Now old enough to collect Medicare, the Warren Miller snow film series occasionally has found it difficult to break new ground but on one issue it has snapped its old-school approach.
Extreme skier Jess McMillan is on the “No Turning Back” poster, the first female skier to break that barrier. May there be more than one in the next 65 years.
Warren Miller, credited with inventing the ski film with “Deep and Light,” hasn’t been part of the show, or the company, for a decade. What he captured from the beginning — the love of skiing, the adventure and the ski culture — lives in a 21st-century, adrenaline-fueled, technology-propelled package.
“No Turning Back” may be the series’ best combination of extreme skiing, cinematography, production, interweaving of jaw-dropping shots with skiing and snowboarding scenes from early films, music, storytelling and showcasing personalities.
The sweet introduction blends into Ingrid Backstrom’s and Jess McMillan’s trip to the Chugach Range in Alaska for avalanche-inducing runs, including an 1,800-vertical-foot drop at long stretches of 55-degree pitch.
As you watch “No Turning Back,” appreciate the risks taken by its stars because disasters can happen to experienced skiers. Backstrom’s brother, Arne, 29, a champion free skier, hit an icy patch and died on 18,000-foot-elevation Peruvian mountain in 2010.
Take heart, Baby Boomers. The French segment featured two skiers age 40, one 52, and one who could see Medicare in the not-too-distance future. That bit of skiing took going down a ladder, then using climbing gear to descend far enough below the almost 13,000-foot peak to get to the snowy take-off point.
Thirty-six songs back the visuals, including those by Afro Celt Sound System, The War on Drugs, 65daysof static, Biting Elbows, Jack White, Grateful Dead and Maroon 5.
Coldplay’s “Magic” in the first part and David Guetta’s “Lovers on the Sun” in the second part perfectly matched the Montana segment with its more-laid-back but never dull approach to skiing.
Black Mountain’s “Embrace Euphoria” nailed the opening to the Japan segment, which featured insanely deep powder that actually has influenced snowboarder’s style (think surfing) as well as shaping of the boards.
Old-time clips of fun and games were not left out: mountain bike dominoes, camel riding, nuns on skis, kayak skiing, and the improbable skier on fire.
Norway’s scenery was enchanting, the skiing superb, and Norwegian Oystein Aasheim’s persona nearly stole the show. But Kaylin Richardson’s “search” for the world’s second oldest (carbon dated) ski was more distracting than clever.
The final segment started with the Greek myth of Icarus, who fearlessly flew too near the sun. His wings of feathers and wax melted and he fell into the sea.
Swiss native and Olympic snowboarder Ueli and Californian JT Holmes, considered pioneers in the sport of ski-riding (aka ski-flying, ski-gliding, etc.), show no fear of heights or cliffs.
It’s not a sport for the faint-hearted. At least two innovators have been killed, including the segment’s skiers’ mentors, along with a few dozen deaths of ski-riders, some very experienced.
Helicopters filmed them as they flew over the rocky areas and touched down to ski until again taking off and soaring on small wings built for speed.
At times this segment felt like an over-the-top advertisement for GoPro cameras that were attached to chests, helmets and ski tips.
Nothing is perfectly safe in extreme snow-related sports. Then again, as one skier said, “If everything was safe, it wouldn’t be as much fun, right?”
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
See it
The film plays at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 at Historic Everett Theatre. Tickets are available here.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
