Creative yet crude snowboarder Danny Kass will leave his mark on the 2002 Winter Games — whether he wins the halfpipe competition or not.
Armed with a can of spray paint and a grenade stencil, the New Jersey teenager and his posse slink around snowboard contests tattooing everything from unattended snowboards to blow-up dolls to spectators. Girls are known to bare their stomachs for the honor.
"A lot of people that we know like it," Kass said. "And then just some fans want to get spray painted, so, of course, we spray paint them."
Staid Salt Lake City might not be ready for the way Kass paints the town.
"I don't think it is because I'm crazy," he says.
Kass also might be the best young halfpipe rider in the world.
The 19-year-old had a breakout season last year, winning just about every major contest including the U.S. Open, the Winter X Games and the U.S. Grand Prix championship. He never holds back in the halfpipe. His runs are a mix of huge straight airs and inverted aerials. He is one of the few riders to consistently do a 1,080-degree spin. Sometimes he'll throw in his patented Kasseroll trick.
An Olympic medal is the only thing missing from his résumé.
"My parents are going to freak out," he said after making the Olympic team. "They were just really surprised when I stopped going to high school to snowboard. They thought it was crazy. And now I'm going to the Olympics."
Kass promises to shake up his run for the Games, possibly throwing in some new tricks. That's probably not all he'll shake up.
With punk rock blasting (Dead Kennedys or Butthole Surfers will do) into his ears through camouflage headphones while he rides, Kass carries on the outlaw image that has followed snowboarding since the sport took off in the mid 1980s.
In December, police were called to his new digs in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., when an early morning party became loud. Last year, he was kicked out of his sponsor's booth at a Las Vegas trade show after making off with a ski bike and urinating behind another booth.
Kass did acquit himself well at a U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association news conference in Breckenridge, Colo., announcing the Olympic freestyle team. Nothing came out of his mouth that burned any ears or made anyone blush.
But in interviews, his answers to routine questions are often too vulgar to print in a mainstream newspaper. He likes to draw but some of his work isn't fit for a stall in the men's room.
When he's not involved in some dirty fun, Kass dabbles in the business world. He and his older brother, Matt, the one who taught him to ride a snowboard, and some friends own a Grenade Gloves, which specializes in snowboard gloves with names like "Buzzbomb" and "Bozworth." T-shirts, too, are available with the company's hand grenade logo.
But for those looking for a personal touch, bare skin will do. Kass will be more than happy to oblige with his spray paint.
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