Local resident Tristan Feinberg is a member of the U.S. Freeski Team and has been competing on the World Cup circuit in the halfpipe since he was 15. He has unveiled a new magazine called “Rodeo,” inspired by the halfpipe rodeo skiing event he created last March. A reception for the magazine will be held at the Aspen Collective gallery in the Wheeler Opera House building at 6 p.m. today.
Courtesy of Tristan Feinberg
Tristan Feinberg wants to talk about mental health. The Aspen native and member of the U.S. Freeski Team as a halfpipe skier understands mental health all too well.
A few years ago he fell into a deep depression. Despite the fact that he had all the outward trappings of success, he had thoughts of suicide.
“I was in a position of contemplating taking my own life,” said Feinberg, 22. “On an outside level, I’m a professional skier and it seems like my life is the greatest thing ever and it is, but everybody hits rock bottom.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it doesn’t matter how rich your lifestyle is. I want to normalize that conversation around mental health and hopefully make people more comfortable to have those hard conversations,” he continued.
Feinberg, who has been on the World Cup circuit since he was 15, felt the best way to have those conversations was to create an event that would bring people together in a spirit of camaraderie to celebrate halfpipe skiing.
Last March, in partnership with Aspen Skiing Co. and Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club, Feinberg produced the inaugural Buttermilk Halfpipe Rodeo. The event brought professional skiers and members of the local skiing community together for a day on the mountain to increase interest in the halfpipe and open up a dialogue about mental illness.
Another goal for Feinberg was to address substance abuse through the event.
“There’s a large problem with kids getting into substances and destructive habits from a young age in this valley so what I tried to do with the rodeo was to use the influence of the fellow riders in the valley to show these kids that there is an outlet out there for them so they can have a good time and not need to do that stuff as a result,” Feinberg said.
During the rodeo, Feinberg collaborated with artist Cole Smith who shot photos of the skiers throughout the event. Feinberg and Smith have created a glossy magazine out of those photo sessions called “Rodeo.”
Tristan Feinberg created an event at Buttermilk last March to shine a light on halfpipe skiing and mental illness. There will be a reception for his new magazine “Rodeo” at 6 p.m. today at the Aspen Collective.
Courtesy of Tristan Feinberg
Today (Tuesday) 6 p.m., Feinberg will unveil the new magazine at a reception the Aspen Collective gallery, 213 S. Mill St., in the Wheeler Opera House building.
“This is the first volume of ‘Rodeo’ magazine and we’re really proud of how it came out, “ Feinberg said. “It’s a lot of film photography and a lot of 16-millimeter screen grabs from the video that we made. It’s a 9×9-inch, 80-page magazine with 40 different spreads, most of which are photos but we do have some written word stuff too.”
Feinberg got testimonies from five professional skiers in the halfpipe space that are in the magazine. The first question: “Where do you see halfpipe skiing in the next four years?” The second question: “What are the steps needed to get there?”
Feinberg is not selling the magazines; he is giving them away to people, along with a baseball cap, to those who make donations to the AVSC.
There will be four large prints at the gallery that are photos that appear in the magazine and will be given to the four largest donors. A video from last year’s halfpipe rodeo event also will be shown tonight.
Some of the proceeds from the donations will be used to help fund the second annual halfpipe rodeo event at Buttermilk on March 14.
“It’s kind of a circular thing,” Feinberg explained. “We have the March event, we then make a magazine and then have a winter event and the money raised there helps finance the next March event. Again, we’re bringing some of the world’s best skiers together to ultimately showcase the sport but also showcase who they are as individuals outside of the half pipe and outside of skiing and ultimately create a support system.”
Feinberg said the single biggest problem with mental health is loneliness and alienation.
“I don’t want people to feel alone,” he said. “At my lowest, I felt extremely lonely and irrelevant as a human being. And what pulled me out was community and having a friend next to me.
“I want to create a community that people feel like they can be a part of and be more comfortable to have those hard conversations, whether it’s about substance abuse or any other mental-health issue. I want to contribute to the community in that way and showcase the significance of mental health and hopefully make those hard conversations easier,” he added.