I don’t know how to be objective about ski movies any longer. Faced with handfuls of well-shot, stoke-inducing, bro-tastic ski movies annually, how does one truly cherry-pick the quality content amid the Red-Bull logos and helicopter rotors?
I went to a ski-film premier last week. As I sat, half under the influence of intoxicants, surrounded by a sea of neon, flannel and skinny jeans, I feared for the state of ski movies. The intro segment rolled as ’80s hair-metal kicked from the stacks that lined the stage. Everyone cheered and I did, too. I couldn’t help myself. Some Ozzy guitar riff coincided perfectly with a be-stickered skier sticking a monster 60-foot hit. I even fist-pumped twice.
Skier: Noah Howell
But I left feeling hollow and plastic. Where was the grit, the realness, the truth behind the skiing. And, above all else, where was the real backcountry content? I yearned for more artistic shots, dudes skinning, beards, drinking, ropes, harnesses and backpacks. I needed something more core, more, quite frankly, low budget.
Enter Powderwhore’s newest iteration of the ski-flick, entitled “Choose Your Adventure.” In it, a compilation of skiing, riding, drinking, facial hair, ropes, harnesses, backpacks and skinning.
Skier: Noah Howell
The film opens with a segment starring Darrell Finlayson, a Utah transplant, whose sole mission is to ski every month for as many as consecutively possible. Even after a mountain bike accident broke his neck, Darrell still skied monthly. This movie opener, starring a regular, psyched dude, sets the tone for what the rest of this film has to offer: core riders in their local stomping grounds.
Then, there’s a segment with Bob Athey, the Wizard of the Wasatch, which gives a taste of “real deal” ski bumming. Cashing unemployment to fund an effort to learn how to ski, Athey has since started a website that offers comprehensive snow data and killer photos. Plus, he has a monster beard.
Chris Davenport in Antarctica.
But fear not, the stoke factor is present, too. One seggy stars the now well-known Provo Bros as they shred their way across the Utah backcountry. Look out for great splitboard content here.
And if you’re looking for destinations to ogle over, brace yourself for a full faceshot of Cerro Castillo, Patagonia; Chamonix, France and Antarctica, among other stellar locations. It’s in these places where backcountry legends like Andrew McLean, who travels with the Powderwhore team to Norway, ski some of the steepest and most remote slopes on the globe. Dare you to not get excited for a great season.
“Choose Your Adventure” isn’t a ski flick for everybody. At times, the transitions seem like they were rendered in PowerPoint. But the content is what separate’s CYA from big-ticket ski flicks, dominated by larger-than-life booters, heli-fueled stoke and glitzy pros. So if you’re tired of the over-hyped ski film, and find yourself pining for a simpler, well-shot flick full of real-life content, check out Powderwhore’s “Choose Your Adventure.”
