Intro
Snow is falling in a lot of the Northern Hemisphere, our 21/22 Winter Buyer’s Guide is shipping out (and Blister Members can check out a digital version in the Member Clubhouse), and we’re all getting pretty excited for ski season. But we haven’t forgotten about the mountain bike side of things either (and are still hard at work testing bikes) so we’ve got an assortment of ski and bike videos for you this week, with a little freediving thrown in for good measure.
Moi Moi TV — Metal Monday
David Golay: It’s not entirely clear how long Jack Moir intends to keep his Metal Monday series going for, but I’m just going to enjoy it for however long it lasts. The format is pretty much what you’d expect — quick edits with tons of super-fast cuts and Jack riding very fast on a mix of Trail, Enduro, and DH bikes, paired with a metal soundtrack.
Markus Eder — The Ultimate Run
Luke Koppa: By professional skier standards, Markus Eder has been pretty quiet since he won the Freeride World Tour back in 2019. Given that, I had kind of forgotten the fact that he is one of the most talented and versatile skiers on the planet. His two-year dream project, The Ultimate Run, once again proves that.
In short, The Ultimate Run is filmed as if it’s all one basically continuous run from the top of the Alps, down their glaciers, through a park, into the trees, and even up and down the streets.
That concept alone is fascinating to me and a refreshing take on a 10-minute ski edit, but then there’s Markus’s skiing…
I won’t explain the whole thing, but my recommendation is this: first, watch this all the way through without stopping. Then immediately rewatch it, and replay basically every air and trick. Because, given how smooth Markus makes it look, it’s easy to kind of glaze over and just appreciate the pretty scenery and cinematography. But if you watch basically any of the clips back, you’ll realize how absurdly talented Markus is — across all of the varied terrain and features — and how much effort it must have taken to nail all of these shots. It is incredible.
David: Yep, this was on my list too. Luke just beat me to the punch. The only thing I’ll add is that this could have stopped at the little break it takes around 5:50 and still been absolutely spectacular… but there are more than four minutes left after that, and it doesn’t let up at all.
Entourage — YAKTV
Luke: This one was a surprise for me. Last year I had watched Entourage’s debut full film, Collage, and I really liked it. But their film this year, YAKTV, is on a whole ‘nother level.
Both the overall production quality and the skiing of YAKTV are a step above, and in a similar vein as Carnage’s Wasted Potential, YAKTV just got me riled up in a way that bigger-budget films typically cannot. For me, the highlight was definitely Elijah Vargas’s backcountry and urban tele segment (9:33). If you watch it with headphones, pump up the volume, and don’t smile ear to ear as soon as The I.L.Y.’s “Wash My Hands Shorty” kicks in, you may not have a soul.
Carnage — Wasted Potential
Luke: The folks at Carnage know how to make a very enjoyable, relatively “lo-fi” ski film. And while they’re deliberately not shooting with RED cameras or some massive production setup, calling them “lo-fi” still feels like it undercuts their films, since it’s obvious that their crew is made up of extremely talented skiers and snowboarders, and they also do an excellent job of cutting everything together to create a cohesive film.
To me, Carnage’s movies are the epitome of, for lack of better phrasing, the “homie film.” These guys clearly just really love skiing and sledding with their friends, and that once again comes through in Wasted Potential. At the same time, they also get some banger clips, and I don’t know how you could watch their stuff and not get hyped to get back on snow with your buddies.
Steve Peat — Old vs. New
David: Mountain bikes have come a long way in the last 15 years, but have they really gotten that much faster? Steve Peat decided to find out by comparing lap times down the Pleney main line on a 2021 Santa Cruz V10, and his old 2006 model. The resulting video is a lot of fun (and it’s striking just how different Peaty looks on the two different bikes). And the results are pretty surprising, too.
Reece Wallace — Glory Daze
David: Not to be outdone, Reece Wallace got in on the retro bike action too, riding a Giant ATX for the first few shots of this one before switching to his modern Glory. That’s when the action really gets going, with Reece pulling off a wild array of tricks, including a backflip-crankflip, and a crazy no-hander takeoff. There’s a lot of great stuff packed into just four minutes in this one — it’s well worth a watch.
Dustbox — Dreamcastle
Luke: Probably half of my best friends are snowboarders, and one of the main upsides is that they’ve introduced me to a ton of single-plank-focused riders and videos that I may have otherwise never seen.
Last year one of the highlights was Dustbox’s I Wanted Most, which blew me away. All-urban movies aren’t for everyone, but Dustbox does them better than almost anyone else.
This year’s Dreamcastle manages to take things even further. It is just a really, really well-done film, from the spot selection to the music to the editing. And of course, there’s also the riding — it was one of those films where every time a new rider’s segment came on, I thought “oh man, this is my favorite one so far.” Except I kept saying that to myself throughout the whole film. If you’re a skier and loved HG Skis’ Eat The Guts, you need to watch Dreamcastle.
Burrrlapz — Touch The Snow
Luke: Dylan Siggers’s latest edit is all about carving, and while it’s partially an ad for the Line Blade that’s featured throughout, it’s also just a really good watch. Typical of Dylan’s productions (whether he’s behind or in front of the camera), the skiing, editing, filming, and soundtrack are all on point. This one gets me excited for early-season groomer laps.
Danny MacAskill — Climate Games
David: Danny MacAskill’s latest video features him riding through a wind turbine factory to raise money to help combat climate change, and as we’ve come to expect from him, it’s full of incredibly creative riding. And the final shot of him riding out onto the blade of a completed wind turbine (with a safety line, thankfully) is somehow the least technically impressive thing in the whole video.
Line Traveling Circus 14.2 — Smells & Swells
Luke: Each year I’ll typically binge watch dozens of LTC episodes and also eagerly await any new ones. You kind of know what to expect from them by now — wacky skiing, pizza, questionable living conditions, and precise train shots through the parks of mountains you may have never heard of (among many other things). But somehow, they still never feel stagnant or monotonous. Episode 14.2 is probably my favorite of this year, though the latest episode 14.3 from New York is just as good.
Guillaume Néry & Yannis Pelé — Les Deux Extrêmes
David: I’m pretty sure this is the first time freediving has shown up in a What We’re Watching article, and while I know pretty much nothing about the sport, the video that Guillaume Néry and Yannis Pelé put together is still super cool. In short, it cuts back and forth between diving and mountain biking shots and does a remarkable job of pairing strikingly similar shots from the two very different environments. The video is much more about gorgeous visuals than it is about blowing minds with the riding on display, but it squarely hits that mark and makes for a soothing, entertaining watch.
Jake Mageau — Freehand
Luke: Jake Mageau’s collaboration with Brady Perron and Level 1 is aptly named. Mango seems to take a different, seemingly spontaneous approach to skiing, art, and life in general, and he’s just a blast to watch. Typical of his edits, there are several WTF moments where you need to pause and rewind to figure out what, exactly, he just managed to do on skis. And just as he did with so many videos with Phil Casabon, Brady Perron does an excellent job of capturing it all in a way that blends well with Jake’s skiing.