The winter of 2011 is one people will be talking about for years, if not decades. With huge snowfall blanketing North American, winter sport enthusiasts rejoiced and had a permanent smile on their face for the better part of five months.
For Vance Shaw, it made for banner conditions in which to film the Powder Highway, the follow up to his highly successful Rev: The Movie.
“Everywhere we went we had powder skiing,” Shaw said over coffee at the Modern. “Some days we had good powder skiing and some days were epic powder skiing but it was powder skiing everywhere we went.”
Much like Rev told the story of skiing in Revelstoke, The Powder Highway looks at skiing throughout the Kootenays, telling the stories of long-time locals who have grown up skiing in the area, as well as showcasing some of the best conditions Shaw, a long-time ski movie videographer, has witnessed.
“It’s definitely a powder skiing movie,” he said. At the same time, it also features interviews with many of the skiers and snowboarders involved. “It’s not about progression of the sport. None of the skiers we use claim to be progressing the sport. There’s not the latest trick. There’s not the biggest cliff. Nobody that was involved is trying to do that.
“It’s really more about quality skiing and quality snow and having fun capturing it all.”
The Powder Highway is tied in to the promotional union of ski resorts, cat-ski, heli-ski and touring operations of the same name but Shaw said it’s more than an infomerical.
Among the people interviewed are Leo Grillmair, who along with Hans Gmoser, helped develop heli-skiing in Canada; Nelson skiing legend Peter Velisek and Rossland pro Mike Hopkins.
Christina Lustenberger’s parents tell the story of raising a daughter that went on to become a World Cup racer until she retired and moved to Revelstoke to enjoy deep powder skiing.
“I think we really did a resonable job of delving into some good stories that are relatable to a passionate skier,” he said.
The movie will also feature some faces familiar to many in Revelstoke: Chris Rubens, Sean Cochrane, Seb Grondin, Gord Spurgeon and Joey Vosburgh, amongst others.
To film the movie they travelled up and down the Powder Highway, roughly defined as the routes winding throughout the Columbia Mountains in the B.C. Interior. They went to cat skiing operations like Baldface near Nelson, ski touring lodges, heli-skiing and filmed at several resorts, including Red Mountain, Whitewater, Panorama and Revelstoke.
A highlight of filming was a trip to Selkirk Wilderness, where it snowed non-stop for three days until the sun came out.
Most of the footage in the movie was filmed while ski touring, both for budgetary reasons and for practical reasons. It’s easier to explore and become intimate with the terrain when you’re walking up unless you have the budget to fly around in a helicopter, something Shaw lacked.
“It’s my personal favourite. It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun too,” Shaw said. “For the common skier it’s the most realistic approach to really getting back there, out there and enjoying some of the best skiing on earth. It’s the most reasonable way to get it done.”
The movie was filmed almost entirely by Shaw and edited by local teenager Kaleb Weston.
The Powder Highway premiers at the Roxy Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. They are available at the Village Idiot and the Photo House.
