Winterland (2019) - full transcript
A great
skier once said,
"sliding on snow
is a special gift
of the relationship
between earth and sky."
It only comes in sufficient
amounts in particular places
at certain times on this earth.
And people devote their
whole lives to it.
We are all eternal here,
in this place with epic storms,
bluebird backdrops and the
paint desire of alpine glow.
There is something bigger than
life in a trip to this place,
where the earth and sky collide.
Whoa.
Yeah, I'm fine.
- Come on!
Is that everybody?
Yeah.
Are we ready to rock?
Teton gravity
research has called Jackson home
since we picked up our
first camera 25 years ago.
Unrivaled terrain and snowfall
has allowed generations
of unknowns and icons alike
to hone their skills here,
surfing storms that
never seem to break.
Not since the winter
of '96, ninety-heaven
had Wyoming seen such
copious amounts of snow.
The echo of patrollers'
bombs rolled
like thunder in the darkness,
and locals reveled in the
seemingly endless bounty.
The
latest information on
the significant winter storm
still anticipated tonight,
through the day Wednesday
and into Thursday.
We're anticipating strong
winter storm conditions
and blizzard conditions.
One of the strongest and
potentially deepest low pressure
systems in years is
projected to intensify.
Travel Wednesday and Thursday is
extremely and
highly discouraged,
and if not, should be
canceled at this time.
Overhead, go left!
Overhead!
Word is biggest
February here in history,
and I believe it.
There's no reason to leave.
It just kind keeps dumping.
Nice!
Thank you.
Yeah, dude!
- Yeah!
It was
good to get after it,
and have a fun
crew to do it with.
This season they knew that
Jackson was the place to be.
Jackson
hole is the shaggy,
untamed unicorn of the rockies.
With a backyard so big,
it's a national park,
and a back country so legendary,
it's become a training
ground for some
of the best free
riders in the world.
Despite historic amounts
of snow stacking up
across the tetons, for brief
moments between storms,
the home lavatory
sparkled like a diamond.
Pretty
much anyone who wanted
to have a good time and heard
about our amazing season
came out and shooshed
around Wyoming.
Just cracked blue
after 18 inches.
Buzzing energy up here.
Ha ha!
Three, two, one.
Whoa!
Left!
I'm good.
Oh, my god!
Three,
two, one, dropping.
That was big!
Yeah!
Okay, I'm going up.
Three,
two, one, dropping.
Dude!
Oh yeah, dude.
Good work everybody.
That was sick, dude.
- Waiting for Timmy, since
he doesn't ever get back
to me when I message him.
I've got him right here.
Dude, it looks like he's
getting really close actually.
Waiting for Tim, man.
Story of my life.
Yo, dude!
Who are
you waiting for?
You.
You were
waiting for me?
Tim,
where's your stuff?
Where's your stuff?
- You did it, dude.
I'll
check your backpack.
What about here?
Where's my gopro?
He lost it.
There it is!
But you know what,
it's always worth it.
I'll wait for Tim any day.
- It's alive.
- Whoa!
Yeah dude!
- That was epic!
Sick!
Tim,
here, is crazy man.
Yeah, boy!
Europe,
the old country,
where the names of
storied ski areas
sound like breathless
foreign prayers.
Saas fee, chamonix,
verbier, and kitzbuhel.
As if just uttering them
would give you the strength
in your heart to set an edge
on slopes as sheer as steeples,
with only heaven above and
wine and white glory below.
While relentless early
season mega-storms continued
to line up like soldiers,
and with local ski
legend, fabian lentsch,
already poised to
show US his homeland,
we led out to immerse ourselves
in the fabled magic of the alps.
I feel like
a modern ski bum at times.
I love living in a Van.
Can just base out of
the bottom of the lift,
and then if the snow comes
from the other direction,
you just move over there.
Yeah, that's the way
to go in Austria.
Just boutta be
out in the middle of no where,
sleep there, get up
super early, ski lines.
We got here
in the middle of January,
and Austria was having pretty
much the best season ever.
It was almost too much snow.
Villages were shut off
because of avalanches.
By the time we showed up,
things had settled
down a little bit,
and we were pretty poised
to tee off a bunch of lines
that rarely, if ever, get skied.
It's been crazy.
In January and February
we get that amount
of big mountain skiing.
Nice to be out
on a little morning stroll.
Okay, he's
going real fast, huh?
Yeah!
That was exciting.
Even though
we've been at resorts,
we've hiked every single line.
There's no way.
Fuck!
Oh, that was intense.
Some of the hiking's been
like the most exciting things
that happen during the day.
I wanna
report I'm 100%.
Yeah buddy!
Oh, my god!
Yeah!
Woo!
We had all
gotten our lines,
and smoothy was kind of frothing
a little bit for one more,
so went back up,
got a couple turns, cut out
this big pocket that propagated
and all this stuff, and the
entire face is on the move
and waterfalling down over
the cliffs at the bottom.
The whole face went.
I'm
gonna re-drop now.
Oh, my god.
Smoothy, smoothy!
You're good.
You're here.
The helicopter's on the way.
You're right here with me.
- Yeah, so we saw
smoothy go down,
and I was the first one
in so I ran up to him
and rolled him over and saw
that he was completely seizing.
Eyes rolled up in the back
of his head, jaw locked shut.
It was pretty--
it's not a good day
in the mountains.
When you show up to somebody
and they're in that state,
pretty somber afternoon
there with the rescue
and not knowing how
it was gonna pan out.
Even though Sam turned out
to be more or less fine,
he had a trauma induced seizure.
Smoothy definitely got
away with one that day.
Kind of a wake up
call to everybody
to just keep the
ultimate goal in mind,
which is come home safe
at the end of the day.
I was like
talking to wolves yesterday.
- Wolves or walls?
- Wolves, I actually saw wolves.
I've been on my own too long.
- We miss you though, buddy.
- Yeah buddy.
Hey, thanks
for the call guys.
Have a good time tomorrow,
and we'll talk soon.
Luckily
smoothy's greatest quality,
his sense of humor, was in tact.
That definitely made
it a little bit easier
to continue on with the trip,
but you still have
this loud reminder
of what could go wrong and
how fast that could happen.
Putting on
the vert, go up that way.
Looks deep and steep.
Why are we doing this again?
Cause it's fun.
We're up
here climbing suddenly.
Oh yeah, feels good.
Let's top out!
Yeah!
Come on, buddy!
One of the
highlights was for sure skiing
that big facing kitzbuhel.
Apparently nobody
skied this middle part,
the line off the cross
of the summit there.
Woo!
Epic summit.
Yeah,
buddy, nice one!
All right, made it to
the top of my line.
Looks exciting!
Three, two, one.
In Austria, skiing
is for sure a way of life.
They're really serious about it.
There's chair lifts everywhere.
People love it.
And for me, it was
a cool experience
to have an American crew here
and to get a
different perspective.
It's always the people
who make good places,
and that was for sure the case.
Canadians pretty
much invented heli-skiing,
and no where does
whirlybird, snow cat,
or snow pony
assisted powder turns
come together any better
than British Columbia.
These laid-back bad
asses have led the way
in providing easy access
to the high alpine.
Bc is home to close
knit friend crews,
who go way off the grid
seeking the ultimate
winter playground.
With clear skies and cold snow,
we decide to link
up with Nick mcnutt
and a few of his
infamous friends.
We are
in squamish, bc, Canada.
Where I live is one of the
better places I've been to ski
in the back country.
I love seeing new terrain
and riding different stuff,
but there's also
something to be said
for riding your home terrain.
This year, skiing with Ian,
I got to explore a little
bit further than I've been.
Mac knows just like
kinda every corner
and what's gonna be
around the next corner.
It's cool, too, cause I've
got a fresh set of eyes,
seeing this stuff
for the first time,
versus him seeing it for the
twentieth or thirtieth time.
Some of our objectives
were basically
about as deep as you can go.
He's so sick.
- Three, two, one, drop.
That was rowdy.
- Hey!
- Hey.
Yeah!
I don't know how you
land switch anyway.
Makes no sense to me.
After spending
a few weeks on the coast,
I ended up heading east
to stellar heli skiing.
Linked up with sage and
Johnny for a camping mission.
Yeah,
we're going there.
Into them hills.
All you really
know is just waking up,
getting warm, warming up your
ski boots, skiing all day,
eating, and repeating.
Welcome to camp!
So deep.
- When you first get that
glimpse out in a new zone,
that first spark that you
get, that feeling is so good.
- Look at the glory
look at the sparkles!
Nice!
One of the
cool things about camp
is all the trails we have.
We got trails going
to jumps over there,
trails going down
valleys over there,
trails going up
ridges over there.
Three, two, one, drop.
Woo!
The temps
were kind of ranging
from negative 28 to
negative 25 at night.
Store in a
cool, dry location.
Cold and wet, does that work?
- Oh, it's lit.
It's lit!
We can
start like this.
It's cold.
Step two, you kinda like...
It's gonna be about a good
30 minute chunk of the day.
We camped on this
crazy cool Ridge.
We called it spooky Ridge
cause it was like the knife
edge between light and dark.
This whole mountain side seemed
to create its own
weather patterns.
We'd skin out in these trees
to set up these sunny shots,
and just like that a
big cloud would move in.
Every time we'd
kinda get into position,
it tends to cloud up
or fog up or something.
Was that a fart?
- Yeah.
- Sick.
Three, two, one.
That was sick!
Two, one, dropping.
Yeah!
Whoa.
That was super awesome.
Pretty fun to get
out there with sage and mcnutt.
I kind of felt like I was
on one of those dream trips,
you know?
Sage is totally, he's
like full wizard if stoke.
I mean, he's been
going for so long.
He's kind of the first
guy I ever got inspired by
when I was a kid.
19 years later, here he is,
still beating US all
to the top of the Ridge
at the beginning
and end of the day.
- Top of the subway couloir.
Check that thing out.
- We'd wake up in the morning,
and it's like six A.M.,
and you're like oh, I better
get some breakfast and stuff.
And then you look up, and
you're like, what the hell?
Three,
two, one, dropping.
The dark subway!
That was tight.
Pick me up, leaving this.
Sounds good, we'll
be there in five.
Thanks!
Really cool to
see his love for skiing
still burning super bright,
and that definitely filters
through to everyone else.
- Ah, yeah, crazy.
It's happened.
The mission's happened.
Norway.
Land of fjords, vikings,
and endless waterfalls.
Mountains rise like
mist from the sea.
It is one of the
cradles of skiing.
At first embraced
as a mode of travel,
and later loved for the
thrill of speeding downhill.
Each spring, this hallowed
ground becomes an epicenter
for foot powered experiences.
These new mountaineers
travel across Bridges
and in small boats.
With long elegant strides,
they rise to the clouds to stand
atop snow sparkled summits.
Norway is one
of the birthplaces of skiing.
It's just cool to be in
a place where you know
that even during the viking era,
people were using skis
to get around here,
and you can kind of feel
it within the place.
You're somewhere with
no real ski resorts,
and yet there's
skiers everywhere.
Day one, I'm excited.
Today I have high hopes that
we're gonna get up high.
This is my third time here,
and every time I've come,
I've always felt like
you're really immersed
in the ski culture.
Look where we are!
Woohoo!
Three, two, one.
Three, two, one.
Some of the kind of iconic
aspects of this place
is that there's this
huge history of fishing.
People came here to codfish.
Look at
this big, long mamajama.
That's the kind of COD
you wanna catch right there.
It's one of
the really unique places
where they can preserve
COD in the wilderness.
So, it's basically out in the
villages being hung to dry.
- For COD's sakes, let's go.
Two, one, dropping.
Three,
two, one, dropping!
Norway, baby!
- These guys are gonna go look around the corner.
I'm gonna go for this couloir.
Woo!
Very icy.
Nice!
He's off by himself
for like, several hours,
not having anyone to talk to.
He likes to be part of the pack,
and when he was
away from his pack,
he just started
talking to himself.
Woo!
How's mack and stomp
doing over there?
He's been alone for
a while, no one to talk at.
Almost!
They line up through the earth
from one, two, three turns
and make it look so good
for the big, ski movie.
Big ski star.
Do a little
dance, ski a little line,
eat COD tonight.
Eat COD tonight.
- Crew is reunited!
The capital of
Norway is one of the oldest
and coldest major
cities in Europe.
Oslo is a sprawling epic of
norse sagas, long winter nights,
and centuries of ski history.
Legendary ski jumpers hurl
themselves into space,
reaching for the moon,
as cross country skiers race
across the landscape
like locomotives.
Amongst the hustle and
bustle in the heart
of this medieval city,
a fresh breed of urban
adventurers hope to ski
where most Norwegians
wouldn't expect.
- Me, cam, and Clayton
have been skiing together
for a really long time,
so we've had our
programs pretty dialed
for how we get this stuff done.
You know, people know
Norway for skiing.
Not that many people travel
to this specific location
to hit hand rails.
You know, it's a
little bit different
to take a place that has
a lot of ski history,
and do some different
types of skiing here.
We're in the back
of this big department store.
We got a big rail, so
hopefully we can get this built
and get it done before
anyone else wonders
what the heck we're
doing back here.
Just a little
bit trespassing.
- Yeah!
Well, the rail
didn't slide today,
so I'm taking my edges off to
see if I can make it happen.
Yeah, dude.
Big
mountains breed big ideas.
When skiers discovered Alaska,
it was as if the snow
sports world had discovered
some shredding shangri-la.
Starting in the late eighties,
the world's best
riders got the fever
for dropping huge lines
draped with deep, stable snow.
The gold rush for
first descents began,
and they inspired a whole
new wave of rippers,
film makers, and rock
hunters to follow.
There's a lot
to be discovered here.
It feels like it's
just so untapped.
It's really a special
place to go skiing.
We've got a sick crew.
We've got Griffin post, angel
collinson, and Elyse saugstad.
We got so lucky with just
rolling straight into like,
oh yeah, that stuff is
good to go, and it's on.
Alaska day one.
You know, I had a
couple warm up rounds,
and now we're just
gonna, yeah, go for it.
So, it's fine, it's skiing.
Dude, that was so confusing.
I'm a hiking, camping
guy, not heli guy.
I forgot how intense that is.
You can ski a lot of terrain
in like a week's worth
of terrain if we were camping.
So, yeah, gotta
get used to that.
Yeah, exciting!
That looked
really exciting from here.
I'd almost describe all three
of the people I'm here
with pretty similarly,
they like to go fast.
Angel wants to get into
the gnar and go fast.
Elyse just wants to
go fast anywhere.
It's a pretty sick crew.
Standing on top
of my first two lines,
like, oh my god
yeah I'm in Alaska
and stepping into the
steepest, biggest,
gnarliest terrain that I've
ever stepped into in my life.
Elyse, are
you thinking of skiing
down that way?
Yeah, I mean
going through these rocks,
and then just basically
straight down the gut.
Lightning fast.
Keep this together.
- It sounded like you said
shredding naked facing together.
- Oh, wow.
We're gonna go
tear that sh#t up.
Whoa, easy tiger.
Three,
two, one, go go go.
Oh, my god!
You got it.
You got it, you
got it, you got it.
No!
No, no, no, no.
Stop.
Are you okay?
Yeah, I'm all right.
It was savage.
She tomahawked almost
that whole face.
How do
you like my hair?
That was gnarly.
And unfortunately she
tweaked herself pretty hard,
but we're so happy that
she didn't get more hurt.
It could've been a lot worse.
My favorite place
in the world to ski is Alaska.
It terrifies me the most.
It's the most beautiful, and
I think it always has been
and it always will be.
She's blue again.
Oh yeah, look at
down in there looks pretty bad.
I wanna ski that thing.
Which one?
I wanna start there.
The top
is kinda gnarly.
Definitely.
If I were to fall,
the biggest concern is
like this little region.
It's definitely one of the
more exciting things I've done,
is flying in a helicopter
with no door on it
and just getting
dropped off on some peak
and carefully
climbing out of there.
It's kinda anything
goes up here.
If you see something
you think you can ride,
chances are you can get in
there and try to ride it.
A little spicier than
I thought getting in.
Wow.
It's kinda gnarly.
Don't fall on the first move.
Three,
two, one, go go go.
What's up, rock star?
Yeah buddy!
- Feels good to be down here, kinda.
- I bet it does!
Yeah, buddy!
That was a fun zone.
Certain
places have a magnetism
that continually
draws to return.
One such mountain has become
a trophy heli-ski descent.
This perfect line was
carved from chaos.
In the early 1900s, deep in the
chugach mountains of Alaska,
a falling star
forever altered a peak
we now know as meteorite.
Under the cloak of night,
Jeremy Jones and
Cody townsend set out
to diverse eight miles and
climb over 6,000 vertical feet
to explore the limits
of both stone and space.
- It's all up hill from here.
- Glad we set the
course last night
cause there is no moon
and it's pitch black.
We got a monster
day ahead of US.
A lot to do before we're back
on this road again
walking the other way.
It's still
as cold as yesterday.
Ow!
Ah!
Oh, my god.
My whole
body is shaking.
Walking through
thick woods like this
at two in the morning
is generally ill advised
when it comes to bears, so
keep your head on a swivel.
Hey, oh!
Five after four.
About 6,000 more vert to go.
People ask me, what's
the best run in the world?
I've always said meteorite.
It changed my life.
We're just
reaching glacier,
so we're getting on the rope.
We're behind schedule.
My first ever heli-skiing trip
in Alaska was here in valdez.
We flew by meteorite, and
I just remember thinking
to myself, no way
would I ski that.
15 years later, and
I haven't ridden it,
but we're trying
it from the road.
This thing just
goes on and on and on.
Yeah, fricken does.
The very first
time I came to valdez,
my brothers picked me
up from the airport,
and as I was driving up the
road they pointed out this peak,
meteorite, and I
just couldn't imagine
that you could ride
something like that.
End of that trip, I ended up
riding that with my brothers.
I remember going,
everything's changed.
I am now definitively,
without question,
setting my life up to come
to Alaska every spring
and snowboard here.
That was 25 years ago,
and I've done just that.
I wanted to come back to it,
but I really wanted
to hike it on foot.
Feeling the power
of the mountain now.
Every step.
Just listening, feeling,
head on a swivel,
thinking about this
for a long time.
Holy hell does this feel good!
Wow!
Holy crap.
We're a long way from home.
Yes!
Yeah, buddy.
Bring it in.
That was awesome.
That was an amazing climb.
I am kicked in.
You're right,
she did not want
to be given up easily.
Oh, my word, man.
That was a super
grind, very intense,
edge of the world for hours.
Yeah, buddy.
I love when I get
in the mountains,
and I'm like I couldn't have
gotten here a day earlier
in my life because I needed
every bit of knowledge
to be here right now.
Yes!
Conditions are perfect.
Three, two, one.
Yeah!
We did it!
Yeah, buddy.
That was so fun.
We grossly
underestimated
how long this was gonna take.
We're at five and a half
miles from the summit,
and we're four miles
still away from the car.
A lot of bush whacking.
Man, I feel like I'm gonna puke.
A day to remember,
but I am feeling it.
I am crushed.
Two am start, and
it is now seven fifteen.
More than 17 hours, so,
yeah, cheers to that.
Well deserved beer.
- It is a well deserved beer.
- Cheers.
Years of unbridled
nature, cold woken senses,
and moving like ghosts
through the snow,
makes a moment in this
place feel like forever.
And the friends and family
soaking up this moment
is what makes the magic.
The second and third generation,
the sons and daughters of
patrollers, instructors,
and bartenders, are
making their own tracks
and finding their own style,
bracing winter's
never ending gift.
I've been
watching my dad's movies
ever since I was a little boy.
When I was like two, I just
dreamt of skiing spines,
and I was like, I really
want to do that someday.
I'm gonna aspire
and train and work.
Let's get stoked.
- Fired up!
I'm gonna try
to go to the moon!
- What's your favorite planet?
- Um, I like Mars a lot.
It's a really
interesting planet.
- We should send
it to Mars then.
Tim has been the biggest
influencer that I've ever had,
and I'm really grateful
that Tim is just there
by my side teaching me.
I'm gonna go do it!
Sick.
- Think I got it?
- Oh dude, you got it.
Yeah, dude,
how's that feel, man?
Oh, that
was really good.
Oh yeah.
Dude!
Good job.
Good job, buddy.
♪ Cash in now honey
♪ cash in miss Smith
♪ cash in now baby
♪ oh, oh, oh
- ready to go to ak?
- Oh, yeah.
All right,
Kai, here we go.
Let's do it!
- I wish I was doing
this when I was 12.
Oh, my goodness.
This is so sick!
Welcome to Alaska, Kai.
This is
completely unbelievable.
I'm mind blown.
The mountains just go
on forever and ever.
Super fun to be at
the top of the line with Kai
and feel his confidence.
It's amazing to be
around that energy.
All right, Kai,
let's have some fun.
Yeah!
- This is what we
came here to do, baby.
- Put your binos
on the dash, dude.
I got my own cameras
to deal with, kid!
- Just above camp.
Looking above, straight down,
and some little
nortlers and nugs.
Couple knifers.
Government.
Over-yoink.
Nug-mobile.
Dog-NATO.
Snowcoast.
Return of the donks.
Hot pocket.
String cheese.
Doink.
Fantasy nugs.
All right.
What was that?
- Do I look like a tree?
Yeah, kinda.
- Cool.
- Yeah, we got a
little stir crazy now.
- You all right?
Yeah, I was ragdoll.
All packed in the wan.
Oh my--
- That was easy.
- Just out here in the valley.
Fingers crossed it clears, man.
I'm gonna go up.
- Well that was cool.
- We just found
tgr's biggest fan.
Who's your favorite
female snowboarder?
- Female snowboarder?
I don't know, but
I gotta tell you--
- you're clipped.
He's clipped.
Clipped.
- Could this be
Sam smoothy's gopro?
He hit this last year.
What'd he do?
Like a Superman
front flip off it?
skier once said,
"sliding on snow
is a special gift
of the relationship
between earth and sky."
It only comes in sufficient
amounts in particular places
at certain times on this earth.
And people devote their
whole lives to it.
We are all eternal here,
in this place with epic storms,
bluebird backdrops and the
paint desire of alpine glow.
There is something bigger than
life in a trip to this place,
where the earth and sky collide.
Whoa.
Yeah, I'm fine.
- Come on!
Is that everybody?
Yeah.
Are we ready to rock?
Teton gravity
research has called Jackson home
since we picked up our
first camera 25 years ago.
Unrivaled terrain and snowfall
has allowed generations
of unknowns and icons alike
to hone their skills here,
surfing storms that
never seem to break.
Not since the winter
of '96, ninety-heaven
had Wyoming seen such
copious amounts of snow.
The echo of patrollers'
bombs rolled
like thunder in the darkness,
and locals reveled in the
seemingly endless bounty.
The
latest information on
the significant winter storm
still anticipated tonight,
through the day Wednesday
and into Thursday.
We're anticipating strong
winter storm conditions
and blizzard conditions.
One of the strongest and
potentially deepest low pressure
systems in years is
projected to intensify.
Travel Wednesday and Thursday is
extremely and
highly discouraged,
and if not, should be
canceled at this time.
Overhead, go left!
Overhead!
Word is biggest
February here in history,
and I believe it.
There's no reason to leave.
It just kind keeps dumping.
Nice!
Thank you.
Yeah, dude!
- Yeah!
It was
good to get after it,
and have a fun
crew to do it with.
This season they knew that
Jackson was the place to be.
Jackson
hole is the shaggy,
untamed unicorn of the rockies.
With a backyard so big,
it's a national park,
and a back country so legendary,
it's become a training
ground for some
of the best free
riders in the world.
Despite historic amounts
of snow stacking up
across the tetons, for brief
moments between storms,
the home lavatory
sparkled like a diamond.
Pretty
much anyone who wanted
to have a good time and heard
about our amazing season
came out and shooshed
around Wyoming.
Just cracked blue
after 18 inches.
Buzzing energy up here.
Ha ha!
Three, two, one.
Whoa!
Left!
I'm good.
Oh, my god!
Three,
two, one, dropping.
That was big!
Yeah!
Okay, I'm going up.
Three,
two, one, dropping.
Dude!
Oh yeah, dude.
Good work everybody.
That was sick, dude.
- Waiting for Timmy, since
he doesn't ever get back
to me when I message him.
I've got him right here.
Dude, it looks like he's
getting really close actually.
Waiting for Tim, man.
Story of my life.
Yo, dude!
Who are
you waiting for?
You.
You were
waiting for me?
Tim,
where's your stuff?
Where's your stuff?
- You did it, dude.
I'll
check your backpack.
What about here?
Where's my gopro?
He lost it.
There it is!
But you know what,
it's always worth it.
I'll wait for Tim any day.
- It's alive.
- Whoa!
Yeah dude!
- That was epic!
Sick!
Tim,
here, is crazy man.
Yeah, boy!
Europe,
the old country,
where the names of
storied ski areas
sound like breathless
foreign prayers.
Saas fee, chamonix,
verbier, and kitzbuhel.
As if just uttering them
would give you the strength
in your heart to set an edge
on slopes as sheer as steeples,
with only heaven above and
wine and white glory below.
While relentless early
season mega-storms continued
to line up like soldiers,
and with local ski
legend, fabian lentsch,
already poised to
show US his homeland,
we led out to immerse ourselves
in the fabled magic of the alps.
I feel like
a modern ski bum at times.
I love living in a Van.
Can just base out of
the bottom of the lift,
and then if the snow comes
from the other direction,
you just move over there.
Yeah, that's the way
to go in Austria.
Just boutta be
out in the middle of no where,
sleep there, get up
super early, ski lines.
We got here
in the middle of January,
and Austria was having pretty
much the best season ever.
It was almost too much snow.
Villages were shut off
because of avalanches.
By the time we showed up,
things had settled
down a little bit,
and we were pretty poised
to tee off a bunch of lines
that rarely, if ever, get skied.
It's been crazy.
In January and February
we get that amount
of big mountain skiing.
Nice to be out
on a little morning stroll.
Okay, he's
going real fast, huh?
Yeah!
That was exciting.
Even though
we've been at resorts,
we've hiked every single line.
There's no way.
Fuck!
Oh, that was intense.
Some of the hiking's been
like the most exciting things
that happen during the day.
I wanna
report I'm 100%.
Yeah buddy!
Oh, my god!
Yeah!
Woo!
We had all
gotten our lines,
and smoothy was kind of frothing
a little bit for one more,
so went back up,
got a couple turns, cut out
this big pocket that propagated
and all this stuff, and the
entire face is on the move
and waterfalling down over
the cliffs at the bottom.
The whole face went.
I'm
gonna re-drop now.
Oh, my god.
Smoothy, smoothy!
You're good.
You're here.
The helicopter's on the way.
You're right here with me.
- Yeah, so we saw
smoothy go down,
and I was the first one
in so I ran up to him
and rolled him over and saw
that he was completely seizing.
Eyes rolled up in the back
of his head, jaw locked shut.
It was pretty--
it's not a good day
in the mountains.
When you show up to somebody
and they're in that state,
pretty somber afternoon
there with the rescue
and not knowing how
it was gonna pan out.
Even though Sam turned out
to be more or less fine,
he had a trauma induced seizure.
Smoothy definitely got
away with one that day.
Kind of a wake up
call to everybody
to just keep the
ultimate goal in mind,
which is come home safe
at the end of the day.
I was like
talking to wolves yesterday.
- Wolves or walls?
- Wolves, I actually saw wolves.
I've been on my own too long.
- We miss you though, buddy.
- Yeah buddy.
Hey, thanks
for the call guys.
Have a good time tomorrow,
and we'll talk soon.
Luckily
smoothy's greatest quality,
his sense of humor, was in tact.
That definitely made
it a little bit easier
to continue on with the trip,
but you still have
this loud reminder
of what could go wrong and
how fast that could happen.
Putting on
the vert, go up that way.
Looks deep and steep.
Why are we doing this again?
Cause it's fun.
We're up
here climbing suddenly.
Oh yeah, feels good.
Let's top out!
Yeah!
Come on, buddy!
One of the
highlights was for sure skiing
that big facing kitzbuhel.
Apparently nobody
skied this middle part,
the line off the cross
of the summit there.
Woo!
Epic summit.
Yeah,
buddy, nice one!
All right, made it to
the top of my line.
Looks exciting!
Three, two, one.
In Austria, skiing
is for sure a way of life.
They're really serious about it.
There's chair lifts everywhere.
People love it.
And for me, it was
a cool experience
to have an American crew here
and to get a
different perspective.
It's always the people
who make good places,
and that was for sure the case.
Canadians pretty
much invented heli-skiing,
and no where does
whirlybird, snow cat,
or snow pony
assisted powder turns
come together any better
than British Columbia.
These laid-back bad
asses have led the way
in providing easy access
to the high alpine.
Bc is home to close
knit friend crews,
who go way off the grid
seeking the ultimate
winter playground.
With clear skies and cold snow,
we decide to link
up with Nick mcnutt
and a few of his
infamous friends.
We are
in squamish, bc, Canada.
Where I live is one of the
better places I've been to ski
in the back country.
I love seeing new terrain
and riding different stuff,
but there's also
something to be said
for riding your home terrain.
This year, skiing with Ian,
I got to explore a little
bit further than I've been.
Mac knows just like
kinda every corner
and what's gonna be
around the next corner.
It's cool, too, cause I've
got a fresh set of eyes,
seeing this stuff
for the first time,
versus him seeing it for the
twentieth or thirtieth time.
Some of our objectives
were basically
about as deep as you can go.
He's so sick.
- Three, two, one, drop.
That was rowdy.
- Hey!
- Hey.
Yeah!
I don't know how you
land switch anyway.
Makes no sense to me.
After spending
a few weeks on the coast,
I ended up heading east
to stellar heli skiing.
Linked up with sage and
Johnny for a camping mission.
Yeah,
we're going there.
Into them hills.
All you really
know is just waking up,
getting warm, warming up your
ski boots, skiing all day,
eating, and repeating.
Welcome to camp!
So deep.
- When you first get that
glimpse out in a new zone,
that first spark that you
get, that feeling is so good.
- Look at the glory
look at the sparkles!
Nice!
One of the
cool things about camp
is all the trails we have.
We got trails going
to jumps over there,
trails going down
valleys over there,
trails going up
ridges over there.
Three, two, one, drop.
Woo!
The temps
were kind of ranging
from negative 28 to
negative 25 at night.
Store in a
cool, dry location.
Cold and wet, does that work?
- Oh, it's lit.
It's lit!
We can
start like this.
It's cold.
Step two, you kinda like...
It's gonna be about a good
30 minute chunk of the day.
We camped on this
crazy cool Ridge.
We called it spooky Ridge
cause it was like the knife
edge between light and dark.
This whole mountain side seemed
to create its own
weather patterns.
We'd skin out in these trees
to set up these sunny shots,
and just like that a
big cloud would move in.
Every time we'd
kinda get into position,
it tends to cloud up
or fog up or something.
Was that a fart?
- Yeah.
- Sick.
Three, two, one.
That was sick!
Two, one, dropping.
Yeah!
Whoa.
That was super awesome.
Pretty fun to get
out there with sage and mcnutt.
I kind of felt like I was
on one of those dream trips,
you know?
Sage is totally, he's
like full wizard if stoke.
I mean, he's been
going for so long.
He's kind of the first
guy I ever got inspired by
when I was a kid.
19 years later, here he is,
still beating US all
to the top of the Ridge
at the beginning
and end of the day.
- Top of the subway couloir.
Check that thing out.
- We'd wake up in the morning,
and it's like six A.M.,
and you're like oh, I better
get some breakfast and stuff.
And then you look up, and
you're like, what the hell?
Three,
two, one, dropping.
The dark subway!
That was tight.
Pick me up, leaving this.
Sounds good, we'll
be there in five.
Thanks!
Really cool to
see his love for skiing
still burning super bright,
and that definitely filters
through to everyone else.
- Ah, yeah, crazy.
It's happened.
The mission's happened.
Norway.
Land of fjords, vikings,
and endless waterfalls.
Mountains rise like
mist from the sea.
It is one of the
cradles of skiing.
At first embraced
as a mode of travel,
and later loved for the
thrill of speeding downhill.
Each spring, this hallowed
ground becomes an epicenter
for foot powered experiences.
These new mountaineers
travel across Bridges
and in small boats.
With long elegant strides,
they rise to the clouds to stand
atop snow sparkled summits.
Norway is one
of the birthplaces of skiing.
It's just cool to be in
a place where you know
that even during the viking era,
people were using skis
to get around here,
and you can kind of feel
it within the place.
You're somewhere with
no real ski resorts,
and yet there's
skiers everywhere.
Day one, I'm excited.
Today I have high hopes that
we're gonna get up high.
This is my third time here,
and every time I've come,
I've always felt like
you're really immersed
in the ski culture.
Look where we are!
Woohoo!
Three, two, one.
Three, two, one.
Some of the kind of iconic
aspects of this place
is that there's this
huge history of fishing.
People came here to codfish.
Look at
this big, long mamajama.
That's the kind of COD
you wanna catch right there.
It's one of
the really unique places
where they can preserve
COD in the wilderness.
So, it's basically out in the
villages being hung to dry.
- For COD's sakes, let's go.
Two, one, dropping.
Three,
two, one, dropping!
Norway, baby!
- These guys are gonna go look around the corner.
I'm gonna go for this couloir.
Woo!
Very icy.
Nice!
He's off by himself
for like, several hours,
not having anyone to talk to.
He likes to be part of the pack,
and when he was
away from his pack,
he just started
talking to himself.
Woo!
How's mack and stomp
doing over there?
He's been alone for
a while, no one to talk at.
Almost!
They line up through the earth
from one, two, three turns
and make it look so good
for the big, ski movie.
Big ski star.
Do a little
dance, ski a little line,
eat COD tonight.
Eat COD tonight.
- Crew is reunited!
The capital of
Norway is one of the oldest
and coldest major
cities in Europe.
Oslo is a sprawling epic of
norse sagas, long winter nights,
and centuries of ski history.
Legendary ski jumpers hurl
themselves into space,
reaching for the moon,
as cross country skiers race
across the landscape
like locomotives.
Amongst the hustle and
bustle in the heart
of this medieval city,
a fresh breed of urban
adventurers hope to ski
where most Norwegians
wouldn't expect.
- Me, cam, and Clayton
have been skiing together
for a really long time,
so we've had our
programs pretty dialed
for how we get this stuff done.
You know, people know
Norway for skiing.
Not that many people travel
to this specific location
to hit hand rails.
You know, it's a
little bit different
to take a place that has
a lot of ski history,
and do some different
types of skiing here.
We're in the back
of this big department store.
We got a big rail, so
hopefully we can get this built
and get it done before
anyone else wonders
what the heck we're
doing back here.
Just a little
bit trespassing.
- Yeah!
Well, the rail
didn't slide today,
so I'm taking my edges off to
see if I can make it happen.
Yeah, dude.
Big
mountains breed big ideas.
When skiers discovered Alaska,
it was as if the snow
sports world had discovered
some shredding shangri-la.
Starting in the late eighties,
the world's best
riders got the fever
for dropping huge lines
draped with deep, stable snow.
The gold rush for
first descents began,
and they inspired a whole
new wave of rippers,
film makers, and rock
hunters to follow.
There's a lot
to be discovered here.
It feels like it's
just so untapped.
It's really a special
place to go skiing.
We've got a sick crew.
We've got Griffin post, angel
collinson, and Elyse saugstad.
We got so lucky with just
rolling straight into like,
oh yeah, that stuff is
good to go, and it's on.
Alaska day one.
You know, I had a
couple warm up rounds,
and now we're just
gonna, yeah, go for it.
So, it's fine, it's skiing.
Dude, that was so confusing.
I'm a hiking, camping
guy, not heli guy.
I forgot how intense that is.
You can ski a lot of terrain
in like a week's worth
of terrain if we were camping.
So, yeah, gotta
get used to that.
Yeah, exciting!
That looked
really exciting from here.
I'd almost describe all three
of the people I'm here
with pretty similarly,
they like to go fast.
Angel wants to get into
the gnar and go fast.
Elyse just wants to
go fast anywhere.
It's a pretty sick crew.
Standing on top
of my first two lines,
like, oh my god
yeah I'm in Alaska
and stepping into the
steepest, biggest,
gnarliest terrain that I've
ever stepped into in my life.
Elyse, are
you thinking of skiing
down that way?
Yeah, I mean
going through these rocks,
and then just basically
straight down the gut.
Lightning fast.
Keep this together.
- It sounded like you said
shredding naked facing together.
- Oh, wow.
We're gonna go
tear that sh#t up.
Whoa, easy tiger.
Three,
two, one, go go go.
Oh, my god!
You got it.
You got it, you
got it, you got it.
No!
No, no, no, no.
Stop.
Are you okay?
Yeah, I'm all right.
It was savage.
She tomahawked almost
that whole face.
How do
you like my hair?
That was gnarly.
And unfortunately she
tweaked herself pretty hard,
but we're so happy that
she didn't get more hurt.
It could've been a lot worse.
My favorite place
in the world to ski is Alaska.
It terrifies me the most.
It's the most beautiful, and
I think it always has been
and it always will be.
She's blue again.
Oh yeah, look at
down in there looks pretty bad.
I wanna ski that thing.
Which one?
I wanna start there.
The top
is kinda gnarly.
Definitely.
If I were to fall,
the biggest concern is
like this little region.
It's definitely one of the
more exciting things I've done,
is flying in a helicopter
with no door on it
and just getting
dropped off on some peak
and carefully
climbing out of there.
It's kinda anything
goes up here.
If you see something
you think you can ride,
chances are you can get in
there and try to ride it.
A little spicier than
I thought getting in.
Wow.
It's kinda gnarly.
Don't fall on the first move.
Three,
two, one, go go go.
What's up, rock star?
Yeah buddy!
- Feels good to be down here, kinda.
- I bet it does!
Yeah, buddy!
That was a fun zone.
Certain
places have a magnetism
that continually
draws to return.
One such mountain has become
a trophy heli-ski descent.
This perfect line was
carved from chaos.
In the early 1900s, deep in the
chugach mountains of Alaska,
a falling star
forever altered a peak
we now know as meteorite.
Under the cloak of night,
Jeremy Jones and
Cody townsend set out
to diverse eight miles and
climb over 6,000 vertical feet
to explore the limits
of both stone and space.
- It's all up hill from here.
- Glad we set the
course last night
cause there is no moon
and it's pitch black.
We got a monster
day ahead of US.
A lot to do before we're back
on this road again
walking the other way.
It's still
as cold as yesterday.
Ow!
Ah!
Oh, my god.
My whole
body is shaking.
Walking through
thick woods like this
at two in the morning
is generally ill advised
when it comes to bears, so
keep your head on a swivel.
Hey, oh!
Five after four.
About 6,000 more vert to go.
People ask me, what's
the best run in the world?
I've always said meteorite.
It changed my life.
We're just
reaching glacier,
so we're getting on the rope.
We're behind schedule.
My first ever heli-skiing trip
in Alaska was here in valdez.
We flew by meteorite, and
I just remember thinking
to myself, no way
would I ski that.
15 years later, and
I haven't ridden it,
but we're trying
it from the road.
This thing just
goes on and on and on.
Yeah, fricken does.
The very first
time I came to valdez,
my brothers picked me
up from the airport,
and as I was driving up the
road they pointed out this peak,
meteorite, and I
just couldn't imagine
that you could ride
something like that.
End of that trip, I ended up
riding that with my brothers.
I remember going,
everything's changed.
I am now definitively,
without question,
setting my life up to come
to Alaska every spring
and snowboard here.
That was 25 years ago,
and I've done just that.
I wanted to come back to it,
but I really wanted
to hike it on foot.
Feeling the power
of the mountain now.
Every step.
Just listening, feeling,
head on a swivel,
thinking about this
for a long time.
Holy hell does this feel good!
Wow!
Holy crap.
We're a long way from home.
Yes!
Yeah, buddy.
Bring it in.
That was awesome.
That was an amazing climb.
I am kicked in.
You're right,
she did not want
to be given up easily.
Oh, my word, man.
That was a super
grind, very intense,
edge of the world for hours.
Yeah, buddy.
I love when I get
in the mountains,
and I'm like I couldn't have
gotten here a day earlier
in my life because I needed
every bit of knowledge
to be here right now.
Yes!
Conditions are perfect.
Three, two, one.
Yeah!
We did it!
Yeah, buddy.
That was so fun.
We grossly
underestimated
how long this was gonna take.
We're at five and a half
miles from the summit,
and we're four miles
still away from the car.
A lot of bush whacking.
Man, I feel like I'm gonna puke.
A day to remember,
but I am feeling it.
I am crushed.
Two am start, and
it is now seven fifteen.
More than 17 hours, so,
yeah, cheers to that.
Well deserved beer.
- It is a well deserved beer.
- Cheers.
Years of unbridled
nature, cold woken senses,
and moving like ghosts
through the snow,
makes a moment in this
place feel like forever.
And the friends and family
soaking up this moment
is what makes the magic.
The second and third generation,
the sons and daughters of
patrollers, instructors,
and bartenders, are
making their own tracks
and finding their own style,
bracing winter's
never ending gift.
I've been
watching my dad's movies
ever since I was a little boy.
When I was like two, I just
dreamt of skiing spines,
and I was like, I really
want to do that someday.
I'm gonna aspire
and train and work.
Let's get stoked.
- Fired up!
I'm gonna try
to go to the moon!
- What's your favorite planet?
- Um, I like Mars a lot.
It's a really
interesting planet.
- We should send
it to Mars then.
Tim has been the biggest
influencer that I've ever had,
and I'm really grateful
that Tim is just there
by my side teaching me.
I'm gonna go do it!
Sick.
- Think I got it?
- Oh dude, you got it.
Yeah, dude,
how's that feel, man?
Oh, that
was really good.
Oh yeah.
Dude!
Good job.
Good job, buddy.
♪ Cash in now honey
♪ cash in miss Smith
♪ cash in now baby
♪ oh, oh, oh
- ready to go to ak?
- Oh, yeah.
All right,
Kai, here we go.
Let's do it!
- I wish I was doing
this when I was 12.
Oh, my goodness.
This is so sick!
Welcome to Alaska, Kai.
This is
completely unbelievable.
I'm mind blown.
The mountains just go
on forever and ever.
Super fun to be at
the top of the line with Kai
and feel his confidence.
It's amazing to be
around that energy.
All right, Kai,
let's have some fun.
Yeah!
- This is what we
came here to do, baby.
- Put your binos
on the dash, dude.
I got my own cameras
to deal with, kid!
- Just above camp.
Looking above, straight down,
and some little
nortlers and nugs.
Couple knifers.
Government.
Over-yoink.
Nug-mobile.
Dog-NATO.
Snowcoast.
Return of the donks.
Hot pocket.
String cheese.
Doink.
Fantasy nugs.
All right.
What was that?
- Do I look like a tree?
Yeah, kinda.
- Cool.
- Yeah, we got a
little stir crazy now.
- You all right?
Yeah, I was ragdoll.
All packed in the wan.
Oh my--
- That was easy.
- Just out here in the valley.
Fingers crossed it clears, man.
I'm gonna go up.
- Well that was cool.
- We just found
tgr's biggest fan.
Who's your favorite
female snowboarder?
- Female snowboarder?
I don't know, but
I gotta tell you--
- you're clipped.
He's clipped.
Clipped.
- Could this be
Sam smoothy's gopro?
He hit this last year.
What'd he do?
Like a Superman
front flip off it?