Movie review | TGR Winterland

Although there are still borderline voiceovers that tell you about epicness, the process of finding meaning and self-discovery in the infinity of the mountains, the interweaving of older footage lends the film a certain elegance and historical depth, because it becomes clear that TGR films have been made for 23 years now. It makes you mellow with age, so to speak.

Another key point that is actually obvious, of course, but rarely becomes so clear: Ski films stand and fall with the conditions, because the best shots this time are not from AK, where the season was apparently only mediocre, but from Felix Austria.

But first things first. The opening segment is once again from Jackson Hole and I think after about 15 TGR movies I know almost all the lines there by heart without ever having set foot in Wyoming. At least they had a century February and it's officially dusting.

The next movie segment is set in the century January of the Northern Alps and you're surprised how much Alaska there is in Kitzbühel. If it snowed this much every year, you would never have had to travel, because the terrain and the snow look breathtaking.

The most oppressive moment in the film also comes from this segment. When Sam Smoothy triggers a small avalanche in Kappl and its secondary falls clear out the entire face, it becomes clear how exposed the lines the team is skiing are. He tries to ski down from his safe spot, gets stuck and falls about 20-30m through rocky terrain. The sounds from his helmet camera and Fabian Lentsch's conversation with the rescue control center are among the most intense and terrifying moments I've seen in a ski film to date.

Thank God everything turns out well.

After that, you get solid ski film fare from the ski film kit, filmed in British Columbia and Norway, with the obligatory overseas segment in the home of alpine skiing. The Americans are once again amazed at how much history and culture there is all over the world.

One segment consists of fluffy pillows and Mc-Nutt rotations, another of semi-firny runs and an urban rail steeze part from a big Norwegian city. There's worse, but there's also more inspired.

Here's the trailer

Then we are presented with another classic: the Alaska segment. However, it's not the conditions that are the star here, but the riders. In recent years, there have been few film scenes where the female pros have been able to impress (since Ingrid Backström in 2003, the men have done far more), but here they really step on the gas! Nick McNutt's line makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end when you see the entrance during the line briefing and he remarks that it's better not to fall there. He's right, but it's certainly impressive to look at.

Ming Poon

Norway

Christina Lustenberger

This is followed by a rock-sympathetic quasi-episode from Cody Townsend's "The Fifty". If you've ever seen Meteorite at Thomspon Pass in real life, you know why it's one of THE lines in AK. They ride the line in a 17 hour push from the parking lot. Cody and Jeremy (Jones) both talk about the life-changing impact this line had on their riding careers. You can take it from them. Great job.

The final stop in Jackson and AK, where Tim Durtschi takes TGR son/up-and-coming rider Kai Jones under his wing, serves as a cinematic parenthesis. And it has to be said: my pig is whistling! Not many 12-year-olds shred and rip through the winter wonderland like that. However, it must also be said - as my fellow viewer aptly pointed out - not many 12-year-olds are born with such opportunities. Millionaire skier parents are few and far between in the genetic lottery. And I'm not really sure what to make of it as a father, because the boy is starting to do things with consequences. Still, a great ending for a movie dealing with ski movie history, in which the generational context makes sense.