| Ski with Her |
|
|
Photo courtesy Ebstair
There are difficulties in producing a calendar of nude ski instructors, although probably not the problems you’re imagining. There have been no reported cases of frostbite, hypothermia, or severe sunburn on areas not normally exposed to the elements. No, the biggest headache for the Skilehrerinnen Kalendar’s creator and producer, Thomas Ebster, is its popularity. Now in its fifth year, this Pirelli for the powder crowd—limited to 1,000 copies per year—is so renowned in Europe that photographers have a tough time locating a patch of slope without attracting a supportive and enthusiastic audience. Ebster, a former ski guide and racer from Oberlech, Austria, recalls how he and his crew once found the perfect block of ice on which to pose a model. Unfortunately, the site was next to a road. “A bus driver stopped the bus next to the shooting,” he says, “and all the people came out and had a big party.” Another time, when they were shooting Maria, the Briton with the strategically placed locks on the opposite page, a British couple happened to ski by the shoot. The man stopped and indicated to his girlfriend that he’d like to watch for a while. His girlfriend indicated that he’d better point his skis downhill and get back to skiing. An argument followed that was so heated, it nearly caused a halt to the production. No reports on how the rest of their holiday turned out. Ebster first had the idea for the calendar while he was still guiding. He realized that many of his colleagues would make perfect models. In 2004, the first calendar debuted with an all-male cast. Demand that women instructors be given their fair share of exposure resulted in the first female version in 2005. “It was harder to find girls than men,” says Ebster, who came to the conclusion early on that he wouldn’t be able to rely solely on Austria’s talent pool. “[So] we did an international casting.” He also found that the conservative community of Arlberg was not keen on being known as the home of the Austrian nude ski instructors’ calendar. Luckily, his partner in the enterprise, Gerhard Lucian, happens to be a major property owner in the area, and he was able to smooth the way with prudish locals. Though the calendar is very well known to European and South American ski buffs—or skiers in the buff—Ebster admits that “in the States, we are not popular.” But he aspires to change that. “We hope Julia Mancuso will be in the 2010 edition, and then the U.S. will know us.” There is a more practical use of the calendar than simply hanging it on your wall. If one instructor strikes you as the kind of person who could take your skiing to the next level, drop a note to Ebster requesting the teacher’s name and ski area. The rest is up to you. Contact To place an advance order for a 2010 calendar or to locate the ski area of your favorite instructor, write to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
| Next > |
|---|