COLUMN: So, when’s the snow going to come?
So where’s the snow?
Every time I told anybody that I was headed up to Utah State University they would respond, “Well, I hope you like the snow.” The answer is yes I love it, but where’s it at? There’s nothing worse than it being cold without any snow on the ground (as far as the weather goes anyway).
The Warren Miller ski movie gave me a little taste of what’s to come, hopefully. It also had to make Utahns proud. The best part of the whole movie was filmed at Utah’s Brighton ski resort. And why not, we’ve got the best snow on earth, right?
Skiers plummeted to the bottom of familiar cliffs and landed in soft powder beneath. The crazy part was the attempted flips that didn’t quite make it all the way around.
The second best part of the whole flick wasn’t even filmed with snow. The B.A.S.E. jumpers, who jump off the sides of dams and down cliffs thousands of feet high, were also featured. These guys have come closer to flying than anyone in the world. Jumper Dave Barlia broke a world record, staying in the air for an astounding 41 seconds.
The intermission was exciting if you like a lot of free stuff, (who doesn’t?). They gave away a bunch of ski poles and some skis. The crowning award was the season pass to Beaver Mountain. The prizes didn’t last long, however, before it was back to the big screen.
The crew spent I don’t know how much money to get to Kenya. Why Kenya? Well, I guess they’ve got great snow there, or something. There’s some glacier that melts a little more each day that nobody has ever skied on. I wonder why no one has ever skied there.
Hmmm.
OK, who’s idea was this? Let’s fly halfway around the world and hike for five days so that we can do some S curves through some slush. Good idea, and let’s pay even more to film it and show the world how extreme we are. OK, let me cut them a little slack, the elephant was cool.
The quad-quad by Matt Chojnacki was pretty impressive whether you like skiing or not. How anyone would practice for such an event I have no idea but I it looked good on the film and it was another world record.
Another great part of the film that couldn’t have been planned for the film was when Julie Zelle disappeared into an oncoming avalanche in Girdwood, Alaska. She reappeared seconds later snow boarding down the mountain as if nothing had happened.
Routine move.
The film was good. It was, however, too long. There were way too many shots of skiers doing nothing but S curves. The film could’ve been 45 minutes long and I would have walked out of there pumped, but I guess they wanted it to be a movie and that’s where they went wrong.
They did, however, get me pumped for when the snow flurries fly. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long.
Ryan Malnar is a
junior majoring in
liberal arts. He can be
reached for comments
at Rdean28@yahoo.com