5 ms·

Warren Miller inspired a lot of skiers. Every time I went to one of the movies while I was growing up, I learned to have a better time on the slopes. In my mind

Warren Miller inspired a lot of skiers. Every time I went to one of the movies while I was growing up, I learned to have a better time on the slopes. In my mind, the thing that made the movies so compelling wasn't pushing the edges of skiing in a badass way, it was pushing the edges of skiing in a fun/silly way. For example: https://youtu.be/zD5RhNBmc_U https://youtu.be/zD5RhNBmc_U My brother and I used to have spinning competitions down hills. We also used to do slope breakdancing, which is way less cool than it sounds. Anyways, I'm grateful to Warren Miller for inspiring me to be silly on the slopes. I had a better time because of the films that he made.

ethagknight 9y ago
His films always had silly stuff, but my favorite pieces of his films were the 'slice of life' looks into various people's lives surrounding the ski industry, for example following ski patrol's day-to-day, or even going to foreign countries to document ski culture in, say, Almaty, Kazakstan. I particularly loved this scene from Snowriders II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7Meb_pmMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7Meb_pmMM Important to recall that this was released in 1997, so probably filmed in 1996, and initiated in 1994-5, so its a look into a post-USSR culture a mere 5 yrs after the dissolution of the USSR.
- rconti 9y ago
  I saw a film at the Banff Mountain Film Festival last year that was about skiing in Iran. It was fascinating to see how people get out of town and let their hair down, so to speak.
dmix 9y ago
Was skiing more fun or laid back in the 70-80s? It seems that way from most of the videos I watch. Lots of comments on the Warren films I watched are saying it's gotten far too serious these days and people aren't letting go and having fun on the slopes (besides maybe the 'extreme' guys doing jumps but even they are working hard on a skill)... I'm not much of a skier, but I got that impression myself the few times I went. Or is this just the usual nostalgic everything-was-better-in-the-past stuff?
- briankelly 9y ago
  Definitely not, here's a classic example of the mainstream skier attitude of the time: https://youtu.be/XPZDEWBzneY https://youtu.be/XPZDEWBzneY I think the people like Warren were more or less revolting against the culture of the time. Nowadays it's just the norm - most people aren't really wound up even if they're mostly focusing on improving their skills. Maybe there are fewer people dialing goof to the max but in my experience most young skiers and boarders drink and smoke on the slopes - that sort of thing. Also there's movies like G.N.A.R. that are recent.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    Snowboards were definitely controversial when they came out. A lot of it was probably "Get off my lawn" driven by the fact that snowboarders tended to be younger and more aggressive. So people didn't really like them although the same snowboarders running over their skis would have been doing it no matter what they had strapped to their feet. But people sort of justified their attitude with claims that snowboarders scraped the snow off the slopes, couldn't really see where they were going, etc. In the US there's only one major and one smaller area that don't allow snowboards today. I didn't realize it but there was a lawsuit against one of the areas a couple years back but they won and still don't allow snowboards.
    - zwily 9y ago
      There are 2 resorts in Utah that don't allow snowboarders - are those what you're referring to?
      - ghaff 9y ago
        Ah, my mistake. Forgot that, in addition to Alta, they're not allowed at Deer Valley either. Mad River Glen in Vermont is the other one I know of. It's not a tiny area but relatively small. (And the only one of the three I haven't skied at.)
    - sulam 9y ago
      Speaking as a snowboarder, I take different lines than a skier does and I get off the chair lift differently. So I see why they don't interact well on the slopes. In practice, everyone has adapted, though.
deleted 9y ago
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ethagknight 9y ago

His films always had silly stuff, but my favorite pieces of his films were the 'slice of life' looks into various people's lives surrounding the ski industry, for example following ski patrol's day-to-day, or even going to foreign countries to document ski culture in, say, Almaty, Kazakstan. I particularly loved this scene from Snowriders II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7Meb_pmMM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq7Meb_pmMM Important to recall that this was released in 1997, so probably filmed in 1996, and initiated in 1994-5, so its a look into a post-USSR culture a mere 5 yrs after the dissolution of the USSR.

rconti 9y ago
I saw a film at the Banff Mountain Film Festival last year that was about skiing in Iran. It was fascinating to see how people get out of town and let their hair down, so to speak.

dmix 9y ago

Was skiing more fun or laid back in the 70-80s? It seems that way from most of the videos I watch. Lots of comments on the Warren films I watched are saying it's gotten far too serious these days and people aren't letting go and having fun on the slopes (besides maybe the 'extreme' guys doing jumps but even they are working hard on a skill)... I'm not much of a skier, but I got that impression myself the few times I went. Or is this just the usual nostalgic everything-was-better-in-the-past stuff?

briankelly 9y ago
Definitely not, here's a classic example of the mainstream skier attitude of the time: https://youtu.be/XPZDEWBzneY https://youtu.be/XPZDEWBzneY I think the people like Warren were more or less revolting against the culture of the time. Nowadays it's just the norm - most people aren't really wound up even if they're mostly focusing on improving their skills. Maybe there are fewer people dialing goof to the max but in my experience most young skiers and boarders drink and smoke on the slopes - that sort of thing. Also there's movies like G.N.A.R. that are recent.
- ghaff 9y ago
  Snowboards were definitely controversial when they came out. A lot of it was probably "Get off my lawn" driven by the fact that snowboarders tended to be younger and more aggressive. So people didn't really like them although the same snowboarders running over their skis would have been doing it no matter what they had strapped to their feet. But people sort of justified their attitude with claims that snowboarders scraped the snow off the slopes, couldn't really see where they were going, etc. In the US there's only one major and one smaller area that don't allow snowboards today. I didn't realize it but there was a lawsuit against one of the areas a couple years back but they won and still don't allow snowboards.
  - zwily 9y ago
    There are 2 resorts in Utah that don't allow snowboarders - are those what you're referring to?
    - ghaff 9y ago
      Ah, my mistake. Forgot that, in addition to Alta, they're not allowed at Deer Valley either. Mad River Glen in Vermont is the other one I know of. It's not a tiny area but relatively small. (And the only one of the three I haven't skied at.)
  - sulam 9y ago
    Speaking as a snowboarder, I take different lines than a skier does and I get off the chair lift differently. So I see why they don't interact well on the slopes. In practice, everyone has adapted, though.

deleted 9y ago

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