vailsymposium

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.

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.

However, skiing was not the only topic of Greg’s film making. From the very start of his career to the present, Greg 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 currently works out of his studio, “The Clockworks” near Jackson Hole, Wyoming and has homes in Jackson Hole, Whistler, B.C. and Maui, Hawaii.