Chair 3!
Thumps up, from us old time subscribers who remember the 70's, Alpha 'Boots, very skinny skis, no edges. Durangatuans!
Outstanding post! Thanks!
The cliff you go over on Chair 3, at Purg. Wow, Gaslight hasn’t changed a bit. Had to look at the film photos on IMDB. Thanks for another great post.
Under Lift 3 on the back side of Purg on the ride up the chairlift, maybe about a quarter of the way up. And I saw ski tracks on it almost every time I rode up!
Haha, just watched it last night - thanks for recommendation! I now need to re-watch it to catch all the details/dialogue I missed (I was trying to read your blow by blow account at the same time). The mayhem in downtown Durango, I thought was caused by the rescue vehicle that didn't pack/lock their cargo well. I live in Ouray, and the shots of the Uncompaghre gorge pre-Ice park are priceless! Also, they need to work on the line probing technique, almost missed Bruce. Speaking of probing, at the end (recovery scene) there was a rescuer carrying a victim on a probe like a harpooned fish?