Alta's "Frank" Closing Day Party Cancelled
The Frank World Classic Ski Competition, a fabled and tongue-in-cheek end-of-season gathering held at Alta Ski Area, Utah, is going on ice.
The “official unofficial” Instagram page for the event recently said that on Alta’s last day of the year, there will be no Frank.
“It's time to return to skiing on closing day, celebrating the mountain and all the joy it provides,” the post read. “Frank has decided to take a vacation to Europe this spring, as he can finally afford it and has finally retired.”
The event, also known as Frank, may come back, the post hinted.
But for now, according to the post, “Frank's spirit will always be with us... no matter what - a whisper in the wind, a distant hoot and holler on a spring day when you're accompanied by a thermos of boiled hot dogs, ready for nourishment.”
“More details to come, but Frank felt it was best to let you all know now so you can plan accordingly,” the post concluded.
The update didn’t provide a reason for the cancellation. Frank or not, Alta plans to close on April 26, per its website.
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What (or who) is Frank, exactly, though?
It’s tough to define—and trying to define it may defeat the point—so we’ll let one of the event’s visionaries, Mike Trioli, take it from here.
First, an explanation of the spirit.
“Frank is a place where every skier should long to be. It is a place of pure bliss, with none of the glitz and glamor and social media that seems to come in this modern age we live in. It is that feeling you get when you are on skis, and the world, and all of its problems, seem to fade away with every turn. Frank is a quiet slayer of the mountain,” Trioli wrote. “Frank is that hoot and holler you hear on the wind on an epic day at the mountain. Frank is a lock-kneed top-to-bottom bump line. Frank doesn't need the hype, the gear, or to be the best skier on the mountain. Frank is humble. Frank just wants to be.”
That ideal is what powered the inaugural Frank, years ago, spawning a sun-soaked gathering at Alta’s Punk Rock with jumps, silly awards, hot dogs (which were thrown at contenders), and plenty of throwback kits. Over time, it became one of skiing's best known grassroots throw downs, drawing big crowds.
“It was a joke, a jab at everyone, including ourselves, who at one point or another took things too seriously on the slopes,” Trioli continued. “When it comes down to it, skiing is supposed to be fun. The idea was to make sure we all knew how much fun we were all having and what a great life we all were living.”
For more Frank wisdom, click here.