Snow/ skiing/ boarding films have long been a staple part of mountain life. And while I love snow porn as much as the next person, I never felt very interested in the high profile ‘heroes and helicopters’ style that has long dominated the mainstream films.
It was only a few years ago when I realised there was a sub genre that actually spoke to my reality: backcountry films.
This is the 4th backcountry ski film from Sweetgrass Productions.
Two years in the making, Valhalla is way beyond your normal ski film and its almost as if the usual eye candy of skiing/ boarding big lines is used to entice you in, and covers a deeper story. The premise of the film is that as we get older we lose our passion for life, that sense of wonder we have as a child, but can look for it again.
‘Valhalla is the tale of one man’s search to rediscover the freedom of his youth. Feeling the distant heat of it’s fire still burning in the mountains of the frozen north, he goes in search of those tending the flame—the untamed, the wild, and the outcast dwelling on the fringe’.
The weightlessness of youth: every breath radiates opportunity and hope; every sense thrives on the wealth of the present; everything whispers of brilliance and awe. When you’ve seen the season’s first great snow through the eyes of a child—you’ve known true happiness. But what happened to that simple joy? Where do we find the freedom that time and wisdom stole away?
Valhalla, Sweetgrass Productions’ fourth feature film, is the tale of one man’s search to rediscover the freedom of his youth. Feeling the distant heat of it’s fire still burning in the mountains of the frozen north, he goes in search of those tending the flame—the untamed, the wild, and the outcast dwelling on the fringe. Weaving narrative-driven style with award-winning, face-melting backcountry ski and snowboard cinematography; Valhalla is a vivid explosion of colour, character, snow, and nostalgic soul.
Starring: Cody Barnhill, Sierra Quitiquit, Alex Monot, Pep Fujas, Eric Hjorleifson, Kazushi Yamauchi, Zack Giffin and Molly Baker
Presented by: Brainsick
Sponsored by: Patagonia and Mountain Goat
Where/When:
Bendigo: 15/10 – 6pm
Star Cinema
1 Peg Leg Rd, Eaglehawk
$10 on the door (cash only)
Sydney: TBA
Patagonia Retail Shop
93 Bathurst St, Sydney
TBA
Entertainment: Mountain Goat beers and live entertainment at some events. Door prices at all events.
There is one last showing for 2013 – at Falls Creek, on friday September 20 at 7pm.
Many thanks to Brett Lemin for organising the evening, and to Falls Creek resort management for support, the Last Hoot cafe bar for hosting, and Patagonia for the give-aways.
Check here for details on the films shown in this years festival.
First Light Boards brought the splitboard festival to Victoria for the first time, with an event at Mt Hotham last weekend.
Things kicked off with a showing of the Backcountry film festival at The General on friday night.
On saturday morning a small but enthusiastic group meet at Mt Loch carpark before heading out to do some runs at Eagle Ridge, then had a long walk out to Mt Loch and Machinery Spur to check the runs.
To go on the mailing list for next year’s festivities, please check here.
The back country film festival has another showing, planned as part of the 2nd Splitboard festival.
September 6 – 8.
After hosting the inaugural event in the Snowy Mountains in 2012, FirstLight Snowboards are bringing the splitboard festival to Victoria over the weekend of September 6 til 8.
Over the weekend there will be demo boards and rental gear available to those who need it. Jump on board and meet some new touring partners, the more the merrier!
This is a free event, there are no guides so you must be able to make your own terrain decisions.
FirstLight ask that people register for the festival. Details here.
In addition to the on-snow activity, the film festival will be showing on friday September 6. At The General Hotel, Mt Hotham, starting at 6. This night will have raffles and give aways, an intro to what is happening with the split board festival, and lots of fun.
The following figures from Snowsports Industries America are some analysis of the most recent Northern hemisphere winter. The short message is that overall visitation to resorts is down slightly against recent years.
The report notes that “snowfall got a late start this season, really getting underway after the Christmas holiday. The lack of early season snow affected all snow sports except freeski and telemark.” With climate change predicted to increasingly impact on snow quantity, we keep getting glimpses of possible futures under global warming scenarios – of later and more erratic winters.
Here in Australia, we have had a very erratic winter so far, with good snowfalls being followed by heavy rainfall and warm conditions. In the VIC alps we lost almost the entire snowbase in mid July after solid falls early in the month. Just a few degrees in temperature can make all the difference to whether precipitation comes as rain or snow. And as the report Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments found, the Alps face an average temperature rise of between 0.6 and 2.9 degrees by 2050, depending on how much action the international community takes to combat climate change.
There are a range of reasons why people might ski or board, or do something else, and lift prices and overall costs of being in a resort is a big one. But poor snow conditions is another obvious one. Just ask anyone who manages accommodation in the Alps and they will tell you that snow falls correlate with booking trends. With less reliable snow, people are likely to do something else, or go overseas if they can afford to do so. Climate change impacts are a factor we ignore at our peril.
In the US there is a strong movement within the snowsports community which is working to encourage people and governments to act on climate change. Protect our Winters is the best known of these. You do have to wonder why the community here has been so slow to respond, and why we have so few prominent people speaking out? The one industry initiative Keep Winter Cool has dwindled off in recent years as resorts focus their attention on rebranding themselves as year round destinations. In climate change terms, this is called ‘adaptation’. But without ‘mitigation’ – action to reduce emissions, we seem doomed to the type of futures forecast in reports like Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments.
This coming weekend Wilderness Sports will host the First EVER Backcountry Demo Day to be held in Australia @ Thredbo on Sunday July 14 from 9.00am. (Further details shortly and part of a series)
In partnership with Thredbo we will offer an opportunity to try out the latest equipment for free and talk with experienced industry people as well as Wilderness Sports Backcountry guides about enjoying the mountains safely and how to explore more of the rugged and unique Snowy Mountains.
This is a part of a series of Backcountry Events to be hosted by Wilderness Sports and partnering companies such as First Light Snowboards and Protect Our Winters in order to encourage and educate safe and responsibly travel in the backcountry.
The Event will feature Split Boards; Alpine Touring gear; Snowshoe and Telemark Equipment. Clinics as well as backcountry gear for safety and education.
Split Board Brands – Voile; Venture; Volkl;
Alpine Touring Brands – Kastle; Liberty; Black Diamond; PLUM; Scott;
Telemark Brands – 22 Designs; Rottefella; 75mm and NTN;
Snowshoe Brands – Crescent Moon; MSR;
Backcountry Accessories – Black Diamond; One Planet; Osprey
FirstLight Boards have organised the second Australian splitboard festival for this winter. This year it will happen in both Victoria and NSW.
A splitboard is a snowboard that can be separated into two ski-like parts, which are used with climbing skins to ascend slopes the same way alpine touring or telemark skis are. The two halves can then be connected to form a regular snowboard for descent. This set up enables snow boarders to get into the backcountry.
NSW
The NSW Splitfest DownUnder will be held on weekend of the 23rd of August in the NSW main range.
We will be holding the Friday night entertainment at the Banjo Paterson Inn Starting @ 6pm
1 Kosciuszko Road Jindabyne Snowy Mountains New South Wales 2627
This is a great resource: the ‘gnarliest runs in Oz’, from the Huck & Dyno website (in two parts – Victoria and the Main Range in NSW).
The NSW feature has all the obvious things, and Victoria includes excellent coverage of places like Mt Buller, Feathertop and Bogong, and also some gems which are off the beaten track, like Mt Howitt.
A few years ago I put a lot of effort into expanding the ski wiki posts on backcountry skiing in Australia (mostly the VIC and TAS sections) but a big failure with this is the lack of images. In contrast to my effort, James and Sam, who are behind Huck & Dyno, have some gorgeous pictures of the mountains and general terrain, plus many of the actual runs. Visually beautiful.
I like their intro:
When you get down to it, Australia is the flattest driest continent on Earth. By definition, the skiing here is the worst in the world. … So it’s easy to write the place off as a land of sunburnt sweeping plains. Or, if you’re a skier, patchy cover, ice and crud, short shallow runs and snowmaking.
Even the highest mountain, good old Kosciuszko, is a hill with a road to the top… The very first time I ever went XC skiing, we made it to the top! Snowboarders were drinking beer up there! Fun for the whole family!
The enthusiastic might even bother to look over at the ‘Main Range’, hoping to see a craggier peak. But nope, Mount Townsend and Northcote and Lee all look pretty tame over there.
But then one day you’ll bother to climb the second highest peak, Mount Townsend, and have a look from the top of there and, HOLY CRAP, there it is…
So begins our investigation into the gnarliest lines in Oz.
With winter finally bearing down on us, I hope this inspires you. Get out there and enjoy!
The Winter Wildlands Alliance created the Backcountry Film Festival in 2005 to help grassroots and professional filmmakers to show audiences their love of the winter outdoors. Since then, the annual festival has become something of an institution amongst many outdoor communities.
The festival is now a pre winter event here in Australia. Melbourne show
Wednesday May 15
At The South Melbourne Commons
corner of Bank & Montague St in South Melbourne
Suggested donation: $8 conc/ $12 waged
7pm. Come and grab a drink and catch up
7.30. Films start, the show runs til 10pm (with a 20 minute break in the middle).
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