PW05
Our review of the first feature-length
film from Utah's Powderwhores
October 10, 2005-- Our expectations were high as we popped a magic-marker
labelled, DVD copy of PW05 into our player. Of course we had
seen last year's 10 minute Powderwhores film , the one that was
the winner of the first NET Tele Film Festival, and when we hooked
up in Las Vegas at SIA back in January, Noah Howell had shown
us some great footage they shot early last winter. We posted
a well received teaser
in May, back when the film's working title was "The Great
White Deep." And then in late August we put a very pro-looking
PW05 trailer up on TeleVision.
So we knew they probably had at least a
decent amount of good video in the can, and we knew that Noah's
commitment to making this film the best it could be was particularly
strong-- he mentioned in our interview
at Summer OR that he had recently returned from New York where
this tele-skier-turned-filmmaker had gone to study advanced video
editing techniques. But would it be enough? Could these guys
fulfil their early promise and successfully bring their act to
life in a full-length feature film?
The answer is yes, and in spades.
In this one-hour video, the Powderwhores
have created the telemark film that most of us have been waiting
for, one that captures the essence of our sport as we know it.
It's everything we hoped it would be and much, much more. PW05
is well filmed, tightly edited and almost shockingly well written.
The movie begins with a 3 minute introduction of the Powderwhores
themselves, and guess what? They are shown skinning and climbing
for the turns to come. Now you wouldn't have thought that it
would have taken five or six years for a tele movie to realistically
depict its freeheel skiers in this way, but the intro immediately
sets PW05 apart from what has come before. Right from the beginning
it is clear that this is, first and foremost, a backcountry powder
film in its most true form.
PW05 wastes no time in getting to "the
big event" in last year's filming. This would, of course,
be the huge avalanche on Mt. Superior that almost killed P-Whore
Andy Rosenberg. The footage is crisp and clean. There's Andy
jumping in and setting off a soft slab, riding it to the side
in a probably life saving move. Then, above a cliff band, a giant
hard slab let's go, the upper edge of which engulfs Rosenberg
and sends him on a dramatic ride to the bottom. As was well covered
in the media, including NBC's Today show, which bought exclusive
broadcast rights to the video, Andy ended up on top of the snow,
surviving the harrowing experience with a few broken bones but
with his spirit intact. The experience was a wake-up call for
the P-whores, and as such the incident is not glorified in the
film in any way.
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Quite the opposite in fact. It's a sobering
look at how things went terribly wrong when admittedly important
precautions were overlooked. |
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This part of the video could have been
a real downer, but that trap is neatly avoided by working in
a little humor, this courtesy of some local news broadcasters
and their weather guy, who supply a couple of sublimely goofy
comments at the end of their report, bringing to a perfect close
one of the most spectacular avalanche segments ever caught on
film.
Then it's back to the powder. More than
20 nearly-continuous minutes of incredible, stoke building backcountry
footage. Much of it shot from multiple camera angles, edited
to give the viewer the kind of "you are there" feeling
one gets from the best of this sort of thing. And we are talking
deep snow in these segments folks, really deep powder snow. The
Wasatch Mountains, the hills the Powderwhores call home, got
dumped on last winter, and these guys took full advantage, apparently
getting out there every time. This part of the film, flat-out
contains the most incredible tree-skiing powder I have ever seen
in a ski video, period.
Next is a wonderful segment featuring the
extremely stylish tele skiing of one Anna Smith, representing
the telebabes of the world in high style.
While the focus is on backcountry powder,
PW05 does a good job of illustrating the diversity of the tele
experience. At about the 30 minute mark, not long after Andrew
McLean's "Master Piste Theatre" turn (you'll have to
see this for yourselves, it's creative and very funny), we are
introduced to Josh Madsen, whose short park segment begins with
a quote from him that puts this part of the film in perfect perspective,
"It's all about the friends, the places and the stories."
Josh has got it exactly right, no matter where one's interests
fall on the tele continuum, that right there is the constant.
Very nice.
This theme also carries us through the
next noticeably contrasting segment: a profile of a guy
by the name of Todd Stewart, who's been freeheeling the Wasatch
for some 30-odd years or more, and living in a backcountry snowcave/hut
for the past 12 years. Shown tele skiing competently. in a relaxed,
old-school style, and with the kind of smile on his face you
would expect to see on someone living the life, this longer segment
pays wonderful homage to an ongoing part of the world of telemark
that has, to this point, been ignored in film. That is when it
was not being outright ridiculed. Major props to the Powderwhores
for profiling a guy like Todd Stewart and, in the process, memorializing
the iconoclastic side of our sport. A part of tele which has
contributed so much to keeping the fire burning.
PW05 continues to fuel the stoke right
up to the end, with stunningly aggressive chute and big mountain
skiing, and with sick lines and huge air, along with plenty of
humor mixed in. The two guys in the neon one-piece suits skiing
to Ween's "The Rainbow" is unforgettable.
The closing segment begins with Travis
Kemp skiing one of the most elegant, lengthy, continuous lines
in the entire film. Kemp makes long, fast, fall-line turns, stopping
only briefly for some major sluff management, then he's back
on the horse, charging through steep powder. It's an "oh
my god" video moment, made even better by the presence of
the Telemarktips party band Waxapples, with their great song
"Changed my Mind." Matt "Wailin" Kalin's
saxphone fairly roars, and Coakley's always stellar axemanship
complements the high-energy skiing in this finale perfectly.
It's a great ending to a great film.
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Conclusion:
Quite simply, there has never been a tele film like PW05. It's
got it all. Jaw dropping big lines. Beautifully skied deep frothy
powder. Humor. Style. Soul without ever coming even close to
using the word. Respect.... even a measure of humility. Audacity
is also served up in large portions, but without a hint of obnoxious
cockiness or attitude.
The Powderwhores are the real-deal-Holyfield,
yet the viewer of PW05 is left with the impression that their
quiet self-assurance, underscoring the entire film, is derived
from the fact that they really aren't all that different than
most of their audience, primarily intent on just going out and
having a great time whenever they strap on their tele boards.
Perhaps this is the Powderwhores most singular accomplishment,
having made a film with so much rad riding and and with awesome
tele skills in full view, but with absolutely no pretensions
whatsoever. |
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Frankly, I truly did believe all along
that Noah and his crew had the potential to make a very, very
good video, and so did Big Tim, yet neither of us had any idea
at all that they would, right out of the gate, make the
tele film of all time. But that's just what they went out and
did with PW05. Jump on getting a copy for yourself, even if you
don't ordinarily buy ski videos. This one is not to be missed.
A final note: It
wouldn't be right to fail to point out that PW05 is film where
teamwork ruled the production day. The Powderwhores are Noah
Howell, Andy Rosenberg, Josh Madsen, Sam Cox, Rob Nachtwey, Jonah
Howell, Andy Jacobsen and Darrell Finlayson.
www.powderwhore.com |