The boys at our local ski movie company, Powderwhore Productions, have spread their wings and taken off. They’ve flown so far with every movie in the last 10 years that they’ve finally made it – they’ve made a movie that is no longer a video diary of a Utah ski season with backcountry friends. The Powderwhores are now world travelers, and not a single frame of their latest flick, “Some Thing Else” was shot in their home state. The result is a movie that is beautifully shot, filled with segments of deep powder, and awesome POV lines down Alaskan spines. But the result is a loss of the down-and-dirty, guerrilla-filmmaking, antics-laden style that is synonymous of a Powderwhore Production.
“Some Thing Else” is technically their best movie to date. The videography and editing elevates it to a level that competes with Teton Gravity Research or Matchstick Productions. Thankfully, Powderwhore still eschews blatant product placement and unnecessary helicopter fly-overs. The athletes (who are mostly Utah locals) are still human powered; skinning and boot packing to earn their turns in front of the camera.
Segments globe-trot from Wyoming to Alaska to Japan. While each has its “wow” moments, the Hokkaido segment by far drew the most oohs and aahs from the crowd, as skiers plow through the deepest, fluffiest powder of their entire lives. Combined with traditional Japanese music, the segment has a mesmerizing, trance-like effect that induces a level of jealousy only a powder segment watched in September can. Other notable segments include Neil Provo snowboarding impossibly steep spines at high speed, utilizing POV cameras to great effect, as well as a hilarious segment about Geoff McAndrews living and skiing the backcountry in Wyoming’s Salt River Range. This guy is a bi-polar hoot who is the “Bob Athey” of this year’s movie.
I also really enjoyed the segment about skiing in the Beartooth Mountain of Montana. The snow sucked, but that’s true of most yurt trips because you can’t choose the weather on your allotted yurt reservation time. But skiers Carston Oliver, Eric Balken, Ben Nobel and Alyssa Larson made the most of it, and prove that yurt life is better than real life, whether there is powder or not.
Overall, it’s awesome to see the local boys make good. The Powderwhores have finally come of age, but with “Some Thing Else,” perhaps they’ve become too good at making ski movies for their own good. There’s a level of seriousness here and a loss of dirtbag fun (except for that McAndrews cat) that left me wanting more. Plus, not even at nod at their home state of Utah made me feel bitter. But if you’re in the mood for good, old fashioned ski porn that doesn’t look like it was shot with dad’s camcorder in the back yard, you can’t go wrong with “Some Thing Else.”
For tour dates and more, visit Powerwhore.com
Not a telemark ski movie anymore. I still much prefer their older productions ith more tele and more essence.