Geez, the world is grim right now, isn’t it? Wars and genocide grind on, authoritarian ‘leaders’ seek to take over democracies, removing basic human rights that have taken decades to secure. The climate crisis continues to escalate, while the large fossil fuel companies and their allies block meaningful action.

But, of course, the world is still an amazing place, full of beauty and goodness. Sometimes that’s what you need to focus on, so you can deal with the other stuff.

Skiing makes me happy. It is one of the great joys in my life. And I love the culture that exists around a love of winter and snow. One of the many manifestations of mountain culture is, of course, the genre of skiing and snow boarding films. Many are joyous celebrations of the mountains, of deep powder, freedom, connection and community.

I find the simple joy in many of the skiing and riding films addictive. I also find many of them a bit tedious when they focus on Heroes and Helicopters and The Shred. The more whimsical ones, that focus on a life lived around the edges, are the ones that appeal to me.

 

In the great river of winter-focused films, I love the emerging sub branch of streams which focus on the backcountry and low impact adventures. I also love the trippy ones. And the triad of wildly psychedelic ski films that are easily available are surely Valhalla, from Sweetgrass Productions, reviewed here), All.I.Can (a beautiful film that sadly fails terribly on the question of climate change – reviewed here) and the more recent Fire on the Mountain, which was a collaboration between Chris Benchetler, TGR and Flagship Independent.

I never got around to doing a review of Fire when it came out. So here it is. Its particularly a niche effort, given that all the music, and much of the narrative comes from the lyrics of the Grateful Dead (TGR have a long and enduring relationship with this perhaps most famous band of the counter culture that emerged in the 1960s). Even the narration is by famous Dead Head, basketball player and television sportscaster Bill Walton – whose very particular voice is probably completely unknown to Australian audiences.

The film follows ‘some of the world’s best athletes on a spontaneous journey of skiing, snowboarding, surfing, and music’. Yes, if you’re allergic to hippiedom, give this one a miss. But if you’re partial to some heartfelt winter Soul, and don’t mind the Dead, then its 27 minutes well spent (and who doesn’t love Jeremy Jones, Kimmy Fasani and Michelle Parker?).

The film has a pretty flimsy story line (hardly something unusual for a ski film – remember that one where people were acting like stunt doubles in a James Bond movie and spent the film chasing each other down big lines?). But it manages to weave together visually delightful skiing, riding and surfing scenes in diverse, beautiful mountains. It also features the trippy artwork of Chris Benchetler and Skye Walker. The narrative, such as it is, has a focus on light weight philosophy and the idea of synchronicity, a particular line of spiritual thinking often linked to the community that exists around the Dead.

A lot of the footage seems to be left over from other film projects. But its woven into a loose story about six skiers, riders and a surfer who are off on a series of adventures – in the Sierras in California, Antarctica, spring riding, van lifeing, plus night time skiing and riding and surfing.

Its light and sweet and cheesey. That seems like exactly what we all need about now.

It pairs well with a re-watch of the laconic and meandering Ode to Muir which features Jeremy Jones and Elena Hight as they tour though the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains in California (review here) or Roadless – following Bryan Iguchi, Jeremy Jones, and Travis Rice as they tour and chat their way through the backcountry of the Teton Wilderness (details here).

 

You can watch FIRE on You Tube here.