Posted by 
Experience the joy and freedom of a 2,700-foot vertical freestyle ski descent of Snowbird, Utah’s Hidden Peak filmed from fallaway-angle P.O.V. and accompanied by Chris Shards’ surfer tune, “Between the Waves”. Reveal-style P.O.V. filming is practically unique in ski cinema (it definitely was when the original film clips were shot), and it highlights the winter scenery of the Wasatch Mountains and famous Utah powder with slashing effects directly backlit by the sun itself (which is deliberately incorporated as another feature of this innovative P.O.V. filming technique; forward-view downhill ski filming only captures shadows or quick glimpses of those dramatic features). Instead of seeing the future rush toward the viewer, watch the past recede just as quickly as the skier descends literally and metaphorically ever lower from the summit. A high level of artistic merit is achieved due to the extreme technical difficulties of clearly capturing dangerous, free-skiing shots at high speeds under severe environmental conditions–and the fact that each turn through virgin powder is unique and ephemeral. Further distinguishing the filming style is the fact that a single, continuous, uninterrupted ski run was the basis for the entire video, instead of a montage that is typical of the vast majority of ski films. The video runs entirely in real-time with no editing of speed or any other artificial effects, which is also unusual for ski films. The music runs in un-modified, original form with no editing–and it was not even composed until several years after the video was shot on nearly deserted slopes during Snowbird’s best day of its official (and still-record setting) all-time greatest season (by snow depth) of 2010-2011.
The melodramatic surfing music was selected for several reasons: many surfers also ski/snowboard; Snowbird features a world-famous run named “Pipeline” (visible during a considerable portion of this video, and also featured prominently in the poster), which is also the name of the most famous surf-break in the world; surfing music is rarely used in skiing videos, although the rhythms and lifestyles of those sports are essentially similar; mountain peaks resemble waves in the ocean, and are often compared with such in poetry, religion, and literature; and the name and tone of the composition, “Between the Waves” reflects the throwback nature of the film and bittersweet life of the vagabond surfer/ski-bum as he awaits the intermittent swells of summer (and alternately, the storms of winter).
Directed by Kyle B Wagstaff (USA)