Question for all you fans of Jason “Wee Man” Acuña: if you saw him on a bus, would you recognize him?
For those of you who said yes, that puts you one step ahead of this writer already. Congratulations.
My interview with Wee Man was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Buttermilk Mountain here in Aspen. The mountain is not within walking distance of my hotel room and since this is my first time in the city, I was very focused on finding a shuttle that would get me to the interview.
When I climbed aboard, one that the driver assured me would take me to the slopes of Buttermilk, I hardly noticed the three other people on the bus.
It wasn’t until I heard a familiar cackle from the front of the bus during the ride that I realized, to my embarrassment, I had walked right past my subject without even noticing. When I got off the bus and introduced myself to Acuña and his two compatriots, who turned out to be members of Monster’s film crew, they seemed as surprised as I was.
“Way to be on the ball there, kid,” one of them laughed.
Luckily Acuña and his crew were more than forgiving, not only giving me the face-to-face interview but also taking me inside the Monster trailer to meet the rest of the video squad filming and editing Wee Man’s exploits this weekend at the X Games.
Once I sat down with the film and TV star, it quickly became apparent that this would be an easygoing interview. Acuña was unguarded and spoke freely about his first experience at the Winter X Games.
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To hear him tell it, Wee Man is thoroughly enjoying that experience. He particularly likes the vibe in the town of Aspen.
“It’s a really awesome town, it’s got that small town feel,” he said. You’ve got the volunteer fire department and the city hall is like two stories high. The people are all really friendly.”
When asked about what he’s done outside of viewing the competition while in town, Acuña mentions the Aspen food as a highlight.
“I really liked Over Easy, this breakfast place,” he said. “I had West Coast eggs benedict, it was awesome.”
His time spent watching the competitions here seems to have been action-packed, as well. He discusses the intensity of the men’s snowboard superpipe competition from the night before and compares it to mega ramp in skateboarding. If he had to pick a Winter X Games sport to be elite in, he says without hesitation it would be the superpipe. He talks about another event that has really caught his attention, as well, however.
“I don’t know how those snowmobilers do it,” said Acuña, referring to the snowmobile speed and style event from the previous evening. “These guys are a buck fifty, a buck seventy and they’re turning and flipping this 900-pound snowmobile.”
When asked about his favorite part of the X Games experience in general, he says that he really likes seeing these sports on such a big stage for the world to view.
“I love the crowds that are here,” he said. “I grew up on snowboarding and skateboarding so it’s cool to see it on this level.”
Wee Man will be in town all weekend chronicling his time at the X Games, so if you’re in Aspen, be on the lookout and don’t walk right past him like I did.
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or subscribe at Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
Photo Credit: Getty
