Warren Miller provides the best ski experience

0

Warren Miller’s “All Time” arrives at the M.V. Film Center on Saturday, Nov. 18. This film describes the work of the legendary cinematographer who made more than 130 documentaries, and not only pushed the body to its limits but described how skiing evolved. “All Time” chronicles the history of snow sports in the U.S., reimagining the past seven decades in winter sports. It takes the viewer to the people and locations in the history of skiing and snowboarding. 

It’s Miller’s form of skiing, always headed in a new direction. Some of the styles Miller describes and filmed include the breathtaking style of flipping, spinning, and going airborne. “It’s another way of learning,” suggests Miller.

Miller filmed skiers launching into the air as a form of searching for freedom. As Miller says, “You can’t get hurt in the air. It’s like a bomb exploding.” Plus, he says, “It’s our playground, as if you’re on psychedelics.” Powder snow offers skiers an even higher level of consciousness.

Another skier talks about nighttime skiing, when the atmosphere has warmed up, and skiers take to the dark. The 1990s brought extreme skiing, where Alaskan lifts provide another kind of challenge when the skier jumps off the lift. Another skier that Miller films is skiing backward, and snowboarding at Lake Louise is the greatest of all time, according to Miller. According to the film, ski racing against the clock offers a mantra or form of meditation. 

In the 1980s, there emerged another style of skiing, known as hotdogging, where a skier might scoot down a tree trunk. “Ski racing has shaped me as a person,” says another skier filmed by Miller. The skier downhills straight and fast in this form of skiing. “All Time” celebrates the 74th ski film made by Miller. The film gives us the evolution of mountain culture and ski towns, which is interesting to consider, as are the ski innovators in the film. 

The MVRHS Ski Club will be in the Film Center lobby prior to the screening selling raffle tickets to support its annual ski trip. There are several short film clips to be shown before the feature-length film, and the audience will vote for the best ski clip, and in doing so can enter a national sweepstakes with great ski-related prizes, including a ski trip and gear. 

Information and tickets to Warren Miller’s “All Time” are available at mvfilmsociety.com.