Wayne Wong, named one of the most influential people in Skiing according to Skiing and Powder Magazines, and Member of the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. Wong is one of the pioneers in Freestyle skiing.
Born in Vancouver in a non-skiing family, he got hooked at 11. At 16 he became a ski instructor at Mt. Seymour to help pay for his passion. He reached the highest certification in the Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance at 22. Started getting into freestyle at 21 and travelled the continent to compete in the first years of ‘Hot Dog’ competitions. Besides winning, he was the first ever Freestyle of Skier of the Year award and member of the CSIA’s Interski Team in the mid-1970s. Wayne Wong was the poster child of the Hot Dog generation.
This week on Friday Night Video is on Wayne Wong. Here is an excellent clip from the CBC Archives from March 1973:
‘Hot dog’ skiers let it all hang out
Click here to view clip
Program: Weekend
Broadcast Date: March 25, 1973
Guests: Doug Pfeiffer, Wayne Wong
Reporter: Don Cumming
Duration: 8:31It’s 1973 and there’s a hip new craze hitting the ski slopes. Called “hot dog” or freestyle skiing, it emphasizes “technique and high-spirited imagination rather than sheer speed,” according to this CBC-TV report. “We just go down the hill as fast and as crazy as we can,” explains Wayne Wong, one of the new sport’s biggest stars. And Doug Pfeiffer, editor of Skiing Magazine, uses popular 1970s lingo to sum up the sport: “It’s epitomized by the phrase, ‘Get it on! Let it all hang out!’”
Gordy Skoog did an excellent piece for Great Outdoors in 2009 where he interviewed with Wayne Wong (link below):
Blazing Skis – Wayne Wong the Face of Freestyle Skiing
Picture from Wong Collection published in the Greatoutdoors article
MadPat and Wayne Wong at The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame 2008 Induction Ceremony & Diner
Thanks for that, MadPat! Wayne Wong was one of my heroes as a teenage skier in the 70s. I had the glasses (yellow frame not white) and mastered the Killer Kick, Worm Turn, Mule Kick and Outrigger (well, sort of). Never really got the tip roll, though. Every interview I’ve seen in recent years suggests that he is a real gentleman and still completely stoked on skiing. Very cool that you got to meet him.
Every park rat and freeskier should watch those early videos of Wong and his contemporaries. They were the trailblazers for what is happening today and didn’t even have twin-tips!