For the love of ski movies …WE SHARE A MOMENT WITH SOME OF THE STARS OF THE BIG SCREEN BY RHYLLA MORGAN
The shorter days and the outbreak of puffy jackets on the streets are tell-tale signs, but for me it’s that first email to arrive in my inbox about a ski movie at my local theatre that underlines the countdown to snow season. I love the pre-winter ritual of filing into the cinema and sitting in the dark with friends. I love the shared experience (complete with popcorn and crowd reactions) as we soak in the summit views, lean into those smooth POV turns and get collectively fired up for winter.
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Whether you experience these films on the big screen or watch on a laptop in your trackie pants they feel like much more than simple entertainment. They bust open doorways into our imagination, tickle us with dopamine and lure us back into the mountains. Just as professional athletes visualise performance and pilots do hours in a simulator, when I am crunching on a Malteser in the theatre it’s (sort of) like taking a master class. So, to further our pre-season preparation I reached out to a few athletes who have
inspired me through recent ski movies to ask them about what it feels like to be in the kind of films they watched as young athletes, to share what was happening in the moments in these shots (taken during filming) and what it means to see ourselves on screen. Portraits clockwise: Anna Segal, Caite Zeliff, Elyse Saugstad, Amy David. Photos Mattias Fredriksson and Eric Parker. Right: Anna Segal on a line that represents a “pivot” in her career where her progression from slopestyle competitor to big lines in the backcountry comes to fruition. Photo: Erin Hogue.
