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Pro freeride skier and Ketchum native Karl Fostvedt — better known as “Crazy Karl” — has been named a last-second addition to the U.S. Alpine Ski Team for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, which begin today.
“I’m really proud to represent my country doing what I love,” Fostvedt said from Italy on Tuesday morning after departing a red-eye flight from British Columbia, where he had been brap-skiing and filming with his crew. “But I don’t really know how this happened.”
Fostvedt said his decision to enter a downhill race in Austria last month was “really a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.”
“My friends and I thought it would be funny and make great footage,” he added.
Not only did the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation freestyle veteran win the race, he did so by more than three seconds — an almost unheard-of margin — catching the attention of U.S. and European coaches alike.
“Yeah, I’m not really sure what to say because I’m still in shock,” said Iggy Snowdust, a U.S. Alpine Ski Team coach. “He gap-jumped an entire 400-foot section of the downhill course, then sent a massive 150-foot front flip off the final roller heading into the finish.
“I’ll repeat that: He gapped 400 feet. Four. Hundred. Feet.”
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that on Fostvedt’s website, KarlFostvedt.com, he is listed as a “sender,” in addition to a “skier” and “crazy.” So this tracks.
The jump featured Crazy Karl sailing over an entire chunk of the downhill — essentially skipping it — while still somehow making all his gates in midair.
“Wunderbar!” Austrian spectator Johanna Gruber remarked from the bottom of the course before removing her top.
Snowdust said spending that much time in the air would normally result in a slower time — “but not if you gap an entire section of the course.”
Fostvedt had only been in Austria to teach a group of European freeride skiers how to brap-ski, a style of aggressive, snowmobile-assisted skiing in the backcountry. Crazy Karl popularized the term and eventually produced and starred — alongside friends and fellow pros — in a film series titled Brap Ski. He’s been featured in numerous other freeride ski films and was crowned winner of the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s in Jackson Hole twice, in 2018 and 2021.
He entered the alpine downhill in Austria on a whim.
The Americans were grateful he did. The Europeans? Not so much — especially the Germans, known as sticklers for rules.
Several nations released statements expressing dismay that such jumps and antics could possibly be allowed in an Olympic-sanctioned downhill race.
“Wow, pour qui se prend-il? C’est ridicule,” a French statement read, meaning, “Who does he think he is? This is ridiculous.”
The Italians responded similarly: “Chi si crede di essere? Ridicolo.”
The Germans took it a step further.
“Verboten! Zuwiderhandlungen werden mit dem Tode bestraft!” a German official shouted over a loudspeaker — which roughly translates to, “Illegal! Violators will be shot.”
Fostvedt said he wasn’t worried either way.
“It’s been dumping, so we’re planning to get into some new brap-ski terrain in the Italian Alps,” he said. “There are a few cliffs I’d like to send before my official downhill training run.”
He added that he would love to link up with Alpina, an Italian snowmobile company that makes deluxe utility machines some have described as a cross between snowmobiles and snowcats.
“With those engines, all it would take is a few modifications and those suckers would climb like mountain goats,” Fostvedt said with a grin.
