Banks keeps lighted man tradition alive
By Christine Metz, Staff Reporter for the Steamboat Pilot/Today

Sunday, January 26, 2003

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — As spectators watch the Lighted Man make his way down Howelsen Hill wearing a suit of light bulbs and shooting off Roman candles, it looks like a one-man show.

But it is not.

Jon Banks, who has been a Lighted Man since 1971, says it takes a crew of six or eight people to pull the event off.

He has help putting on the Lighted Man suit, equipped with around 200 lights powered by a 12-volt battery and Roman candles. Men assist him in setting off the fireworks at the top of the hill.

And as he skis down Howelsen Hill, someone skis in the shadows equipped with a fire extinguisher and safety equipment in case there is a mishap. And at the bottom someone waits to bring him back up to the top of the hill.

Banks said being the Lighted Man can be a dangerous job with the chance of exploding Roman candles, a fire ball rolling under the collar of the fire resistant suit, a leaky battery or ice on the slope.

"Hardly a year goes by when we don't have something that makes for a tense moment," Banks said.

Banks' father, Claudius, started the Winter Carnival's Lighted Man tradition in 1936.

Claudius began by attaching light bulbs to his poles and eventually added Roman candles that jutted from his helmet.

As the years went on, the show became more elaborate and exciting. Claudius added pyrotechnics to the act and designed three different suits, often carrying more than 100 pounds of equipment with him as he slid down the hill.

Jon joined his father in 1971 and there were two lighted men until Claudius retired in 1978. Banks has been performing solo ever since.

In the early 1980s, Banks purchased a NASCAR racing suit, which is fire proof. But Banks said the suit is constantly being upgraded and three years ago the lighting was redone.

"I look at it as a constant upgrade, to go through and replace and repair things that did not work as well as they should and to figure out things."

Working with the Lighted Man suit is a natural task for the electrical engineer and he admits to gathering help from friends in the industry as well as Dave Herman, a former schoolmate of Banks who has assisted in the Lighted Man performance for years.

Banks said he does not know of any other lighted men who take to the slopes like a giant moving Christmas tree setting off Roman Candles. He has performed outside of Steamboat in Sun Valley, Aspen, Jackson Hole and Arizona, but Steamboat's Winter Carnival is the only event he returns to year after year.

Banks said there are people out there who have the expertise to take over when the time comes to retire as the Lighted Man.

"I'd rather someone that is ambitious and has an electrical background," Banks said.

Each year Banks' younger brother, Kent, comes to the carnival as the back up in case anything should happen. In the 1970s, Kent participated in the Winter Carnival with his brother and father. It marked the only time there were three lighted men.