« Previous Story |
The Industry Report Home Page
| Next Story »
Monks, Bride Deflate Moseley's Big Air Plans
By J.D. O'Connor
September 05, 2005
All is right again on tony Fillmore Street in San Francisco: the Hindu monks are deep in meditation, unsuspecting tourists continue to bottom out their rental cars on the legendary hill, a neighborhood wedding went off without a hitch and there was nary a ski jumper in sight.
Olympic medalist and local boy Jonny Moseley had proposed to truck in the one commodity the City by the Bay doesn't have - snow - and grab some big air off precipitous Fillmore in celebration of his 30th birthday Aug. 27.
The event, dubbed "Icer Air 2005" by Moseley's Nevada-based sponsor, would have featured the Olympian mogul-masher and several of his friends kicking off a specially built ramp and launching themselves towards San Francisco Bay while throngs of admirers gasped and the MTV cameras rolled.
"It was an interesting idea and it sure got Jonny's name in the news," said California Ski Industry Association executive director Bob Roberts. "But this is San Francisco. To think you could drop a ton of snow in someone's driveway without their objecting might have been asking a little too much."
As it turns out the jittery local bride, the meditative monks and other Pacific Heights residents lit up the phone lines to City Hall just days before the event, bringing all plans for Icer Air to an abrupt halt.
"It's too bad," said Mission District resident Mitch Taylor, a snowboarder and local surfer who planned to take a day off from his job as a messenger to watch the aerial display with friends. "Politics."
Perhaps.
To say some major strings weren't pulled when the posh neighborhood which found itself hosting Moseley, 200 tons of imported snow and thousands of boarders, skiers and other fans realized what it was in for would be naïve, at best.
"Honestly, hosting any kind of an event in San Francisco is a dicey affair," Roberts said. "It (Icer Air) can be done, but it's going to take the right venue and a lot of work."
Moseley and Icer insist they will continue to cooperate with the city until an alternative site for the jump-off can be found.
« Previous Story |
The Industry Report Home Page
| Next Story » |
Email To A Friend
|
