| Media Note: Direct narration from the script
always appears in italics and quotes.
Opening Montage
Music: "I Am" by Zebrahead
The swirling storm clouds and driving blizzard footage of
the film's opening moments are just a precursor to the torrent
of action that sets the tone for the film. The action begins
with a relentless assault of big air, big wrecks, sweeping
cinematography, edgy action, and sidesplitting laughs that
are the essence of the entire film packed into just a few
minutes of montage.
Blue River, B.C., Canada: A Dream Come
True at Mike Wiegele's Heli-Skiing
Riders: Bob Rankin, Chris Anthony, Micah Black
Equipment: Skis and Helicopters
Music: "Burning Down My Sanity" by Moth
Mike Wiegele's is a place where the wildest skiing dreams
become tantalizing reality: "Massive peaks with glaciers,
blades of the helicopter coming through the solemn air, powdery
snowfields and glaciers." Chris Anthony, Micah Black,
and veteran guide Bob Rankin are a powerful team in their
own personal version of heaven. Rankin explains: "It's
pretty religious up there. It's the only church I need, it's
a special place. . . The film crew comes up here each year,
and we just smile and laugh and ski these great lines …and
have fun. It keeps me young." - Top
of Page
Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado: A Winter Paradise
Riders: Chris Davenport, Peter Olenick, Steele Spence, Gretchen
Blier, Shay Williams
Equipment: Skis, Snowboards
Music: "Ten Dollar High" by Medeki Martin &
Wood, "Mother Father" by Dave Matthews Band
"Paradise is found at the high end of a mountain
valley where storms blow in over the ridge-tops and a fairytale
village wraps itself in a blanket of purest white."
This sequence goes a long way toward correcting stereotypes
of Aspen merely as the playground of the rich and famous.
"People are so laid back and friendly, it's just a great
group of soul skiers that pretty much love to spend every
moment they can up in the mountains." Local hero
Chris Davenport and family revel in the "biggest snow
storm in the past 3 years." Nicely intercut with
a taste of the town's real flavor, some of the stunning vistas
that first made Aspen famous, and solid all-terrain riding,
Aspen shines in this sequence. - Top
of Page
Breckenridge, Colorado: Defying the Rules
at the Nissan Outlaw Air Exhibition
Riders: Jeremy Bloom, Travis Ramos, Travis Woodcock, Brent
Abrams, Rory Bushfield, Garth Hager, Donovan Power, Brady
Johnson, David Babic, Alex Wilson, Luke Westerlund
Equipment: Skis
Music: " Drugs and Girls" by Grand Theft Audio
This bump course goes where no moguls have gone before: inverted,
backwards, twisted, and anywhere but legal. With no rules
and no judges, these progressive freestylers show FIS (the
governing ski committee) what's really going on outside the
competition circuit, giving us a glimpse of what's to come
in the future of freestyle. Riding the wake of Jonny Moseley's
famed "dinner roll," these athletes continue to
push the limits of what's allowed in competition. Olympic
mogulist Jeremy Bloom and freestyler Travis Ramos join 15-year-old
phenom Brent Abrams and other world-class athletes in an all-out
assault on bumps and big air. - Top
of Page
Vintage Warren Miller Comedy: After the
Storm--Ice Sliding
Riders: Various hapless unnamed victims and one persevering
dog.
Equipment: Ancient rear-entry boots, utterly unhelpful on
bulletproof ice.
Music: "Library" by Library Music
No Warren Miller film would be complete without misadventure
footage set to Mr. Miller's own trademark witticisms. Here
he re-narrates classic footage of skiing's most humbling moments:
it's a much-needed breather between the film's blistering
action. - Top
of Page
Sun Valley, Idaho: Wild Backcountry Stashes
Riders: Zach Crist, Reggie Crist
Equipment: Skis
Music: "Urban Tumbleweed" by The Baldwin Brothers,
"Funky Junkyard" by The Baldwin Brothers
The film crews venture to the home of Winter X Games Skiercross
champions Zach and Reggie Crist. The Crist brothers plunge
into the wilds of the Idaho backcountry, hurtling down chutes
and sailing off enormous drops. Fused with classic shots of
past skiing legends, Warren Miller's editor has accomplished
a feat of action, nostalgia, humor, and original personality:
"much of what seems new today is only a rebirth of
what old-timers used to do." - Top
of Page
Cordova, Alaska: All Vertical, All Women
Riders: Charlotte Moats, Jennifer Berg, Jessica Sobolowski
Equipment: Skis and Helicopters
Music: "Make Them Apologize" by Ani DiFranco
"There are some places on the globe where everything
just seems to come together, where sea and land form a perfect
border." That place is Cordova, Alaska, where this
trio has come together to devour the expansive terrain. "Any
morning you're going up in a heli, you never need to drink
coffee. The beating of the propellers and the heli exhaust
is plenty to get you going." The sequence is punctuated
by a propos commentary from the athletes themselves, including
the inside fact that Sobolowski broke her sternum just three
weeks prior to the trip. Undaunted, the injury and her quick
recovery seems to have merely stoked the trio into an even
greater adventure. As Berg describes it: "There're
jagged- edged ridges right and left and lines to be skied
everywhere. We now have five first descents--we're stoked.
Big seracs, glaciers, the ocean in the background, it's spectacular."
- Top of
Page
New School Montage: Redefining Railings
Riders: Phil Poirier, Phil Larose, Vincent Dorion, Tanner
Hall, Kristi Leskinen, Evan Raps, Jon Olsson
Equipment: Skis, Handrails, Houses, Swing Sets-you name it!
Music: "Vivaldi's Four Season Summer Movement" by
DeWolfe Music Library, "Vivaldi's Summer, Presto"
by Conrad Simon
If you thought rail slides and all the latest terrain park
action was the domain of shaky-camera garage flicks, think
again. The sequence takes a unique and surprising perspective
on the sport and shines new light on the half-pipe, rail-slide,
and all the improvisations that are the core of this new movement.
And that's to say nothing of the sheer exhilaration of this
sequence's monumental rail grinds and precarious action. -
Top of Page
Austria: European Freeride Extravaganza
Riders: Barrett Christy, Rob Kingwill, Ben Dolenc
Equipment: Snowboards and Telemark Skis
Music: "Uninvisible" by Medeski Martin & Wood,
"Pink and Green" by Zero Zero
"Pursuing the storm can be a lengthy and exhausting
chase. It's a never-ending quest …till finally the distance
has been traveled and all that lays ahead is white."
Three powder-hungry freeriders carve through Austria's magnificent
mountains, sending powdery rooster tails in their wake. Visually
compelling and interspersed with athlete narration and interviews,
the sequence balances action with local color. The scene is
complete when we see Kingwill become "the test probe"
for a massive handmade gap jump. - Top
of Page
US Marines: Ski Warriors Meet Ski Movie
Stars
Riders: Chris Anthony, Kina Pickett, Chris Paulding, Jeff
McKitterick, Capt. Robert M. Geiger & Other US Marines
Equipment: Skis, Cobra attack helicopters, M-16's, Frozen
Lakes
Music: "As Good As It Gets" by Grand Theft Audio
Camouflage, M-16's, Cobra attack helicopters--welcome to
the US Marines training center in the High Sierras of California.
It may seem an odd scene for a Warren Miller movie, but it
is actually one of the most remarkable and memorable stories
told in the film. When Warren Miller's skiers (nappy and unkempt
next to their Marine hosts) arrive, they're in for a few days
of tough mountain training: "old skis, hot sun, live
ammunition…we're lucky anyone survived." The
crew must perform as Marines do through a series of intense
drills: plummeting into a frozen lake and completing a 10K
biathlon on "unfamiliar Nordic skis lovingly called
white rockets." Particularly hilarious is Anthony's
icy swim and teeth-chattering attempt to repeat his name,
rank, and serial number--it's refreshing to see the limits
of guys who seem incapable of error on the side of the world's
biggest, most remote mountains. And that's where the sequence
closes, in the surprisingly stellar California backcountry,
served by perhaps the beefiest helicopter ever to carry a
Warren Miller crew. "Our boys may not be Marines,
but back on their gear, in their own element, they finally
have a chance to show what they can do." - Top
of Page
Valdez, Alaska: Heli-Skiing with the Masters,
Old and New
Riders: Doug Coombs, Seth Morrison
Equipment: Skis, Helicopters
Music: "Radiate" by Todd Rippo and Delux 71
It's a swift introduction to brash and daring personalities
when they appear onscreen surfing between the icebergs of
Valdez, Alaska. That's just the teaser introduction to "Valdez
heli-ski founding father Doug Coombs." He joins new
school legend Seth Morrison, consuming every line on Alaska's
massive mountains. These two tremendous athletes, young and
old, power down the titanic peaks with the power and style
that have made them heroes of the sport. The veteran Coombs
says, "Skiing with Seth's fun because he's so talented
physically and mentally that I know he's gonna get down anything.
He can charge so fast." Likewise, Morrison describes
Coombs: " Even though he's 20 years older than I am,
he's still more of a kid than I am. He's full of life and
he wants everybody to be having a great time, just giggling
and having smiles on their faces all day long." Featuring
perhaps the hairiest avalanche escape ever filmed, the segment
is a triumph: "If you're not smiling, you better change
sports. Everyone tries to make it serious, but it's really
not a serious sport at all. As long as you're smiling, having
fun and feeling loose, you're gonna have the best run of your
life!" - Top
of Page
Steamboat, Colorado: Bottomless Powder
and a Factory for Olympians
Riders: Billy Kidd, Toby Dawson, Caleb Martin, Scott Bradley,
Dan Gilchrist
Equipment: Skis & Lots of Powder
Music: "Highway 40" by Brak, "Cowboy 78"
by The Wiseguys, "Snowfall" by Reckless Kelly
"Steamboat skiers dream of glory, of sun-filled days
and snow-filled nights. They dream of champagne powder."
Introduced as "a factory that produces Olympic skiers,"
Steamboat actually comes across as a factory for perfect deep
powder snow. "Maybe it's the quality of snow, the
tradition, the air we breathe, or maybe it's just the water."
U.S. Ski Team members Toby Dawson and Caleb Martin and telemarkers
Scott Bradley and Dan Gilchrist show a grit and gusto in this
bountiful powder that will make audiences salivate--but then
with this kind of snow, don't we all imagine we can ride like
that? It simply looks like a whole lot of fun up there on
the big screen. - Top
of Page
Snowboard Montage: Boarding Brilliance
Riders: Dave Downing, Terje Haakonsen, Frederik Kalbermatten,
Heikki Sorsa
Equipment: Snowboards
Music: "Funky Meter" by Ordinary K, "I'd Start
A Revolution" by Aimee Allen
From terrain park insanity to backcountry belligerence, this
sequence is all-out snowboarding hedonism. The sport's top
riders flaunt their most astounding tricks in a film segment
both authentic and expressive for the sport. Intensely engaging,
the sequence draws you in, takes you along, and leaves you
breathless in a fast-paced mountain odyssey. - Top
of Page
Whistler Blackcomb: Something for Everyone
Riders: Hugo Harrison, Jennifer Ashton, Scott McLorie, Ryan
Oakden
Equipment: Skis, Snowboards
Music: "Welcome To My Party" by Rusted Root, "Shot
Shot" by Gomez, "When You Come Back Down" by
Nickel Creek
Sometimes it's nice to get a little local color of the places
Warren Miller films. The picture painted of Whistler Blackcomb
is one of "something for everyone." The sequence
mixes a sense of a bustling village and festival atmosphere
with the terrain for which the pair of mountains are rightfully
famous. From half-pipe and big-air action to impressive descents
both in-bounds and off-piste, we see: "two mountains,
big vertical, and deep powder." The in-bounds action
is powerful, but the surrounding backcountry offers some of
the most spectacular skiing in the film: steep chutes, towering
cornices, crisp powder, and solid performances from the athletes
to match it all. - Top
of Page
Extreme Mountain Bikes
Riders: A Cast of the Craziest Riders Around!
Equipment: Mountain bikes
Music: "Who Told You" by Roni Size and Reprazent
The visuals of this scene absolutely speak for themselves.
Words simply can't do justice to the world's most fearless
and talented riders, teetering on the edge of chaos. Witness
spectacular crashes that will leave you cringing and asking
yourself "why would they attempt that?" The
driving beat of the music carries audiences through and leaves
them white-knuckled and exhausted after just a few minutes
of footage. - Top
of Page
Glen Plake at Lake Tahoe: The Man Behind
the Mohawk Lets His Hair Down
Rider: Glen Plake
Equipment: Skis (210 cm)
Music: "Diggin My Potatoes" by James Mathus and
His Knockdown Society
"In his element, in his own words, in a way that
few have ever seen him before…" Skiing's original
bad boy, Glen Plake, lets his hair down and gives us a guided
tour of his own turf in the spring: hiking through Tahoe's
wilderness and up to the remaining snow-pack in order to spend
a few days in the solitude of the mountains. "On about
the third or fourth day you start getting into it. You really
don't care about anything else in the world." Still
going strong on his old-school 210 cm skis, it's refreshing
to see a new side of an old favorite, Glen Plake. Although
he's left his mohawk mousse at home, his trademark chuckle
punctuates the scene and fans can't help but want to come
along. - Top
of Page
South Georgia Island: A Magical Voyage
to No-Man's Land
Riders: Hilaree Nelson, Rick Armstrong, Doug Stoup, John Griber
Equipment: Skis, Snowboard, Sailboat
Music: "Library" by Library Music, "So Long
Ago" by Dry Cell
"Not all the world was designed for humankind. In
a far-flung Antarctic sea, ocean waves crash on a stony shore,
and an island rises from the swell." Welcome to South
Georgia Island, a lonely crag of ice and snow in the South
Atlantic, near the Antarctic Peninsula. "This is no one's
country, no one's homeland. Here no comforts await, no populations
abound. Here man does not rule." Imagine a land virtually
untouched by humans. There is a lot to see here--beaches brimming
with king penguins, elephant seals and albatross; jagged mountains
rising from the banks of a punishing sea; scattered debris
of abandoned settlements. The camera crew and athletes, searching
for powder and peaks never touched or even mapped by humans,
set out to retrace--and explore beyond--the historic steps
of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated voyage in 1914. "Few
ski expeditions begin on the open sea…800 miles of the
Scotia Sea, four days without sight of land, on a ship measuring
less than 60 feet." The reward for a month-long expedition
is the crew's successful summit of one of the most remote
mountains in the world. The storm subsides and in a fitting
end to the film, the crew carves historic first tracks under
a blue sky, back down to the sea. - Top
of Page
Tail Crawl:
Music: "Again" by The Hemisphere
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