crowned National Freestyle Champion , but it wasn ’ t skiing that got Stefan his job at Stratton . It was music .
The former racer , and OG hot dog skier , came to the United States to coach at Pico , and had a friend from home teaching at Stratton . He visited one day when the Stratton Mountain Boys happened to be playing . “ I already had a band and always had my trumpet in the car ,” he recalled . “ I jumped on stage , stepped right in . Hubert was playing clarinet , and we could harmonize . Emo offered me a job on the spot . I had to finish my contract but came to Stratton the next season .”
And it was music that launched him , with the band of Stratton Mountain Boys , from a Bears Den stage to national acclaim . Ski School Director Emo Henrich had brought the music and dancing of Austria to the mountains of Vermont when Stratton opened in 1961 , and Adi Gruber was leader until Stefan took up the baton , so to speak , in 1974 . From there , Stefan would lead the band from Tyrolean Evenings in the Stratton Base Lodge to the Olympics , Epcot Center , and Octoberfest venues that overflowed with 10,000 exuberant fans , inspiring at least one record-setting chicken dance .
It was the perfect schedule for a man who spent winters coaching freestyle by day and performing six shows a week to entertain generations of Stratton skiers . That left time in spring and early summer at his home in Austria before heading out on tour with 40 or more stops from Milwaukee to Captiva Island .
On tour , “ the Stratton Mountain Boys are promoting their Austrian heritage and skiing in Vermont to an extent which no other band has been able to do ,” stated one ‘ 80s news article with photos of faces so familiar to Stratton families , including Otto Egger , Gerhard , Hansi …
“ We were the Number 1 Octoberfest band ,” he said , flipping through photos on his iPhone . There ’ s the front page shot with Stefan and the Boys in five columns above the fold , and above President George W . Bush . In Texas . Stefan with Maria von Trapp at the opening of Trapp Family Lodge , the Song of Music matriarch in dirndl , a young Stefan in lederhosen . Stratton Mountain Boys on stage in the Warsteiner pavilion at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics . Playing Washington ’ s Watergate Hotel with a Capitol backdrop , every Boston Ski Show , Disney World , Vegas . “ We played them all .”
Courtesy of Stratton Mountain Resort
Opposite page : The Stratton Mountain Boys , from left to right : Otto Egger , Bill Chappy , Stefan Schernthaner ( with alphorn ), Hans Breitner , and Hans Kremser . This page : The first Stratton Mountain Boys album released in 1975 with cover design by Emo Henrich
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