Big Sky local, Mario Carr, is bringing his passion for skiing to a whole new level by using Frisbee golf disks on his hands to help him get low while skiing on the slopes.
“I thought about when I was a kid once, my cousins had longboard sliding gloves and we used those on the roads back home," said Carr. "And so I just thought, why hasn't anybody done that with skiing yet?"
Mario Carr is the Big Sky Snow Reporter and spends most of his time on the mountain. He learned how to ski at just 18 months old and this year has skied 141 days in a row.
Carr is a telemark skier, which is a technique that combines alpine and nordic skiing by using the rear foot to keep balance while pushing the front foot to create a carving turn. All while using bindings that only attach at the toe. He says he wanted to find a way to get low while making his turns without using poles.
“The simplest solution so far has been Frisbee golf discs with duct tape handles,” said Carr.
Carr created this new way to ski using Frisbee golf disks about three years ago. Since then, he's gained a following on Instagram for his skill and is turning heads on the slopes.
“Feels really good, looks really cool, you know, turning heads on the chairlift all day, that's what Telemark skiers live for,” said Carr.
He says a skill like this doesn't come without challenges though.
“The biggest challenge using the discs is really relying on the skis to make the carve happen," said Carr. "You have to be a good enough skier to get low enough to where you're actually dragging your hand on the ground.”
He's learning more and more every day.
“I'm figuring out new stuff almost every day," said Carr. "I'm riding with, you know, sometimes it's just dragging one hand, sometimes it's dragging two hands, or spinning around.”
Carr has a patent pending on this idea of hand sliding while skiing and is hopeful he'll receive the official patent this year.
