Unicorn Sashimi
Telluride’s own Felt Soul Media teamed up with Nick Waggoner and Yuki Mayazaki of Sweetgrass Productions to track a wild unicorn in Hokkaido, Japan. But all they found was delicious ramen — and deep, sweet snow.
The Nomad
Erik Boomer, featured as a presenter in the 2012 festival for his circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island with Jon Turk, is the star of this short film by Forge Motion Pictures. Why does he wander? What is he seeking? Traveling by foot, skis and kayak, Boomer moves through the world and his life in a way few others do. This film is the first episode of a five-part series titled Of Souls and Water.
Photo: Mike Leeds Photography
Kashmir
Warren Miller has taken skiers all over the world to rip powder, but few places have been as exotic as Kashmir, India. The production brought two women — First Ascent athletes Lynsey Dyer and Lel Tone — to this intense, highly contested part of the world where big guns are as prevalent as big powder, which makes this segment from the feature …Like There’s No Tomorrow all the more dramatic.
Last of the Great Unknown
The Grand Canyon, a barren labyrinth of light and shadows, was one of the last places in the American West to be surveyed. John Wesley Powell, before he made the first descent via the Colorado River in 1869, called it “The Great Unknown." Much of it still is today, and river runners, backpackers, lithic hunters and butte baggers seek prestigious “firsts” in the Grand Canyon’s innumerable technical slots. These canyons within canyons with their remarkable features that no human has seen before are what beckons Rich Rudow, Todd Martin, Dave Nally and a passel of other canyoneers to explore deep drainages. It’s no easy task, demanding knowledge of route finding, backpacking, climbing, technical rope work and pack rafting — so much so that Rudow was nominated for Outside magazine’s 2012 Adventurer of the Year.
Racing the End
Bike racing in Los Angeles, California? No way. There are too many cars. This may be the illest road race on the planet. Legality is questionable and trying to hold the wheel of the fixie in front might mean a pre-dawn, clandestine and completely certifiable victory. There is no way those dog tags are leaving L.A.
Last Light
Shot entirely during what’s called the “magic hour,” cinematographer and editor Ben Sturgulewski of Sweetgrass Productions takes us on a self-powered, all-you-can-shred spine buffett in Haines, Alaska, with skiers Stephan Drake, Forrest Shearer and Johan Jonsson.
The Freedom Chair
Josh Dueck was a passionate free-skier who found himself coaching world-class athletes, such as TJ Schiller and Justin Dorey, at a young age. But one day, he misjudged his speed as he approached a jump, and what could have been a harmless mistake, brought inextricable, life-altering consequences. When he crashed, his spinal cord was severed, leaving him paralyzed. Instead of giving up on skiing, however, Dueck refocused his passion into sit-skiing, and the experience allowed him to jump-start a new career and find a new way to do what he loves the best: ski. The Freedom Chair traces the path from Dueck’s injury to his return to the hill, where he wins silver and gold at the Olympics and X Games and still gets out with friends to charge big terrain — all thanks to his freedom chair.