22 Search Results for "montreal"
- most relevant
- most recent
- highest rated
- most viewed
- top favorites
- most comments
-
2012 International Freeski Fil 2012 International Freeski Film Festival - Global Teaser Trailer
- From: if3video
-
Description:
iF3 Festival / Montreal Sept 12-16th, iF3 Europe / Annecy Sept 28-30th, iF3 Innsbruck / Austria Oct 5-6th
The start of ski movie season is officially started! The International Freeski Film Festival presents its Global 2012 Teaser with segments from the best ski movies in the industry: Poor Boyz, TGR, Level 1, Matchstick, Legs of Steel, PVS Company, JOB, Inspired, Switchback Entertainment, Toy Soldier, ESK, NSF, PVS, Meathead Films, Traveling Circus, FollowUs, 4Bi9 Media and many more!
The International Freeski Film Festival (IF3) is a Film Festival dedicated to freeskiing movies.
The IF3 is held annually in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As its world premiere every major ski movies, IF3 is considered the Cannes film festival of Ski Movies.
In addition to IF3 Montreal, the International Freeskiing Film Festival goes intercontinental with its expansion to Europe with iF3 Europe in Annecy and iF3 Innsbruck.
Link Bait:
IF3 Official Website: http://if3.co
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/if3festival
Twitter: http://twitter.com/if3
Zapiks: http://www.zapiks.com/pro/if3/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/if3montreal/Link - 9 months ago
- Views: 106
- Not yet rated
-
2012 Nike iF3 Schedule Announc 2012 Nike iF3 Schedule Announced
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
- 9 months ago
- Views: 276
- Not yet rated
-
News: Video Selection Announce News: Video Selection Announced For 2012 Nike iF3 Awards
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
More than 40 freeski films will be presented at the Nike iF3 in Montreal, Canada, the iF3 Europe in Annecy, France and iF3 Innsbruck, Austria.
Selected Films:
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY
Dang!, 4FRNT Media -USA
Turbulent Flow, Chaoz Productions – Norway
Free – Riding the perfect line, Studio Bivouac – Switzerland
Hurt So Good, Legs of Steel – Austria
In Space, Junkies On A Budget (JOB) – Austria
No Matter What, Meathead Films – USA
Pour Vous Servir, PVS Company – France
Sunny, Level 1 Productions – USA
The Dream Factory, Teton Gravity Research – USA
The Education of Style, Inspired Media Concepts – USA
The Eighty Six, Stept Productions – USA
The Eye of the Storm, Garchois Films – France
The Snow Collective, Tony Harrington – Australia
WE: A Collection of Individuals, Poor Boyz Productions – USA
While We Can, Imaginary Trace – SwedenAMATEUR CATEGORY
Act Natural, Toy Soldier Productions – USA
Awone Again, Awone – Switzerland
Déjà Vu, Brotherhood Films – Canada
Dynamite, Freeski-Crew – Austria
Joy & Pain, TFK Productions – Sweden
Le Grinch, WFProductions – Canada
Moss, NSF Productions – Canada
Part Time, PYP Productions – Canada
Souvenirs, ESK Media – Canada
TAZ, Gpsy feelin – France
Time of my Life, GCC02 SwitzerlandWEB & NEW MEDIA CATEGORY
4Bi9 House episode 3, 4Bi9 Media – USA
A Day with Tom and Gus. Moment Productions – Canada
Adventures in Transition, Jacob Strassman, USA
BioSkieur TV Best Of, BioSkieur – France
Blowing Money Fast, Garchois Films – France
Bon Appétit Freeski Blog, Bon Appétit, France
Episode 1, The Irie Indians Show, WFP Family – Canada
Episode 5, Real Skifi – Finland
FollowUs.TV, Follow Us – France
Immersion (Chapter 4), TKTV Inside, PVS Company – France
Jalpak Tash : A Kyrgystan Epic B4Après Media, Canada
Kill Your Boredom, Voleurz – Canada
Nipwitz Russia & Nipwitz Sarajevo – Nipwitz, Finland
Quarter Past Midnight, Switchback Entertainment – Canada
Same S#*t Different Movie, Headbud Production – Austria
Shukran Morocco, Sandra Lahnsteiner – Austria
Time of a Winter, CBC – France
Which Way To Ze Autobhan?, Traveling Circus – USAOUT OF AWARDS COMPETITION CATEGORY
Eye Of The Condor (top 3 videos) – La Parva, Chile
Ride & Fly, Cow Prod – France
Science of Airborning & Shit Skiers Say, Voleurz – Canada
Sennheiser Backcountry Picnic (top 3 videos) – Canada
Suzuki Nine Queens Episode 1, 2 & 3, The Distillery – AustriaALL GIRLS SCREENING INFO COMING SOON
Click Here To Visit The iF3 Website
Photo via 2012.if3.ca
- Blog post
- 9 months ago
- Views: 191
- Not yet rated
-
From The Past To The Future: K From The Past To The Future: Kaya Turski Interview
- From: ryandunfee
-
Description:
Kaya Turski, slopestyle skiing's most dominant female competitor ever and one of the most confident-looking female skiers ever, is nominated along with surfer Carissa Moore and snowboarders Kelly Clark and Jamie Anderson for an ESPY award in the Best Female Action Sports Athlete category. We sat down at our respective tables, connected through our cell phones, and got down to talking about the ESPYs, the Olympics, Kelly Sildaru, and where rollerblading stands since she left it to dominate the ski world.
Using words other than “stoked” and “honored,” how would you describe your reaction to being nominated for this ESPY?
Other than stoked and honored? Very excited I guess? I ‘d have to say that I’m honored. It’s just an awesome opportunity to be named among these people that I’ve looked up to for so long and who are my heroes – it’s really great to be among them.
How did you get into skiing in the first place?
D-Structure, a Montreal skate and ski shop, was sponsoring me for rollerblading. Rollerblading had kind of died down while I was in high school… and I decided to attend one of D-Structure’s ski events and kind of fell in love. I had cruised on skis when I was younger, so I kind of knew how to ski, but I tried some boxes and rails and it totally clicked and I had such a blast. So I decided to finish high school and then move out to Whistler to ski and have fun and see where it could take me – that’s how it all started.
What is the level of women’s riding like in rollerblading these days versus skiing? Would you ever go back?
You know, I don’t know. It’s probably running a really small scene. But since about ten years ago there hasn’t been much support for rollerblading. I think it’s definitely a sport that’s struggling, but there’s a small community out there that does it and loves it.
What has the transition into Olympic training mode been like, how is that routine different from what you were doing before slopestyle was added to the Olympics?
I don’t know that my routine has changed that much. I tore my ACL and had an internal injury in 2007 and after that I really got on the gym grind. I started working with a trainer that I still work with to this day, so my off-seasons have always been pretty intense in the gym, and I’ve always tried to take good care of my body. Where it’s changed a lot is the support that I’m getting. Being part of the Canadian National Team, now I have coaches, nutritionists, and doctors that I’m close contact with. And Red Bull has always been supportive but there’s more going on now, and I’ve been working closely with my coach Matt Christensen, and so in that sense, it’s changed.
Who are you looking at as your real competition for the Sochi Olympics?I don’t know that there’s anyone that’s not on the scene right now that will be a major threat at the Olympics. I think that my teammate from Canada — Darrah Howell — she’s young, she’s new on the scene, and she’s got a lot of talent and is hungry. Devin Logan is really strong and I see a lot of myself in those younger girls. They’re young, they’re ready to throw down, and they’re willing to do it all and progressing at a really fast rate. Anna Seagal is another really hard-working athlete who’s really training hard and working hard at her skiing, taking care of herself as well. I could go on — a lot of girls have talent, but I’d say those three definitely have a good chance of doing well at the Olympics.
How long will it be before you and Kelly Sildaru begin a T-Hall vs. Dumont-level X Games rivalry?
Umm, probably as soon as she’s old enough to ski big jumps [laughing]… I’ve seen what she can do and it’s really, really impressive. She’s got a lot of talent and I’m looking forward to seeing her grow up and being able to attend these bigger events, because I definitely think she’ll be a force to be reckoned with — no doubt.How are you sizing up your competitors, surfer Carissa Moore and snowboarders Kelly Clark and Jamie Anderson?
They’re all extremely accomplished and extremely talented athletes, and they all deserve to be up there. The amount that they’ve pushed their own sport, and Kelly who had an amazing year winning something like a dozen events in a row, and Carissa Moore who is killing it in surfing… I mean, everyone is doing super well. I’m not the type of girl to say “I’m the best; vote for me!” I think we all deserve to be up there and I’ve definitely put in my fair share of work to make it up there and be nominated. For me it was a really great year — to be able to land the first switch 10 in competition and three-peat at the X Games was amazing. I think for all of us it was a great year, and now it’s up to the voters to decide who deserves it. I think we all in our own way do.
Despite all the talk of equals, we would imagine Kaya might support the idea of you voting for her, the lone skier. If you can spare a minute to do so, hop on over to ESPN’s website and do so.
- Blog post
- 10 months ago
- Views: 1251
- Not yet rated
-
News: Nike iF3 International F News: Nike iF3 International Freeski Film Festival Returns To Montreal On Sept. 12
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
The ski season officially kicks off Sept. 12 with the sixth annual International Freeski Film Festival, co-presented by The North Face, Salomon and Oberson. iF3 brings you the best freeski films from across the globe and unites the whole community for five days of movies, art, concerts and activities.
This year iF3 is moving to the heart of Montreal's cultural district, the Quartier des Spectacles. Returning for another year are signature events such as The North Face Outdoor Screening, the Oberson Autograph Session which will compliment new venues such as the iF3 Outdoor Village and the Monument National‚ the new location for iF3‚ and daily movie screenings. This year iF3 will be giving special props to the ladies of our sport by hosting an all-female movie screening and autograph session, both in memory of the late Sarah Burke.
The Ultimate Celebration of Skiing
From on-piste to backcountry to urban meccas, festival attendees have been joining their ski heroes on trips around the world since its inception in 2007. Dubbed the 'Cannes Film Festival of the Ski World' by ESPN Media, iF3 brings professional and amateur producers together to showcase their films and give the public a glimpse into what their season had in store. A multidimensional offering of activities, iF3 draws a diverse crowd of music and visual art lovers, outdoor and travel enthusiasts, and, of course, aspiring pros, current all-star athletes, and future Olympians.
Spectacular Cinematography
The festival also rewards film producers and athletes for their hard work, dedication and creativity. From all four corners of the world, production teams and skiers constantly push the limits of the sport and bring the public to places that few have ever laid eyes upon. Last year the festival welcomed members of the newly announced Canadian Olympic slopestyle and halfpipe teams, along with freeski legends such as Kaya Turski, Sean Pettit, Phil Casabon, JP Auclair, Mike Douglas and Tanner Hall‚ just to name a few.
A few of the many iF3 Movie Awards that were given out in 2011:
iF3 Best Film presented by SBC Skier: Poor Boyz Productions, The Grand Bizarre‚ USA
iF3 Best Amateur Film presented by Jay Peak: NSF Productions, Frozen Yogurt, CAN (QC)
iF3 Best European Film: Field Productions, Being There, NOR
Uniting the Freeski Community
"At the outset of iF3, the goal was to create a film festival dedicated to videos showcasing freeskiing, and to export ski culture on many levels. The initiative comes from the need to combine all the elements of freeski culture in one place, says iF3 President Felix Rioux. "Today, no medium better embodies the freeskiing spirit as filmmaking, and this is what iF3 is all about. It is the largest gathering of independent filmmakers, athletes, and festival-goers, bringing together personalities from over 20 different countries. Each year we receive submissions from professional and amateur producers from around the world and aim to represent the infinite angles of the freeski movement; the new school of skiing."
iF3 is Truly International
Great news for those of you in South America this summer! We have teamed up with the Sony 'Eye of the Condor 2' to bring you one night of iF3 action on August 3rd in Santiago, Chile. Returning for the third consecutive year is iF3 Europe, taking place September 28th-30th in Annecy, France.This year there are three submission categories at iF3: Amateur, Professional, and Web & New Media.
Submissions are currently open, and you can find all the necessary submission information at:
Twitter.com/IF3
Facebook.com/IF3festival
- Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 180
- Not yet rated
-
iF3 iF3
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
- 11 months ago
- Views: 103
- Not yet rated
-
News: Eye Of The Condor Return News: Eye Of The Condor Returns To Ski La Parva, Partners With IF3
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
Members of Dubsatch Collective blast through powder in 2011 at Ski La Parva in Chile during the Eye Of The Condor film and photo competition.
SANTIAGO, CHILE — After an extremely successful event in 2011, Ski La Parva is pleased to announce the return of Sony Eye of the Condor — a weeklong film and photo competition set in the Andes. Presented by Sony, Subaru Chile and Delta Airlines, Sony Eye of the Condor 2 will showcase elite athletes and photographers from around the world from July 27 to August 4, 2012. A new partnership with IF3 will provide increased media distribution for teams and brands, as well as the first ever IF3 Film Festival La Parva/Chile in Santiago. An all-star panel of judges — including Ingrid Backstrom and Chris Davenport — and athletes including the K2 Factory Team — will surely set a high benchmark for what’s to come in the 2012/2013 season.
“With the direction of the sport focusing on digital media and quality of production, we have created a venue for athletes and brands to showcase their highest quality work in a cultivating environment,” says Ski La Parva’s Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing Rodrigo Medina. “Not only does Sony Eye of the Condor provide a great outlet for competitors, the laid back Chilean atmosphere provides a great platform for industry leaders to discuss the state of the sport.”
In addition to the competition, which will award cash prizes to the best video and photography portfolio, Sony Eye of the Condor will support local arts, with a photography exhibition showcasing local talent. The event will also provide a forum for broader discussion with seminars, photo retrospectives and other events that seek to examine the roll that action sports and photography play in society at large.
“The Eye of the Condor is such an awesome event because it celebrates the creativity in skiing; it's really open to interpretation and gives teams the freedom to show how much fun skiing is in whichever way they choose.” Says judge Ingrid Backstrom. “Plus to have the film and photos set against such an insane backdrop way up in the Andes guarantees some truly stunning imagery”
The week of festivities will culminate in the booming metropolis of Santiago de Chile at the first annual IF3 La Parva/Chile. The one night film festival will celebrate the global Freeskiing film community, complete with athlete autograph sessions, film screenings, vendors, and live music. The winning films and photos from Sony Eye of The Condor will be showcased around the globe at IF3 International Film Festivals, including Montreal, Quebec; Annecy France; and Innsbruck Austria. “We are extremely excited about our new partnership with IF3, we feel it’s going to show the international community the beauty and uniqueness of the Chilean ski community,” says Medina.
“The Eye of the Condor competition is an amazing event” says Team Discrete (2011 EOTC People’s Choice Award) member and 2012 Red Bull Cold Rush Champion Rachel Burks “It's rad, because all the teams are staying in the same area, dining together, running into each other on the slopes — it’s the perfect competition atmosphere.”
Eye of the Condor is presented with the support of Sony, Subaru Chile, Delta Airlines and Columbia Sportswear. For more information please refer to http://www.laparva.cl/eyeofthecondor/. - Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 210
- Not yet rated
-
News: Mark McMorris Wins X Gam News: Mark McMorris Wins X Games Gold In Snowboard Slopestyle
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
Aspen, Colorado — Coming into his second Winter X Games, Mark McMorris had zero gold medals. When he leaves Winter X Games Aspen 2012, he will be a double gold medal winner after winning Snowboard Slopestyle on Saturday night to go along with his Big Air victory.
“I didn’t have any expectations coming in this year,” the 18-year-old said. “I just wanted to ride like I can and land my tricks. That is all I come out to contests to do is to have fun and try and land the run I have in my head. That was able to happen two nights in a row and it was able to happen on a good weekend at X Games. Now I have a big smile on my face.”
That big smile came from a high score of 93.00, five points higher than the silver medalist Sage Kotsenburg.
“When you ride with the people you love to ride with it makes it so much fun. All those guys up there are my friends so it was so much fun,” McMorris added.
Kotsenburg moved into second on his final run with a score of 88.00. The Park City, Utah, native said that he thrives on pressure.
“I was really bad on my first two runs,” Kotsenburg said. “So I guess I am good under pressure, which kind of helps some times.”
Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen finished third and grabbed his first Winter X Games medal in four appearances.
The Slopestyle course is approximately 1,600-feet long with six features and a vertical drop of 280-feet. Snowboarders attempt multiple tricks throughout their run on specially designed jumps, rails, boxes and other obstacles. Slopestyle is judged on creativity, trick completion and style. The competitors are ranked based on the best score of their three runs.
WINTER X GAMES ASPEN 2012: SNOWBOARD SLOPESTYLE MEN’S RESULTS
1. Mark McMorris Regina, SK, Canada 93.00
2. Sage Kotsenburg Park City, Utah 88.00
3. Peetu Piiroinen Hyvinkaa, Finland 86.00
4. Sebastien Toutant Montreal, QC, Canada 83.66
5. Seppe Smits Westmalle, Belgium 79.33
6. Gjermund Braaten Torpo, Norway 78.66
7. Eric Willett Breckenridge, Colo. 63.00
8. Torstein Horgmo Oslo, Norway 29.66 - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 146
- Not yet rated
-
News: Kaya Turski Wins Ski Slo News: Kaya Turski Wins Ski Slopestyle At Winter X Games With Switch 1080
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
Aspen, Colo. — In previous years, with the gold already in hand, the dominant Kaya Turski’s final run was typically a victory lap. But in 2012, the competition level was at an all-time high and Turski needed the final run to be her best run.And it was just that, as she scored a 95.00 to grab her third-consecutive gold in Women’s Ski Slopestyle – the first medal awarded at this year’s Winter X Games.
"I've never seen the level so high as I've seen it today,” Turski said. “Everyone is taking training seriously, eating well, and working hard, it's going to be a crazy couple of years."
Turski held off 18-year old Devin Logan, who’s score of 92.33 landed her the silver medal.
"I was cheering on Kaya today,” an exuberant Logan said. “We all want to push the sport every contest; I wanted her to put pressure on me to elevate the level of my riding, same with Anna (Segal). I saw her run and I knew I could do it. We all root for each other while pushing each other at the sometime."
Entering her final run, Turski stood in third place and knew that she needed to pull out all of the stops if she was to capture gold. She ran smooth through the course executing as only she can and her switch 1080 off the final jump sealed the victory.
“The switch 10 is definitely raising the bar, Anna (Segal) spinning both ways is raising the bar, Devin (Logan) getting inverted is as well, the level is getting really high, I’m just excited were pushing the sport, I think were all doing a good job of that."
Australia’s Segal, who scored a 90.00 on here first run and led the competition through two rounds, grabbed the bronze.
"I kind of always do that, I'm always focused on my first run," Segal said of her high score. "I was also really excited I pulled off a new trick (unnatural 7) in my second run."
The Slopestyle course is approximately 1,600-feet long with six features and a vertical drop of 280 feet. Skiers attempt multiple tricks throughout their run on specially designed jumps, rails, boxes and other obstacles. Judging is based on creativity, trick competitions and style. The competitors are ranked based on the best score of their three runs.
For Winter X Games media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. To view medalist runs, visit the Winter X Games You Tube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/xgames and follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/xgames.Results:
1. Kaya Turski Montreal, QC, Canada 95.00
2. Devin Logan West Dover, Vt. 92.33
3. Anna Segal Melbourne, Australia 90.00
4. Keri Herman Breckenridge, Colo. 87.00
5. Ashley Battersby Chicago, Ill. 86.00
6. Dara Howell Huntsville, ON, Canada 81.33
7. Emma Dahlström Torsby, Sweden 77.66
8. Meg Olenick Aspen, Colo. 71.00
9. Rose Battersby Taupo, New Zealand 51.00
10. Kim Lamarre Lac-Beauport, Canada 39.00 - Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 172
- Not yet rated
-
Mt. Baker Blocks Webisode "Cra Mt. Baker Blocks Webisode "Crash Reel" Episode 2
- From: johnwellsma
-
Description:
Mt. Baker Blocks Webisode series: Episode 2 “Crash Reel”
I can’t be the only one out there that thinks going a little too fast, a little too big, and sending it more often than not is most certainly always a good thing! Maybe it was the 2 years I spent at Kicking Horse “just givin’er” up in Canada, or the 60 foot park hits in Montreal to sheer ice, but it doesn’t feel like a truly great ski day until you have sent it with no regard. Take-offs with no landing gear, getting snow in every orifice, shin-bang, skiing pow with no goggles, these are all valiant efforts to get it done!
Considering my 1rst episode claiming to be Ice Man, my ego has taken its lumps along with my body over the past decade, trying to become a glimmer of Seth Morrison in Ski movie 1. These are the “all-most” sick lines of the year, but for one reason or another; a blown couple of tendons, didn’t eat my snickers, too many safety meetings, or that last run from the top after a cocktail, spending almost 800 feet sliding on my face eating small trees and chunder, they just didn’t pan out the way I pictured them the night before watching “The ART of FLIGHT” or The WAY I SEE it, talking a lot of game but not backing up the sofa chatter with results.
In most cases it lands you the “only” girl at the bar, a good seat in the lodge, (u know with the cool guys that are always warm & dry), and the authentic bad-ass label at your home mountain. The sick bird award is more coveted than winning because, you don’t have to stick the sick bird award, you just have to be loco and hit the biggest feature out there!
After a number of years at 100 days a year, and pushing for 100 feet of air/day, things can and will go wrong, leaving you with nagging injuries that will never heal until you stop skiing. So, next time eat your wheaties, man up or down, throw caution to the wind, and hit that PNW snow with confidence knowing that a couple tomahawks, 21 DIN bindings, a helmet, and some body armor, and you’ll at least live long enough to tell everyone at the bar “how you sent it so big, and then it was like, wow, man, and then, dude, it was sick bro! should a been there!”
-- John Wells currently is training to come back after ankle surgery, after a miss-calculation of a pillow to flat, last March. Continuing to ski on a torn ankle through March and April, the goods were gotten but not always cleanly!
John has come to the conclusion that,
“Any landing you walk away from is a good landing."
................................More stills from the Go Pro editiing floor.........................................
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 2061
-
'One For The Road' Wins Best S 'One For The Road' Wins Best Soundtrack At IF3
- From: TetonGravityResearch
-
Description:
September 20, 2011
On Saturday night, Teton Gravity Research was awarded Best Soundtrack for its newest film "One For The Road" at the International Freeski Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec.
Although "One For The Road" did not screen at IF3 — its world premiere was simultaneously happening in Teton Village, Wyoming — it was submitted to the festival for judging and won the award.
Below, TGR cinematographer and music supervisor Dustin Handley talks about what it takes to create an award-winning soundtrack. Scroll down to buy the soundtrack and for a list of other IF3 award winners.
TGR's Dustin Handley operates the Phantom camera at Baldface Lodge in Britsh Columbia while filming for "One For The Road." Handley also puts together the soundtracks for TGR films.
Aside from being a cinematographer, you are the music supervisor so, essentially, this award is for your efforts. Have you ever won Best Soundtrack before while working at TGR?
This is the first IF3 Best Soundtrack award for TGR. IF3 started in 2007, and is considered to be the Cannes Film Festival of ski movies, so I feel honored.
What's your favorite song on the this year's soundtrack?
That's a tough question. I feel that each song has it's place.
What was the hardest song to license this year?
Robert Earl Keen "The Road Goes On Forever" (Live at Floores Country Store). Robert Earl Keen's management was excited about the use from the beginning, but there were a lot of big labels to clear through, and A LOT of confusion as to which labels actually controlled this live version.
What's your favorite TGR soundtrack of all time?
That's another tough question, but my standouts are "One For The Road," "Re:Session," "Anomaly," "High Life," "Shack Therapy"... and, of course, "Uprising" — that was the first TGR film I ever saw, as a young grom, and it changed my life forever.
What's your favorite Hollywood soundtrack?
"Top Gun" takes the cake, I'm pretty sure it's the first CD my mom bought for me. I like where some mainstream Hollywood cinema narrative films are heading. "Red Riding Hood" and "Sucker Punch" are pretty interesting. And, of course, a few of the classics ... "The Harder They Come," "The Graduate," "Forest Gump," "American Beauty," "Swordfish," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Garden State," and "Harold & Maud."
How many soundtracks have you put together?
Twelve for TGR.
Click here to download the "One For The Road" soundtrack.
–––––––
Other winners at IF3 2011:
Best Soundtrack : Teton Gravity Research “One for the road”
Best Webisode : Travelling Circus “Get In The Van”
Best Amateur Cinematography : NSF Production “Frozen Yogourt”
Best Amateur Film : NSF Production “Frozen Yogourt”
Most Innovative Visual FX : Sherpas Cinema “All I Can”
Best Documentary : Sherpas Cinema “All I Can”
Best Jib Movie : Stept Productions “Weight”
Best Editing - Open category : Level 1 Productions “After Dark”
Rookie Of The Year: Jasper Trader
Best Female Performance: Ingrid Backstrom
Best Cinematography : Sweetgrass Productions “Solitaire”
Best Film: Poor Boyz “The Grand Bizarre” - Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 2495
- Not yet rated
-
'One For The Road' Wins Best S 'One For The Road' Wins Best Soundtrack At IF3
- From: TetonGravityResearch
-
Description:
September 20, 2011
On Saturday night, Teton Gravity Research was awarded Best Soundtrack for its newest film "One For The Road" at the International Freeski Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec.
Although "One For The Road" did not screen at IF3 — its world premiere was simultaneously happening in Teton Village, Wyoming — it was submitted to the festival for judging and won the award.
Below, TGR cinematographer and music supervisor Dustin Handley talks about what it takes to create an award-winning soundtrack. Scroll down to buy the soundtrack and for a list of other IF3 award winners.
TGR's Dustin Handley operates the Phantom camera at Baldface Lodge in Britsh Columbia while filming for "One For The Road." Handley also puts together the soundtracks for TGR films.
Aside from being a cinematographer, you are the music supervisor so, essentially, this award is for your efforts. Have you ever won Best Soundtrack before while working at TGR?
This is the first IF3 Best Soundtrack award for TGR. IF3 started in 2007, and is considered to be the Cannes Film Festival of ski movies, so I feel honored.
What's your favorite song on the this year's soundtrack?
That's a tough question. I feel that each song has it's place.
What was the hardest song to license this year?
Robert Earl Keen "The Road Goes On Forever" (Live at Floores Country Store). Robert Earl Keen's management was excited about the use from the beginning, but there were a lot of big labels to clear through, and A LOT of confusion as to which labels actually controlled this live version.
What's your favorite TGR soundtrack of all time?
That's another tough question, but my standouts are "One For The Road," "Re:Session," "Anomaly," "High Life," "Shack Therapy"... and, of course, "Uprising" — that was the first TGR film I ever saw, as a young grom, and it changed my life forever.
What's your favorite Hollywood soundtrack?
"Top Gun" takes the cake, I'm pretty sure it's the first CD my mom bought for me. I like where some mainstream Hollywood cinema narrative films are heading. "Red Riding Hood" and "Sucker Punch" are pretty interesting. And, of course, a few of the classics ... "The Harder They Come," "The Graduate," "Forest Gump," "American Beauty," "Swordfish," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Garden State," and "Harold & Maud."
How many soundtracks have you put together?
Twelve for TGR.
Click here to download the "One For The Road" soundtrack.
–––––––
Other winners at IF3 2011:
Best Soundtrack : Teton Gravity Research “One for the road”
Best Webisode : Travelling Circus “Get In The Van”
Best Amateur Cinematography : NSF Production “Frozen Yogourt”
Best Amateur Film : NSF Production “Frozen Yogourt”
Most Innovative Visual FX : Sherpas Cinema “All I Can”
Best Documentary : Sherpas Cinema “All I Can”
Best Jib Movie : Stept Productions “Weight”
Best Editing - Open category : Level 1 Productions “After Dark”
Rookie Of The Year: Jasper Trader
Best Female Performance: Ingrid Backstrom
Best Cinematography : Sweetgrass Productions “Solitaire”
Best Film: Poor Boyz “The Grand Bizarre” - Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 2426
- Not yet rated
-
News: Canadian National Slopes News: Canadian National Slopestyle Team Forms
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
August 24, 2011
From the Canadain Freestyle Ski Association press release:
VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association proudly announced today the formation of its newest team. The Canadian National Slopestyle Team is the product of the recent decision by the International Olympic Committee to give ski slopestyle a berth in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, and the confidence of Canada’s Own the Podium program which has allocated major funding to the CFSA to kick-start the program.
When the IOC gave the nod to slopestyle, it was capitalizing on a trend to include accessible and exciting action sports into the Games. In ski slopestyle, athletes make their way down a veritable obstacle course of rails, jumps and other features – much like you would find in virtually any snow terrain park at resorts across the country. The competitors are judged on the quality, style, and originality of their tricks.
Canadian athletes have consistently performed very well in slopestyle pro events like the X Games and the Dew Tour. The discipline made its FIS World Championships debut this winter in Park City, UT where Canadian Kaya Turski took home the silver medal.
CFSA High Performance Program Director David Mirota said the OTP funding indicates confidence that Canada has excellent potential to win medals in slopestyle at the Sochi Games. “We could not have built a national team program without OTP, so we are very grateful for their support and we have worked quickly to develop a comprehensive plan based on the winning models we already have for moguls and aerials to meet OTP performance expectations,” said Mirota, noting that the IOC decision came very quickly and was a bit of a surprise. Nevertheless, while FIS and the Sochi Organizing Committee work out the logistics and details of course design and judging models, Canada has wasted no time putting its program together.
Mirota announced that the CFSA has hired veteran coach and former National Team athlete Toben Sutherland as its slopestyle program manager. Sutherland was an athlete with the national team program from 1993 to 1999. He had more than 100 FIS World Cup starts and earned the silver medal at the World Championships in 1997. Sutherland found his calling in the new school disciplines in 1998, and was the first athlete to perform double flips in the halfpipe. Most recently he was head coach of the Ontario Park & Pipe Team. Sutherland said, “The athlete vibe about the National Team has been really exciting, they are pumped about the program and about the prospect of Canada becoming a real Olympic threat.”
Mirota also announced the members of the inaugural Canadian National Slopestyle Team, which is composed of nine athletes who were selected from their Association of Freeskiing Professionals rankings and past major event performances.
He said, “I’m very excited about our prospects for Sochi in slopestyle and especially for our program going forward. Slopestyle is an accessible, stylish and spectacular sport. Anyone can learn to do rails and jumps in the terrain parks at resorts across the country so the upcoming talent pool is promising.”
The inaugural Canadian Ski Slopestyle Team is as follows:
A Team
Kaya Turski, of Montreal, QC, Silver 2011 World Championships, Winner 2011 X Games
Kim Lamarre, of Lac Beauport, QC, Bronze medal 2011 Winter X Games Europe
JF Houle, of Drummondville, QC, Winner of 2011 Winter X Games Europe
TJ Schiller, of Vernon, BC, Winner of 2009 X Games
Alexis Godbout, of Mont-Tremblant, QC, Winner 2011 Dew Tour BreckenridgeB Team
Maude Raymond, of Montreal, QC, 9th 2011 Winter X Games
Jessica Warll, of Collingwood, ON, 3rd Dew Tour Breckenridge
Ian Cosco, of Whistler, BC, 11th 2011 Winter X Games
Phil Casabon, of Vallée du Parc, QC, 5th 2011 Winter X Games Europe
Charles Gagnier, of Victoriaville, QC, 7th at WSI, Whistler 2011The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association is the governing body in Canada for the sport of Freestyle Skiing. With the support of its title sponsor, Canada Post, and its other valued corporate partners – Columbia Sportswear and RBC — along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the CFSA develops Olympic and world champions in all disciplines of the sport. For more information on the CFSA, visit us at www.freestyleski.com
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 836
-
Video: IF3 International Frees Video: IF3 International Freeski Film Festival Montreal Teaser
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
The IF3 International Freeski Film Festival will take place Sept. 15-18 in Montreal, Canada. At the event, some of the ski industry's top films will be screened. Although Teton Gravity Research's new film "One For The Road" will not be shown in Montreal — our world premiere is Sept. 17 in Teton Village — it will be shown during IF3's second film festival Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 in Annecy, France. Watch the trailer for the Montreal event below and buy tickets to IF3 and its after parties here.
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 683
- Not yet rated
-
Video: 18 Year Old Sebastien T Video: 18 Year Old Sebastien Toutant's 2010-2011 Season Edit
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
Yesterday Canadian rider Sebastien Toutant dropped his official website and released a full 2011 season edit. The 18 year old Montreal Native has been killing it since he first appeared on the scene on 2006 at the age of 14! Earlier this year Seb became the second person to land the triple cork 1440 after Mark McMorris, and this video is definitely an impressive follow up.
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 1774
- Not yet rated
-
Euro Trashed Euro Trashed
- From: sbcskier
-
Description:
The plan was ambitious, but not altogether unreasonable: Three weeks in Europe with five of your best buds, centered around the first annual European X Games in Tignes, France, with private park shoots, a video comp, and no shortage of urban slayage all on the menu. The goal: return home with money, footage and fame.For a seasoned group of slopestyle riders from Quebec, planning a large trip like this is full of ifs and whens. Weather, injuries, and travel delays are par for the course, so the team filled its itinerary to the brim, knowing at least a few things would go wrong along the way.
Led by slopestyle stalwarts J.F. Houle and Alexis Godbout, the raison d’etre was a Tignes break-out party in the freeski world, the first jaunt across the pond for the Winter X Games. Charles Spina, acclaimed photographer and filmmaker with several transatlantic trips under his belt, was along for the ride to document the trials and tribulations of the comp scene, but was really there for the private park shoot scheduled at the end of the trip at Chatel Resort in the famed Portesdu- Soleil region that borders France and Switzerland. Filmmaker J.F. Boutin had his eye on the prize of a first-of-its-kind video competition in freeski legend Candide Thovex’s hometown of La Clusaz. And, so enticed by the spoils up for grabs, Swedish superstar Henrik Harlaut hopped along for the ride.
But it was not to be. Murphy’s Law reared its ugly head before they had even left Trudeau Airport in Montreal, and remained a travel companion throughout the journey. But in typical Quebec can-do spirit, the crew found out that when life gives you lemons, all you need a little bit of tequila. Or in this case, a lot.
ORIGINALLY FEATURED IN SBC SKIER MAGAZINE - TO VIEW THE FULL ARTICLE IN ALL IT'S GLORY, HEAD OVER TO WWW.SBCSKIER.COM | AUTHOR: JASON MOUSSEAU, CHRIS O'CONNELL | PHOTO: CHARLES SPINA | ISSUE 10.4
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 160
- Not yet rated
-
Isn't It Iconic? Isn't It Iconic?
- From: sbcskier
-
Description:
You’ve seen them in the movies, read about them in magazines and visited their websites. You’ve dreamed of visiting knowing that nothing is a bigger rite of passage than being able to start every chairlift conversation with, “When I was in…”
The following North American resorts are iconic in the world of skiing and have helped shape and mold modern skiing into what it is today. And whether you’ve been to them all, spent a season at each or a day at just one of them, there’s no better way to earn your stripes than to get out there and ski one of these legendary areas.
Whistler/Blackcomb
Marshal Talbot resides in the white room above the madness of Peak Chair. Carr photo
For the white man, Whistler began as a fishing lodge and logging camp early in the 1900s. By the mid-’60s it was a dirty-hippie ski town, and by the early ’80s buildings started popping up like mushrooms after a shitstorm.
These days Whistler is a skiing icon—everybody knows it, and all kinds of places are buying into the Whistler model, hoping to copy, and cash in, on what makes us so key. Sure there are places with better snow (Smithers) and a mellower vibe (the Kootenays), but the truth is, nowhere in North America comes close to delivering the all-around package of Whistler.
The numbers are impressive—an average snowfall of 10 metres (33 feet for you Yanks out there), 3,307 hectares of in-bounds terrain, 200-plus trails, 38 lifts, sick terrain parks, night pipe and, tucked at the bottom of the mountains, the best party town in Canada, hands down.
But numbers and statistics aren’t what make Whistler so epic. It’s the people who live here—whether it’s that comedian–ski instructor that taught you how to ride pow and laugh when you bail, or the gorgeous bartender with the big hair who was smashing glasses for fun and made that one lucky dude do a shot of Jack out of her bosom, or the time you rode the chair with a couple of pros on a day off from filming and just up to rip the trees. These are the stories you tell your buds back home along with how you stomped that 540 in the black park or got the third chair up Peak when there was a foot of fresh.
In Whistler it’s also the 90-plus restaurants and bars, the sick nightclubs, the cute girls or the scruffy dudes that all look the same, the improv snowball fights when it dumps, the free concerts at the Ski and Snowboard Festival, the massive underground film and art communities—you can’t find stuff like this anywhere else. Not within spitting distance of two huge ski hills covered in pow and the sickest, comparatively safest, backcountry terrain in North America. There are enough backcountry lines within an hour of Whistler to last a lifetime for even the most hardcore ski-touring dirtbag. I hear there’s lots of cross-country skiing here, too, but you can do that crap anywhere, so whatever.
If you like to ski, Whistler is the best. It’s as simple as that. And if you disagree—awesome. You’re absolutely right. Don’t come here. It sucks. (More snow for me.)
—Feet Banks
Alta Snowbird
Another shitty day at Alta. Cliff Bennett. Markewitz photo
When it comes to claiming the title for best skiing in North America, few regions can measure up against the powerhouse of British Columbia. One of the few contenders worthy of consideration, however, is the Mormon stronghold of Utah and its epicentre of powder-twins of Alta-Snowbird. Tucked away in the avalanche alley known as Little Cottonwood Canyon, these two ski areas are so close to Salt Lake City that the metropolis can legitimately claim the status of biggest ski town in North America. While the legendary resorts aren’t officially affiliated and were only recently connected across a shared ridge, one name is rarely mentioned without the other—a double dose of the continent’s lightest, fluffiest, re-goddamn-diculous snow. The local governments are so proud of it, they even went as far as to trademark Mother Nature’s gift with the notoriously goofy slogan “Greatest Snow on Earth.” With annual average snowfall of 1,270 centimetres and a combined total of 4,700 acres of terrain, the situation makes for friendly neighbours. Unless, that is, you’re a snowboarder, then your lame, chute-shedding, side-slipping and poorly laid traverse tracks still aren’t welcome at Alta. This cold-hearted exclusion is a welcome proviso for bitter skiers hanging on to any notion of the old days—which is pretty much what and who you’ll find at Alta. Snowbird offers more than enough to make up for it; the same snow on the same aspects creates a big-mountain terrain park worthy of an IFSA World Tour venue and makes it a breeding ground for some of the highest profile pros in the business: Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and Jamie Pierre are only two examples of Little Cottonwood’s influence. A trip to Alta-Snowbird means nothing less than guaranteed world-class powder skiing, even if part of it is a blast from the past.
—Max Geraldo
Stowe
Not all Eastern areas are icy. Hardy Avery delves deep. Waskusch photo
“How special is a town where the girls think the best way to spend Valentine’s Day is slashing three feet of fresh pow?” asks local Justine Wysong, after the epic spring storm of 2007. It’s pretty damn special.
More than a simple tourist town, Stowe is steeped in history. It’s this deep-rooted skiing tradition that keeps Stowe grounded, despite all the growth and changes that have taken place over the years.
Stowe symbolizes the quintessential Eastern destination. It’s best known for great terrain—from grip-tight steeps to casual cruisers—but also superior snowmaking and grooming.
And Stowe is a status symbol, the Eastern resort frequented by movie stars, international tourists and iconic athletes. The home mountain of Burton snowboards, Stowe has a progressive freestyle scene and a wealth of diehard freeriders. And it’s got international appeal—close proximity to Quebec makes it easy for French-Canadians to shoot over the border and revel in the Stowe stoke.
The first Winter Carnival, flush with ski jumping and ice skating, took place in 1921. It was over a decade before the downhill experience was had. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed Bruce Trail, Stowe’s first, in 1933. People hiked for their turns until a single chair was built in 1940.
“A big part of what defines this place is that, for locals, Stowe’s past is present,” says Stowe skier John Dostal. “The mountain’s original trail, the Bruce, is still in play. Even though the Starr, cut in the ’60s, was laid over it, people still ski bits of the original line and refer to its 1930s predecessor, S 53.”
Improvements, including a new intermountain lift connecting Spruce Peak and Mansfield, keep Stowe moving forward. Many Eastern resorts feature more cat-track than fall-line terrain. Not Stowe. With Mount Mansfield’s summit elevation of 4,395 feet (highest in Vermont), 485 skiable acres, and average snowfall of 330-plus inches, Stowe has everything from alpine exposure to low-angle glades. The legendary Front Four—Goat, National, Liftline and Starr—are classic black-diamond lines. OB lines like Hellbrook tumble down into Smugglers’ Notch, and after skating down the Mountain Road, cold ones await at the Matterhorn.
—Mike Horn
Lake Louise
Kris Cormier gets his tips frosted. Mossop photo
It’s a standard-issue powder day at Lake Louise. Ten centimetres has blown around the back bowls, creating carveable, racy conditions. As the saying goes, “No place wears 10 centimetres like The Lake”—and it’s a good thing, ’cause that’s usually all it gets. We ski all afternoon with a rotating cast of friends and strangers. The hill isn’t overrun with experts competing for tracks, and therefore has a laid-back feel. The Crack o’ Noon Club can still get fresh tracks, and other skiers are more comrades than competition.
We ski hard, but at the top of Paradise chair we pause to chat and enjoy the view of Lake Louise itself across the valley and the surrounding glaciated peaks. The view is awe-inspiring, and thanks to the protection of Canada’s original national park, it’s the same view that greeted skiers 100 years ago.
Drawn by the dramatic landscape and lakeside chateau, those first skiers loaded their wooden skis onto locomotives and chugged their way to Lake Louise. The area was already a hotbed for mountaineering when a group of adventurous Banff skiers built the West’s first ski lodge in the Skoki Valley, in 1930. A daylodge on what is now Lake Louise Ski Resort was constructed six years later, and the first mechanized lift erected in 1954. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I first skied here.
For me and most of the freeskiing world, Louise was born when RAP Films started pointing cameras at Kirk Jensen and Andrew Sheppard. With glacial peaks shining under blue skies as a backdrop, the Louise locals displayed an approach that was both aggressive and playful, with an inherent fluidity and unflappable style. Years later, their way of skiing is still the way to ski The Lake. The vertical cornices are spots for airplane turns. Tight chutes are hammered with precision short-radius turns, while tighter ones still are straight run. Fat skis have changed the way most people devour the open bowls, but when it comes to playing with the mountain’s features, those guys were so ahead of their time, most are still trying to catch up.
They also left a tradition of humility. The place seems to breed it. Perhaps it’s because no matter how great a skier you are, the mountains around Louise offer lines that are beyond you. It’s a landscape that is completely indomitable. These peaks make you feel alive, but they can also make you feel weak, incapable and mortal.
For our final run, we slide under the boundary rope. Because of national park restrictions, Louise is not likely to expand, but with the growing popularity of backcountry skiing and an open boundary policy, the area people ski is expanding. In mountains like these, there is always a new zone to check out just one ridge farther. So, after almost 100 years, the exploring continues.
—Kevin Hjertaas
Aspen
Henrik Windstedt finds his own riches in Aspen. Fredrikkson photo
Aspen. Even the name strikes fear into your heart—fear that you’re missing some kind of party. Which you probably are. Beginning in January, Aspen is home to Gay Ski Week, the Winter X Games, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Food & Wine Classic, The Meeting (fall film premieres), and the Aspen Cocktail Classic, among others. But the biggest party you’re probably missing is on the mountains, in the form of great skiing. Whether it’s a double dose of classic Colorado champagne powder, mogul-bashing on one of Aspen’s gorgeous blue-sky Rocky Mountain days, or spinning laps on North America’s premier high-speed cruiser, Ruthie’s Run (Euros can’t say enough about this piste), the skiing here says everything about how and why resortdom took hold of this old silver mining town in the Roaring Fork Valley in the first place. And why it has turned into a kind of celebrity ski camp both for Hollywood stars and generation X Games athletes.
Each of the resort’s four unconnected mountains has its own unique character. Snowmass is huge, diverse and unpopulated. Despite its name, flattish Buttermilk has shed its beginner’s rep and found raison d’être in the massive terrain park and cross-runs sculpted on it annually for the X Games. Highlands is just that, with super-steeps and rad backcountry bowls hovering between 3,000 and 4,000 metres, leaving you out of breath on two counts—altitude and the spectacular views to the twin peaks of Maroon Bells, famous from many a Sierra Club calendar. The main mountain of Ajax, footing the town, is surprisingly gnar—almost 70 per cent is expert terrain, and ferocious bump runs like Ridge of Bell are one of the places the ’70s freestyle revolution fomented before breaking continent-wide. Sucking up corduroy rollers at subsonic speed in any of Ajax’s several gulches (once home to the infamous 24 Hours of Aspen team race) on a crisp, blue-sky day is like pulling Gs in the space shuttle and enough to have you hallucinating. Don’t worry, though: all those bizarre-but-intricate shrines to the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, Bob Marley, Jerry Garcia and Marilyn Monroe you see in the forest lining the runs on Ajax are real.
It proves one thing. Sure there’s a cheesy film extolling the area’s historic ski-bum virtues, and yes, there are Aspen trees beyond counting, with plenty of snow in between. But what really defines Aspen is that you can’t get away from the party—even when you’re skiing.
—Leslie Anthony
Squaw Valley
Aaron “Ragdoll” McGovern, in a rare moment on his feet. Markewitz photo
Squaw Valley, U.S.A.’s moniker is certainly no secret. There’s even an expert freeskier’s guidebook bearing the name. But while many associate “Squallywood” with an attitude, the term is more apropos on account of the mountain’s physical layout and its place steeped in steep-skiing history.
In 1960 the late Alex Cushing lured the Winter Olympics to the fledgling ski area and put Squaw on the map. But it was the ’80s and the burgeoning film industry that gave the area its rep. First, the Hollywood romp Hot Dog... The Movie, followed by a barrage of Squaw-heavy ski movies. Ski filmmaking was by no means born at Squaw, but it found a solid home there. And through the past three decades Squaw’s in-bounds terrain has consumed more airtime—literally and figuratively—in movies than any ski area in the world. Consequently, the list of skiers who have called Squaw home reads like a who’s who of freeskiing. Pick an era, and iconic names leap forward: Steve and Tamara McKinney, Scot Schmidt, Tom Day, Kevin Andrews, the DesLauriers brothers, John Tremann, Brad Holmes, Shane McConkey, Kent Kreitler, Jonny Moseley, Ingrid Backstrom, C.R. Johnson, Michelle Parker.... One generation fades, and a new batch of Squaw superstars emerges to fill the void.
The film stars are only part of the equation, however, because for every renowned pro at Squaw, there are another 20 lesser-known rippers who can slay the same dynamic lines. Catch a powder day at Squaw, and it seems everyone and his or her mother can stomp a 40-footer and point a sketchy rocky sliver at 90 km/h. It’s enough to leave seemingly expert visitors bewildered and humbled.
But what is it that makes a mountain plagued by Sierra Cement and extremely short pitches churn out such talent and stellar images? Well, one man’s curse is another man’s treasure. From top to bottom, Squaw is littered with cliffs, and that dense snow pastes to the rock, opening up ridiculously steep lines and faces that wouldn’t be possible in lighter, fluffier snowpacks. And with many of the premier lines ranging from only 50 to 150 metres, skiers can get themselves in and out of trouble quickly, making the mountain a veritable playground for straightlining, billygoating, dropping in above exposure, and hitting cliffs at speed. It’s ideal for bursts of fear and adrenaline, with a safe zone almost always seconds away.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Squallywood without the show, and no ski area is so chock full of in-your-face terrain. Nearly everything is visible from chairlifts, which makes picking lines easy, and tearing up the real marquee features pure entertainment for all in view. And with more than 11 metres of snow a year, delivered in quick, powerful storms that can dump two or three metres in a matter of days, when that brilliant California sunshine returns (expect bluebird 300 days a year), the show is on. And it is one worth catching.
—Scott Gaffney
Mont Tremblant
JD Zicat spins his way to Le P’tit Caribou. Rioux photo
In the 1930s thousands boarded snow trains out of Montreal to mingle with the rich and famous in the Laurentian mountain town of Ste-Agathe and try out the latest sporting rage: skiing.
Here the Montreal Ski Club’s crazed members practised their spectacular invention, the “Briancon Stop” (ski as fast as possible, then throw yourself to the ground). A typical weekend would include a ride behind the “Aeroski” plane that dragged peopsicles strapped to barrel staves at 120 km/h across a frozen lake.
American millionaire adventurer Joe Ryan was among the crowd drawn to the rugged forests and lakes of the Laurentians in 1938. After trudging on skins 875 metres through heavy snow to the tallest peak in the massif, Ryan was smitten. A year and $250,000 later, he opened Eastern North America’s first ski resort on Mount Tremblant.
Algonquin Indian legend says disturbing the trembling mountain would cause its angered spirits to shake and roar. After 65 years of having their frozen tranquility shattered by snow moving, tree bashing, and all-night revelry, those ghosts are pissed off and bent on getting even.
Why else would Tremblant visitors out for a quiet weekend of fine French provincial food and fresh air find themselves skiing and partying like a 15-year-old on a Ritalin vacation? The Quebecois bon vivant spirit infuses the Tremblant lifestyle: laugh often, eat well, drink lots, and ski so fast that the winter winds can’t catch you.
Those ancient ghosts still lull skiers into the woods with the promise of modern “glade skiing” and then pummel them with the Tremblant experience of skiing souis bois or “under the wood.” Most modern resorts forbid scraping through brush and stumps while dodging trees—the same risk-management guys that have banned dancing on bars. Happily, at Tremblant, both traditions are alive and well.
Sadly, by the 1980s, the Grand Dame of the East had become derelict and bankrupt, until Intrawest intervened in 1991 to write Mount Tremblant’s modern history.
Fifteen years of massive rebuilding have produced an abundance of comfortable condos and fabulous hotels in the new Tremblant village. A few of the original white clapboard shacks were saved to form at the base of the new development, and somehow the French provincial charm of the region has survived despite the overwhelming Disney-on-steroids architecture.
Tremblant’s greatest renaissance has been on-piste. The original lovingly hand-cut runs are now groomed to velvet perfection. A new southern exposure aptly named Versant Soleil has welcome early sunlight that softens up the 80-per-cent-diamond terrain. Along with Tremblant’s original two faces, the resort now boasts 631 acres of skiable terrain.
Forty acres of terrain parks, an Olympic Superpipe, and a total of 94 runs offer a wide range of modern options. Astutely the new management has held onto many great Tremblant traditions, like allowing the steep Expo trail to turn into treacherous moguls. The chairlift overhead still offers the ultimate yard-sale viewing seat on the continent.
When skiers funnel down to the new open-air plaza at the end of the day, they unwittingly step into Tremblant’s “extreme” territory. Here any tourist would be a fool to try to keep up with the locals, who have trained for almost a century to master a Tremblant tradition of legendary danger: the après ski.
—Meredith Gardner
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 268
- Not yet rated
-
ski the east, Montreal style ski the east, Montreal style
- From: ecbc
-
Description:
- 4 years ago
- Views: 80
- Not yet rated
-
Freeski Industry Gathers To Sh Freeski Industry Gathers To Shed “BASTARD CHILD” Reputation
- From: media-75233
-
Description:
Carte Blanche: The Freeski Summit, presented by Origin Design + Communications,
wraps International Freeski Festival
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, September 23, 2009 — Freeski industry athletes, manufacturers, filmmakers and media gathered last Sunday to attend Carte Blanche: The Freeski Summit, lead by Origin Design + Communications as part of the International Freeski Film Festival (IF3). The event focused on discussions surrounding the role attendees have in marketing the sport and on shedding the bastard child inferiority complex that appears to be limiting the industry’s growth.
The event served as a more serious wrap-up to IF3’s five days of movie screenings and parties, and discussions centered around two panels featuring an impressive line-up of speakers including freeskiing phenom Simon Dumont; freeskiing's godfather Mike Douglas; athlete agent Michael Spencer from EGO Sports Management; Mike Nick, Director of Marketing from Orage; Scott Jewett, Director of Marketing at Red Bull; and Martin Giroux, the Sales and Marketing Director for Mont Saint-Sauveur International.
Panelists discussed the role of athletes in marketing the sport, the role of brands and retailers in both creating and responding to consumer demand, ideas for growing participation and overcoming barriers to entry into the sport, trends in the business, and the lack of a cohesive organization that would bring all segments of freeskiing together. The response was an encouragingly passionate audience discussion.
Several key take-aways came from the session including the need for more athlete involvement; focus on removing barriers to entry into the sport; collaboration and communication between sponsors, athletes and media in communicating freeski's message to the public; and innovative marketing strategies such as athlete outreach, learn-to programs, urban events, and amateur comps to expand exposure. While the discussions created some lively debate, the prevailing message and rallying cry for the day appeared to be, "Rise up freeskiers. Unite. Stand proud. Together we will shed our bastard status!"
For additional information contact Marie-Josée Legault of Origin Design + Communications at 1 (514) 842-5252 or mj@origindesign.ca.
Origin Design + Communications is a Montreal- and Whistler-based advertising agency specializing in mountain sports and resort tourism. An authority in skiing and snowboarding marketing, Origin operates as the creative agency of record for Whistler Blackcomb, Tourism Whistler and Salomon Canada and its client list includes Mont Saint Sauveur, Jay Peak Resort and Atomic, among others. Origin offers strategic marketing, branding and creative services, including full-service web design and development, social media marketing and experiential marketing expertise. For more information go to www.origindesign.ca.
IF3—the International Freeski Film Festival has become known as the “Cannes Film Festival of Skiing,” bringing together athletes, filmmakers, industry leaders and fans for the exclusive world premieres of top ski and freeski movies, concerts, parties and meetings. The Festival’s goal is to showcase the talent freeskiing has been fostering over the years; to create public awareness of skiing's new dynamic emergence and to grow awareness for the progression of the sport. For more information go to www.if3.ca.Contact:
Marie-Josée Legault
Tel: 514-842-5252
Email: mj@origindesign.ca
Web: www.origindesign.ca - Blog post
- 4 years ago
- Views: 806
- Not yet rated
-
Signatures Trailer from Sweetg Signatures Trailer from Sweetgrass Productions
- From: n_waggoner
-
Description:Through conversations with local athletes and artists, and in the visual exploration of fall, winter, and spring in the mountains, Signatures delves into the cultural connection to seasonal rhythms, exploring the influence of the physical and cyclical world on artistic and physical expression. Signatures documents the relationships of local snowsurfers, photographers, and riders to mountain, sea, and season. Shot in HD, with breathtaking cinematography, Signatures is human-powered riding in all snow-sliding styles: board, noboard, ski, and drop-knee. Signatures premieres September 19 at the IF3 freeskiing film festival in Montreal as well as in Aspen, Colo. and will be available on DVD this fall. Catch the film on tour this fall in the United States, Canada, and Japan. For more information visit www.sweetgrass-productions.com.
- 4 years ago
- Views: 527
