Eastern Ski Movie Time
December 20, 2020
Yep folks – that first word is “Eastern!” With all the focus on western sun and powder, it can be easy to forget that much of skiing culture was first developed on the east coast. So…there are actually a couple fun ski movies filmed in the east to watch right now. If you saw our piece on the Warren Miller documentary*, you know we aren’t avid fans of the 1.5 hour ski porn movies that have dominated the scene in recent years. How many times can we endure endless cliff jumps and other stunts that normal skiers can’t do and frankly, after seeing the first 5, don’t care about? Give us a story. Give us beginners exploding as they get off the chairlift as Warren did. Or give us a tale about a road trip featuring regular skiers!
These Eastern based films don’t provide all that, but they do come close. They are short breaks from thinking about 2020 and will get your juices flowing for 2021 skiing. Try Made Back East a 20 minute funky little film about six friends on several New England road trips. It focuses on their quest for the perfect five turns in the backcountry of the Adirondacks and northern Vermont – something that can be a bit elusive. Produced in partnership with Boston based Parlor Skis, it reinforces the notion that it can be about the journey as much as the turns.
Just released this week is another short East Coast film that documents a road trip on perhaps the original Skier’s Highway – Route 100 in Vermont. Aptly entitled Vermont 100 it is part of Head’s Kore movie series. And they say it best – “It might not have the highest peaks or the deepest snow, but its impact on North American ski culture is indisputable.” The “It” is the Green Mountain range that runs the spine of VT north/south. The 10 minute movie features two Western boys experiencing the Vermont ski culture and history.
Lastly, check out Westward, a video series produced by KGB Productions and Flylow now in their sixth season and they’ve finally headed to the East Coast. The four part series features Corinne Prevot (founder of Skida), Aaron Rice (record owner for most vertical feet skinned and skied in a year in VT), Sean Lawson (founder of Lawson’s Finest Liquids) and Mike Hayes (Ben & Jerry’s Global Head of Digital Technology). Check out the trailer and the four part series here: Westward Goes East.
These films highlight what for us is a key element of skiing. Yeah, we love the mountains, and we still revel in seeking that perfect turn (well, if you watch conSKIerge co-founder Charlotte ski, you might suspect she has found it). But these flicks remind us it is perhaps most about the friends and relationships made along the way.
*See our earlier piece – I hope to See You Next Year: Same Time, Same Place, which we hope will convince you to watch the documentary on Warren Miller entitled “Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story.” We won’t belabor the point here, but it is a must see, particularly for anyone who grew up watching his early movies. And you young folks will even like it. It is a tad long, but is a unique view into the early days of skiing.
Kevin Dennis is a life long ski bum with a 34 year legal career on the side. Now retired, he skis 80+ days a year. While he lives in Alta UT in the winters, he has traveled extensively through skiing and has skied almost every major resort in North America (and many you have never heard of). He continues to hit the road often throughout the western United States and Canada and trips over the last several years have included ventures in British Columbia, Montana and Colorado. Whether you want to know about the behemoths like Aspen or Squaw or are interested in the road less travelled (Lost Trail Powder Mountain in Montana or Whitewater in BC anyone?), Kevin has been there, has an opinion and you will most likely have to tell him to shut up after a half hour!