Schweitzer Air Show should be outrageous
Last weekend an injury had Bob Legasa riding a recliner instead of a pair of skis. A freak accident left him with pins in his ankle. It didn’t slow him down.
Legasa had a busy week ahead prepping for the Yoke’s Outrageous Air Show tonight and tomorrow at Schweitzer. Last Sunday evening, two days after surgery, he was on the mountain to start moving snow for the show.
Legasa organizes and promotes the Yoke’s Outrageous Air Show. It’s a combination of aerial acrobatics and fireworks that has become one of Schweitzer’s most anticipated annual events.
“A majority of the jumps are formation jumps,” he said. “For example, two single jumpers on each side will go off kickers with 360 tail grabs, while in the center, pairs will be throwing twisting double back flips at the same time. Then we’ve got the fireworks. It’s sensory overload for the spectators.”
Brad Suey, a 43-year-old freestyle veteran from Saco, Maine, builds the jumps from scratch. Later he flies off them in the show. He’s performed in aerial shows the world over and works as “Chief of Course” at Canadian World Cup competitions, building jumps and running events.
The biggest kicker is the center ramp. It’s about 30 feet wide and 12 feet high with a 65-degree pitch that will launch multiple performers simultaneously into double and triple back flips. On each side are smaller kickers with a 45-degree pitch for single back flips and upright maneuvers like d-spins, spread eagles, backscratchers and daffys.
“Brad has been around the block,” Legasa said. “He spent summers at Sea World jumping off water ramps and winters traveling with Marlboro ski show out of France. He might be oldest person to have ever done a triple back flip with a twist on skis.”
Suey will be jumping with nine performers headlined by another age-defying veteran: 1988 Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup freestyle champion Jean Marc Rozon. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 19-year-old U.S. Ski Team freestyler Matt Flesher will be jumping in his first exhibition.
Legasa was on the U.S. Freestyle Team from 1984-85, then toured professionally around the world with Volvo. In 2001 he founded Schweitzer’s Freeride Institute.
Legasa started the Yoke’s Outrageous Air Show in 1990 with his longtime friend and former national freestyle champion Dan Herby. Herby and Legasa started their ski careers in Coeur d’Alene and performed together on the Volvo team.
“In 1990 we had a pretty good season,” Legasa said. “That year Dan and I jumped in the Rose Bowl parade. We did aerials between two floats going down Colorado Boulevard. With every jump we were in front of another 40,000 people seeing us for the first time.”
Legasa expects a wild crowd tonight and Saturday. He recommends finding a place to watch in the village by 5:30 p.m. The event starts at 6 with a torchlight parade on the slope. Jumping starts at 6:30. The parties go all night long.