Meathead East Coast Skiing Adventure Movies & Films

How’s business with “Grass by Grasso”? What's new?

Grass By Grasso is doing better than last year so far, although not yet where I need to be, but I am pretty busy. Not much is new in the business other than a couple of new customers.

What's the most amazing story you have from cutting grass?

Grass cutting is not amazing but a good story might be when I lost control of my mower and was spinning out of control in between a BMW and my truck. You see, on a hydro drive mower it is tricky to run until you get the hang of it. There are four levers on the handlebars, two have to be held down at all times to keep everything running and two lower ones control forward and reverse. If you daydream for just a second and let go of one handle but try to hang on the thing starts spinning out of control until you figure out just let everything go and it will stall. So this happened to me as I was in between my truck and a customer’s BMW, I was spinning out of control missing both vehicles by an inch and to scared to let go! Finally I let go and all was saved.

When was the last time you ate at Goody Cole’s Smoked BBQ, is that place good?

I ate a Goody Coles last week. Goody Coles is about the best BBQ place in the Northeast. The portions are big (the way I like them) and the food is amazing. My mouth is watering as I write.

Tell us about your frustrating winter, we know you need to rant…

Oh my God talk about a frustrating winter; luck was not on my side. It usually is not but this year, it was really bad. About 25 days into the ski season with almost no snow we finally got a teaser of about 6 inches. Not knowing what kind of season was in store I was chomping at the bit for freshies, so I ducked a rope made a few sweet pow turns and let em go to make one sweet laid over thigh deep powder turn only to be stopped dead by a buried stump that caught me right in the leg just above the boot. My faithful friends wanted to call patrol but I said no get out of here before they come, I will be fine. I tried to ski the pain into submission but it was getting worse. I even got on the lift and tried to do another run, dumb. It was a long run down the Bunny trail. Made it to the bottom, went to Rutland and got x-rays, my fibula was broke.

While at the hospital, I got a call from my Dad who was traveling to California and I told him I was skiing and would talk to him later. I didn't want him to worry. Little did I know this would be the last time I spoke with him. I decided not to get a cast because I was determined to ski again that winter. One week later my Dad passed away in California. I had to wait a week for him to come home. When he came home I attended the services with no crutches and carried his casket in honor of his strength and courage. He was the strongest human being I have ever known, a real WWII hero and the golden gloves middleweight champion boxer of Europe. Then one week after the services for my dad, my long time companion, my dog, Tazz died after fifteen years. While all this was going on it was dumping in the Northwest. Powder everywhere. It was time to ski. I went to MT Baker in Washington and skied on one leg in neck deep powder for a week.

Wow, when it rains it pours buddy, much regards. How did you bite the bullet and keep skiing for most of the season, even when you had a broken leg?!

It was pure love of the sport that kept me going and the pain was brutal but after what I had been through, big deal, what’s a little pain. Just as long as no one bumped into me or I didn’t fall, I could ski on one leg. Six weeks after breaking my leg I went to Newfoundland with the Meatheads. More bad luck there but we had a good time and considering the shape of my leg, skied some pretty sweet and sick lines. Then I went to Alaska to Heli Ski, a lifelong dream for me and I wanted to bring my Dads ashes there and spread them from a crazy high peak because he always wanted to go there but never made it. So I took him and ripped the sweetest line ever for him. I refused to let myself miss out on that and give into a broken leg. A lot of people thought I was crazy skiing on a broken leg. Well I am crazy and it paid off.

How epic is the Killington mini skirt party?

Well the Pickle Barrel mini skirt party is more than just a party with everyone in skirts at the pickle. It is a part that starts at many ski houses before the main event which is where the fun begins, seeing everyone for the first time in their skirts, girls and guys, this is also a time to get good and juiced up for a lot less money than at the bar. The party at the bar can be pretty epic; some years are better than others, depending on the talent that shows up. The contest on stage can get really good, again depending on the talent. After the bar closes and everyone is sent packing in their mini skirts its time to find the after parties which can get as good as you let them. All in all a must attend at Killington.

Aren’t you going to your family reunion down in the Carolinas or something? What’s the deal with that?

July 4th weekend booted down to North Carolina to my family reunion for my mothers side. The family owns a mountain in North Carolina with a picnic shed and all the family gathers and eats tons of good southern food. There are hundreds of family members that attend. It is a great time and I have been going almost every year my whole life.

Being dog lovers ourselves, we felt terrible when Tazz passed away this year. What’s her story and how great was she?

Tazz was my first puppy that I ever had, she was a Wolf Hybrid, half Wolf - Half Shepherd. She was a magnificent animal and friend. She was in my opinion the most beautiful animal I have ever seen. She was very powerful and used to take me for runs on my skateboard until the end when I took her for slow walks. I can’t even begin to tell how much I miss her. Unlike dogs, Wolves do things when asked out of respect and love; they cannot be trained like a dog. This was a huge lesson that I learned throughout her life. Once understood they make the most devoted companions there are.

A lot of Meatheads look up to you as a personal hero. How do you handle that pressure responsibly?

I am flattered that any Meathead athlete looks up to me, as all the Meatheads are the rippenest skiers out there. They are all amazing people as well. I guess to be looked up to by such awesome talent means that I have to keep ripping and keep it real to inspire all that you don't get to old to rip on skies. It’s all in the head and I truly believe that. So if I give up, inspiration would be lost and I can’t let that happen.

What do you want to do more of this winter that you didn’t get to do last winter?

This winter I want to ski more powder at Stowe and Jay with the Meatheads. I missed out on a lot last winter. I want to go to Squaw and ski with Kristian and I want to go back to Mt. Baker and jump off everything that I could not with one leg. I also want to ski powder bumps, which I could not do at all last year.

Favorite place to eat on the Killington access road and why?

Tough call, there is three favorites. Pizza Jerks for the pizza. Sushi Oshi because it is the only place to get good raw fish. And the Lookout because not only is the food good but all my friends are usually there.

Craziest thing you’ve ever seen at Bike Week in Laconia, NH?

There is so much crazy stuff at Laconia it is hard to say. One time I saw a girl on the back of a Triumph motorcycle completely naked with pierced nipples and a piercing down below with a chain around her neck that went from each piercing to the driver of the bike. They were riding through town like this. That was pretty insane.

What was it like meeting Radio Ron this spring?

This year I got to meet Radio Ron for real. Hang out with him, party with him and ski with him. It was cool and we had some good fun. Up until this meeting, Radio has been elusive and nobody had ever really talked to him from Killington. Radio is a good guy and fun to party with. Looking forward to seeing him again next year for his annual pilgrimage to Killington.

How’s your finger that you broke in Newfoundland?

Well after the winter I had, what's a broken finger?!?! It was the last day in Newfoundland and the sun finally came out, so a few of us hiked up for a quick session on what was to be the sickest thing we found the whole trip. We all picked our lines. I picked a sick line that dropped a cornice into the unknown, threaded the needle, aired trough some rocks out into what looked like a powder field. Well at warp 10 what from the top looked like a powder field was walls of hard pack wind lips. It was my first run on new skis and I never checked the toe pressure. Needless to say I was wide open and the wind buff ripped my skies off, and I crashed sooooo bad. My beacon saved my chest when I bounced off some rocks and to come out with only a broken finger I was happy. The finger is good. Thank You.

Describe your egg eating ritual everyday before skiing…

Every morning I have three eggs usually over easy and a large glass of orange juice. Sometimes I will have some Toast too but always the egg and Juice. This will keep me going until about 2 pm because the eggs are a slow release of protein. At 2 pm I will have a power bar that brings me to the bell, then chow at night.

Name something you miss about 1987 that doesn’t exist in 2007…

I miss girls in high heels because flip flops are gross, Trans Ams, Three Wheelers, Less then dollar a gallon gas and the triple daffy.

Any Shoutouts?

I want to give a shout out to my bud Kristian in California. Don’t hurt yourself jumping off stuff because we still got to rip some sick lines together. Love ya man be safe. I also want to give a shout to the superfan that wants to drink a car bomb with me. Still waiting and looking forward to it.