DAYMAKER 73RD WARREN MILLER FILM TOUR
SKIING IN GREECE AND THE ENDURING LEGACY OF JOHN FALKINER BY SKYLAR KRAATZ
It’s the evening of March 1st, 2022, and pro skiers Michelle Parker and McKenna Peterson are hunkered down in the tiny village of Smixi, Greece, being served a traditional mushroom dish. A local villager is preparing the food, having picked the mushrooms himself the summer before in the surrounding Grecian countryside. Michelle and McKenna have already been here five days to shoot for the upcoming Warren Miller ski film, but missing luggage, a big snow event, avalanche danger and heavy fog have limited their ability to adventure into the mountains around Smixi. At least for now, they are content with good company and delicious food. After dinner, their guide John picks up his guitar and starts strumming. He happens to be one of the most legendary 158
guides in Europe, although originally John Falkiner came from Australia. It wasn’t long after his 18th birthday when he scrounged up the cheapest ticket he could find out of the country, which involved a ship to Singapore then a flight to Athens. He didn’t plan on staying in Greece, but lost luggage (which seems to be a recurring theme) kept him there for days, so he wandered the city eating magnificent food, hearing new languages and meeting people. It was a journey of discovery - an experience that introduced him to the world at large. John eventually landed in Verbier washing dishes and ski bumming. There, he teamed up with the likes of Marco Sharpiro and Ace Kvale, who would both go on to become pioneers in ski and action photography. Along with his new friends, John found
himself centered in the ski history, at one point becoming the official tripod carrier on a Dick Barrymore film shoot the winter of 1974. He became known as the go-to Verbier guide when ski production companies came to shoot. In 1986 he was hired by Warren Miller to guide Scot Schmidt and Tom Day on production for “Beyond the Edge.” John’s ski career grew to legendary status, even becoming a stunt double in the James Bond movies. Over the decades, he witnessed the evolution of skiing. As he put it, “my career has spanned from freestyle through extreme through freeriding, old school to new school.” He became specialized in guiding in hard to reach, obscure places, like Siberia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Kashmir. All the while, Greece kept calling him back. Then in early 2022, so did Warren Miller Entertainment.
