Movie of the Month: The Man Who Skied Down Everest

Director: Budge Crawley

Year: 1975

Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com

Yuichiro Miura, from Japan, was a notable alpine racer of the time. This film highlights his 1970 attempt to ski Mt. Everest. The movie opens with a quote stating, “Throughout time, mas has aspired to great heights in search of peace of mind and a quiet heart. This is the story of such a man.”

Their expedition begins in the lowlands of Kathmandu in Nepal where they hired 800 porters to carry all of their gear up to the highlands. Over many days they travel 185 miles with 27 tons of equipment. The bare-footed porters carry their heavy packs with straps on their heads, typical of the region. The film shows several shots of the literal train of porters hiking through the forest to the mountains. Eventually the group reaches the land of the Sherpas. There, they send their lowland porters home and exchange them for 400 Sherpas. The group continues up the valley toward Everest. It takes them 40 days to travel the next three miles.

Along the way, Miura visits Sir Edmund Hillary, who had established a hospital in the area for the Sherpas. New Zealander Hillary along with his Sherpa partner Tenzing Norgay, were the first to climb Everest (and return), in 1953. Muira was often questioned as to why he wanted to ski Everest. But Hillary understands, saying, “When we stop looking for challenges, human beings will be in a very bad way.”

When the group reached the Khumbu icefall, they set up a camp where they remain for several days. The Khumbu icefall is known for being one of the most treacherous areas on Everest. It changes day by day and immense parts of the icefall can collapse at once. This is exactly what happened when a group of Sherpas was sent ahead to find a route through the icefall, claiming the lives of six men.

Nevertheless, the expedition continues. Everyday, more and more clouds appeared in the sky- reminding the group that the monsoon was coming. The men felt pressed for time.

In the meantime, Yuichiro Miura prepares his skis. The film shows Miura mounting the bindings on his brand new skis and sharpening them incessantly, as though it were a methodical obsession. Miura’s goal was never to ski from the summit of Everest. He wanted to ski it from the top of the Lhotse Face at 26,000 feet (7928 m) with the aid of a parachute. With the thinner air, he was uncertain what size parachute to use. So, he tested some of the chutes on the lower slopes of Everest. The film shows some of this test footage.

The film depicts Yuichiro Miura as a very introspective man, constantly contemplating the happenings around him. He questioned the death of the six Sherpas and wondered why a Japanese man wasn’t among them. And the film dialogues how he develops a connection with the high peaks that surround him. Miura is quoted saying things like, “The challenge of the peaks is the challenge of life itself- To always struggle higher.” Later he’s quoted again saying, “We have wandered from the paths of the wind and become children of fear.”

As the group ascends higher and higher on Everest, the group continues to get smaller. During their ascent the film focuses on the Bergshrund, a huge crevasse that divides the Lhotse Face from the Khumbu glacier. The scene leaves the viewer with a foreboding feeling.

Eventually, Miura and his supporters reach the top of the Lhotse face, where he plans to begin his ski. At first, it seemed as though the weather would not cooperate. But, Miura performs some ceremonial rituals that show he has come to understand the spirit of the mountains. Within moments, the wind calms. And his ski can begin.

Equipped with an oxygen mask, Miura bolts straight down the icy Lhotse face, barely making any turns at first. His chute releases without any problems. But Miura continues down the face with an unimaginable speed, despite having a chute to slow him down. Skiing on skinny skis and in leather boots, Miura holds his pose with his brute strength. But, eventually, the mountain gets him. He slips on some ice and begins sliding faster and faster at uncontrollable speeds down the icy face. He loses both skis and his parachute folds over, no longer slowing his speed. He tumbles over a small rockband, unharmed. And then moments later, he finds a patch of snow and the strength to come to an abrupt stop- 250 feet above the Burgshrund.

In the end, Miura skied 6,600 feet (2000 m) in 2 minutes and 20 seconds and then fell another 1320 feet down the Lhotse Face. Miura is left with nothing but questions. He wonders why he is alive, when others are not. And he questions whether the mission was actually a success when he ended up falling a large way down the mountain. Nevertheless, Miura is happy to be alive.

Whether Miura’s ski can actually be considered a success or not will be questioned for quite some time. Miura’s plan of not beginning his ski from the summit and skiing with the aid of a parachute leaves many of todays ski mountaineers scorning his actions. Nevertheless, the film has it’s place in mountaineering history. Shot in 35mm Panavision, this film was ahead of it’s time in cinematography, bringing the unseen Everest to the common audience of the era. It is no surprise that this film won the the Academy Award for best documentary in 1976.

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This YouTube video shows Miura’s ski down Everest continued by his slide-for-life. The excerpt comes up short, ending just moments before Miura actually comes to a stop.

The Banff Film Festival is always a delight to see as it makes it’s world tour to over 450 locations. Unfortunately, when living on the Front Range, the festival was difficult to see because ticket prices were helaciously expensive, and venues often sold out quickly.

The Banff Film Festival has come to Crested Butte for the last 18 years. We consider it an honor that this huge event travels through our small town. Needless to say, the event was sold out both nights. We attended the show on Saturday, March 7th.

For those of you not familiar with the Banff Film Festival, it is film contest that originates in Banff, Canada. There people enter their films which all have outdoors themes of some sort relating to sport, culture, and the environment. Some of the best films are selected to tour around the world. Typically, the festival stays at a venue for two different nights, showing different films each night. Most films shown on tour are less than an hour in length. Some are excerpts from longer films. And some films are short, about five or six minutes in length.

The first film shown for the evening was Shikashika. This film portrays a Peruvian family that hikes into the Andes to “harvest” ice from the glaciers. This process has been a family tradition for a long time. They sell the ice in the Peruvian town as a slush-ice treat that the locals call shikashika. This film is not only enlightening into a small part of Peruvian culture, but it also makes one think about what people will endure just to earn a little bit of money. After all, that’s what started this tradition in the first place, right? Another thought that came to mind after having traveled to Peru myself is how this tradition fit in to the local’s reverence of their mountains. Peruvians still hold some native beliefs that literally worship the mountains. I would have liked to see how this shikashika tradition fit into these beliefs.

Find out more about this film here:
http://www.shikashika.com/index.html

The second film that was shown was Red Helmet. This story begins with a young boy who is afraid to jump into the water with his friends. He runs away into the forest where he finds a red helmet. He puts on the helmet. Then the movie switches scenes showing a daring kayaker, climber, mountain biker, paraglider, and more, each wearing a red helmet. The red helmet is a symbol for what the boy could potentially do, and also symbolizes “protection” from his own fears. Wearing it, he jumps into the water. I thought this movie had some clever ideas in it and showed some excellent outdoor footage.

See the entire film here:

The next film was a 53 minute documentary called The Last Nomads. In this documentary, linguist and anthropologist Ian Mackenzie tells the story of the Penan people in Borneo. He’s been following their story for over 15 years, documenting their language and in turn also documenting their lives. The Penan’s nomadic lifestyle is being threatened by the encroaching logging which destroys the old growth rainforest and muddies the rivers that sustain their lives. Over the last 10 years or so the Penan have been having to give up their nomadic lifestyle in order to survive, being forced to settle and grow rice. Mackenzie has always known that as he documented the Penan, he would eventually see the last of the nomads. This film documents his search for the last nomadic tribe of the Penan. When he finds them, they too have settled. Mackenzie is heartbroken, yet doesn’t blame these people for having to settle to survive. The Penan cannot read or write, and therefore cannot put up a fight against the Malaysian government. Although Mackenzie has tried to help the Penan all he can, he knows one person is not enough to put up a fight against an entire government. All he can do is try to document their life, their culture, and their language before that too dies. This movie cannot help but be moving to viewers. It’s hard to believe that nomads could still exist in today’s world and it is sad to see a whole culture begin to perish.

View the trailer here:
http://www.90thparallel.ca/videofiles.html

The Last Nomads was followed by another documentary called Seasons. Seasons tells the story of four downhill mountain bikers throughout the four seasons of a year. Through the excellent cinematography, the viewer comes face to face with the danger and challenges that downhill mountain bikers experience on a day to day basis. However, I found that the film was not clear on the names of the riders and who was racing/riding at certain times. I found myself confused. But, nevertheless, this film leaves viewers with added respect for the downhill racers of today.

View the trailer here:

A seven minute animation called The Cable Car was next in line. Here, an old man with a big nose starts going up a cable car up a mountain. The location is inexact, but it is presumably somewhere in Europe. On the way, he decides to have a bit of snuff, which causes him to sneeze. With each sneeze, the cable car begins to fall apart. The man keeps pulling out a roll of yellow tape, trying to tape the cable car back together. But, alas, the cable car falls away, and he is hanging on to the cable with his yellow tape. I struggled to find meaning in this movie. I wasn’t sure what its purpose was in the Banff Film Festival. Frankly, it left me with a very sad and empty feeling in the end.

The last two films of the evening were my favorites. The first was a 14 minute film called The Unbearable Lightless of Skiing. This film was created by ski mountaineer Greg Hill. He tells the story familiar to most ski mountaineers: When he would go home, his family would ask, “What have you been up to?” He would explain that he’s been skiing lots of high peaks, cross-country skiing to the top, and how good the turns feel. But, half way through the story, he would see the person’s eyes glaze over. So, he decided to grab a video camera and start filming some of his outings. This film is a collection of his highlights for one season. Any backcountry skier can relate to the feelings expressed by Greg Hill in his film. And non-skiers can hopefully begin to understand why we do the things that we do!

Below are two videos that Greg Hill used for some of the footage in his movie:

The last film of the evening was called The Sharp End: Eastern Europe. This film documents a group of seasoned climbers from the US that travel to this area full of magnificent spires in the Czech Republic, near Germany. The climbers find that the area holds true to it’s tradition of climbing. Chalk and cams are not allowed. Putting metal bolts into the walls is also not allowed. So, how do these people climb? They take pieces of cord, tie a knot, and jam them into the cracks in the walls. This somewhat seemingly sketchy technique proves to hold through several of the climber’s falls. The climbers challenge themselves here, even making a first ascent on a route, and leave with an added respect for the culture of climbing in the area. Anyone who sees this film will undoubtedly think that these climbers are a bit crazy. But, the film does an excellent job portraying both the climbing culture there and the difficulty of the routes.

Below is a link to another Sharp End film created by the same people. The Eastern Europe film is currently not available.

For more on the films of the Banff Film Festival, please click here:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/tour/faq/filmmakers.asp

Movie of the Month: The Performers

Director: Dick Barrymore

Year: 1971

Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com

The Performers is another one of Dick Barrymore’s classic ski films. At only 24 minutes in length, it is packed full of ski footage—footage still considered as high quality even today.

The Performers tells the story of five skiers sponsored by K2: Charlie McWilliams, Pat Bauman, John Clendenin, Bob Griswold, and Jim Stelling. These skiers were selected by K2 to tour the US on a good-will mission. They toured from California to Maine and back again in their red, white, and blue motor home—colored to match the famous K2 skis of the era.

The first major highlight of the film takes place in Aspen, Colorado. There, the K2 Performers were asked to judge two events. The first event was a “Hot Dog” contest. This was a competition where skiers were judged on form, turns, and jumps down a steep mogul run. The second even the K2 Performers judged took place in the evening where they judges the girl that looked best in a K2 t-shirt.

The second major highlight of the film takes place in the then new Snowbird, Utah. There the Performers experienced over-the-head powder—ski footage which would rival even some of today’s powder segments inn our best ski flicks.

Highly noteworthy was the Performers style. This movie was the beginning of what is today considered freestyle skiing. The Performers not only hucked themselves off of large cliffs. They hucked themselves in style, pulling 360’s, backflips, mule kicks, and double spread eagles. These skiers pioneered a new era in skiing that is still in force today. And they did so without helmets or goggles!

But, the most striking thing to me about The Performers was the realization that this movie shows that the ski bums of today are just like the ski bums nearly 40 years ago. The “Hot Dog” contest can be compared to today’s extreme competitions. The t-shirt contest gave insight into the Aspen party scene at the time- a scene that has not changed one bit. And skiers are still pulling 360’s and backflips off of massive cliffs and shooting epic powder scenes.

The Performers rings true to the age-old cliché that “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The ski bums of today are not pioneering a new lifestyle or a new era in skiing. This new era was actually started 40 years ago by Dick Barrymore and the Performers. I thank this movie for putting me in my place and giving me this lesson in history. All avid skiers should experience The Performers themselves to understand the true roots of today’s skiing.

Update: The Performers had such an impact on the skiers of the era that a 25-yr anniversary mission was repeated in 1996. You can read more about it here in this article from Ski Magazine: http://www.deadlinecom.com/pdfs/theperformers.pdf

Book Review: Doc Susie

Author: Virginia Cornell

Year: 1991

Doc Susie is the biography of Susan Anderson, who was a physician in the Fraser Valley of Colorado. If you have ever seen the TV show, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, then this story will be familiar to you. Many say that Doctor Quinn’s character was largely based on Doc Anderson.

The biography covers most of Doc Anderson’s life, from her childhood in Indiana through her elderly years in Fraser. Doc Anderson was born in Indiana. In some strange circumstances, Susan’s dad and mom divorced, resulting in Susan moving with her brother and father to Wichita. They homesteaded there, but heard the call of the gold rush and ended up in the mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. Susan was a fine student, and ended up going to school with her brother in the Midwest to eventually become a doctor. At the time, female doctors were not that rare. In the late 1800’s doctor’s wages were relatively poor and training was not nearly as detailed as it is today. In fact, about 25% of Susan’s medical class was female.

After medical school, Doc Susie returned to Cripple Creek. She established a practice there. She met a man, whom she became engaged to, but in a strange set of events, he left her just before the marriage. Records are not clear what happened, or who this man even was, but evidence suggests that Susan’s father had a hand in making this man leave. Shortly after, Susan’s brother John became sick with pneumonia and died. After so much devastation and with rising tensions between her and her father, Susan decided to leave Cripple Creek and began practicing medicine on the Front Range.

During her training to become a doctor, Susan had to spend hours and hours at hospitals, often working through the night. As a result, she developed tuberculosis. This condition worsened as she practiced medicine on the Front Range. Unfortunately, Susan was practicing as a nurse and not a doctor. The training for doctors had suddenly changed with developing technology and medicine. Female doctors were no longer common and Susan’s training seemed inadequate. Susan’s employers ran her ragged as a nurse. Finally, her tuberculosis became so bad she had to make a choice: leave to regain health or die.

Susan chose to move to Fraser Valley to heal herself. After resting for a long period of time, Susan began working at a store. Being a small town, rumors carried, and people knew that Susan had at one time been a doctor. But, Susan kept that part of her life a secret until one day a man came storming into the store, begging her to “save Dave”. Little did she know that her first patient, Dave, was actually a horse! Nevertheless, she saved the horse and people in the community began to call on her as a doctor. The book continues to cover, chapter by chapter, stories of Doc Anderson helping people and saving people’s lives throughout the Fraser Valley. Many times Doc Susie’s patients could barely even pay her money. Nevertheless, Doc Susie chose to save lives, and take from her patients only what they could give.

Doc Suzie had a huge impact on the community of Fraser, and in some instances the community showed their appreciation. In one specific case, the community came together to build her a house. The railroad bigwigs came by one day and informed Doc Susie that her house was on land owned by the railroad company. People from the community heard about this and helped Doc Susie obtain land. Another person donated a barn and lumberjacks disassembled the barn and reconstructed it on Doc Susie’s new piece of land.

The book covers details of what life was like in the Fraser Valley at the time. From the frigid climate to the lonely lumberjacks, historical details were detailed and well-researched by the author. In reading this book, skiers today will understand the origin of many of the names at the present day Winter Park ski area, since several of them are based on old railroad terms.

Perhaps the most interested details in the book was the evolution of the railroad itself and Doc Susie’s part in it. Doc Susie began living in Fraser when the railroad passed over the dangerous Rollin’s Pass. This pass was known to be treacherous, and sometimes trains could be delayed for days. Sometimes Doc had to use the railroad to escort patients to Denver for medical procedures she could not do herself. Doc Susie even became a railroad doctor for a short time. Eventually, Doc Susie became the county Coroner. During this time, the Moffat Tunnel was being built. This tunnel would allow trains to go under Rollins Pass, thus avoiding the Divide and treacherous conditions that come with it, allowing trains to be more reliable and timely. The railroad hired thousands of workers, many of which lived in a temporary community at the entrances of the tunnel. Accidents happened to the workers while building this tunnel and, as coroner, Doc Susie was responsible for investigating any deaths. In one particular case, 6 people died in one tragic explosion.

Fraser Valley residents debated what the building of the tunnel would do to the economy of the valley. Some thought the ease of transportation would help Fraser, others thought otherwise. Doc Susie was always of the mind that Moffat tunnel would be detrimental to Fraser. Railroad politics quickly became evident as the tunnel was being built. Opening ceremonies were happening on the East Portal, but most of the railroad workers lived on the West Portal, near Fraser. Fraser Valley residents protested, saying ceremonies should be on the West Portal, where the workers were located, not at the East Portal, just because it was closer to Denver. Freeman, the owner of the railroad at the time, wouldn’t budge. Finally, Doc Susie suggested that residents of Fraser could walk through the tunnel from the West to the East Portal. But, again Freeman declined permission- because he was secretly already running trains through the tunnel. In the mix, the two leading newspapers in Denver, the Post and the Rocky Mountain News, were having their own battle. Donations of the Post to the railroad gave them special privileges at the ceremonies which Fraser residents discovered and resented. Doc Susie wouldn’t let the feelings of the residents go hidden. When the ceremonial train passed through the opening of the West Portal, she held up a sign that said, “We built this tunnel, the Post didn’t”, captured by the photographers of the Rocky Mountain News and published the next day’s paper. Unfortunately, Doc Susie was right about Moffat tunnel- it did lead to the demise of Fraser until Berthoud Pass was paved and Winter Park became a popular ski destination.

Virginia Cornell, the author of Doc Susie, did her homework when researching materials for this book. Not only did she research Doc Susie’s character, but she also researched daily life in the Fraser Valley at the time as well as how medicine was practiced, especially in a rural community. Doc Susie is a good read, especially for those familiar with the Winter Park / Fraser area.

See other Recommended Books

Movie of the Month: Blizzard of Ahhhs

Director: Greg Stump

Year: 1988

Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com, www.gregstumpproducations.com

It’s funny how your perception of movies changes over time. I rented Blizzard of Ahhh’s from Nextflix recently and watched it for the first time in about 15 years. The skiing that I remembered to be so incredible in the movie now seemed tame by today’s standards. Still, the movie sits in a special place in my heart and had a huge effect on my generation of skiers.

One of the first things that struck me in the movie was Greg Stump’s reference (as a narrator) to Dick Barrymore, creator of Last of the Ski Bums. I did not remember this reference before, probably because in middle school and high school I had no I idea who he was. Stump states that Dick Barrymore’s movies provided inspiration to him as both a skier and a movie-maker, taking viewers to far away lands that most skiers at the time only dreamed of. Since I grew up idolizing the movie and characters in Blizzard of Ahhhs, I suppose that it makes sense that I would like Last of the Ski Bums.

Stump’s recurring theme in Blizzard of Ahhhs is the growing restrictions of ski areas. He makes it clear that ski resorts were making filming difficult by not providing reasonable access to good terrain. Scott Schmidt, he points out, was not “endorsed” by ski areas at the time because his skiing was so extreme. The ski areas simply did not want to endorse the kind of skiing, like Schmidt’s, that was so risky. In retrospect, these restrictions at the ski areas caused the trend of ski movies today- almost entirely filmed in the backcountry or with heli-drops in Alaska. But, in 1988 backcountry skiing was not prolific. So, Stump and his crew travel to Chamonix to film the majority of the film, where there are far fewer rules, thus avoiding American lawsuits.

Before filming in Chamonix, Stump did film in two American ski areas: Telluride and Squaw Valley. In Telluride, we meet a few local characters, like Scott Kennett and his famous dog Zudnik, for which a trick is now named. We also meet “Rasta Stevie” who was voted to the town council. Rasta man provides a monologue about how he was among the few who were fighting to keep Telluride’s soul alive, trying to prevent it from becoming another Vail or Sun Valley. At Squaw Valley we are introduced to Scott Schmidt- the prime bad-ass skier of the time. He is to go film with Stump in Chamonix and Stump is looking for a partner for him. Three skiers show up for the “audition”: Tom Day, Mike Slattery, and Glen Plake. Glen Plake dominates the field and is sent to Chamonix with Schmidt.

Blizzard of Ahhhs was Plake’s “coming out” movie. Plake was constantly filmed by Stump as a no-fear punk, with his giant mohawk as a symbol of his individualism. When he wore the helmet camera, his hair stuck out the front of his helmet- a constant reminder that he wanted to be noticed. Well, noticed he was. Plake constantly took big risks, often one-upping Schmidt’s skiing, adding an interesting twist to the plot. Overnight, Stump made Plake famous.

Watching the skiing in Blizzard of Ahhhs is interesting. Today’s ski movies always make snow look perfect. There’s always powder, the snow is always soft, and sometimes the slope is so steep and soft that you see the classic “slough”. But in the ‘80’s, movies largely stuck to filming in-bounds at ski areas. So, scenes were shot in all kinds of conditions. In this movie, there is very little powder, but here is a lot of hard-packed and wind-packed chunky goodness. Nevertheless, the skiers in the movie made the conditions look effortless, even on “skinny skis”. Although the terrain they chose was less extreme than today’s standards, the skills of these skiers cannot go unnoticed.

In filming these skiers, Stump set a precedent that is still followed in today’s ski movies. Stump filmed the skiers pushing themselves out of their comfort zone- skiing steep couloirs, rappelling into start zones, dodging crevasses, and hucking huge cliffs. Stump’s cinematography catches these skiers perfectly at the height of their risk-taking and his influence can be seen in many ski movies today.

The closing scene is the climax of the movie. I remember it well, even from 15 years ago. While at Les Grands Montets, Schmidt sees a steep couloir and decides he wants to ski it. As a narrator, Stump says “I wanted nothing to do with it.” But, Schmidt goes anyway, falling and losing his ski part way down the couloir. His ski stops at the top of a hidden crevasse. Just as you think the segment is over, Plake takes over. He cannot be outdone, so he decides to ski the couloir as well. Plake enters the couloir aggressively, but things can turn quickly on a steep slope. Plake catches an edge and goes rag-dolling down the rest of the couloir. The hidden crevasse located at the bottom of the couloir adds to the growing anxiety as Plake continues to tumble down the mountain. When he does get to the crevasse, he somersaults over it.

Blizzard of Ahhhs is a ski movie classic. Arguably Stump’s greatest film, it’s influence can be still seen in ski movies today. There is no doubt about the powerful impact Blizzard of Ahhhs had on an entire generation of skiers. It fed our souls and inspired us to seek out new amazing places, to find our own Blizzard of Ahhhs!

Update: Greg Stump is currently working on a new movie called Legend of Ahhhs. He hope to show it at the upcoming Sundance festival. You can read more about it at www.gregstumpproducations.com

Recently, Frank and I have decided to add to the character of our blog by doing reviews on various ski movies. We plan on reviewing a wide variety of ski movies from both past and present. Our first review begins today, with Last of the Ski Bums. Please also check out my review of STEEP, which I reviewed last January.

Movie of the Month: Last of the Ski Bums

Director: Dick Barrymore

Year: 1969

Where can I find it? Netflix, Amazon.com, REI

Today’s ski movies are fun to watch. I mean, who doesn’t love watching people drop over 200-ft cliffs, or straightline a sick line, or ski a steep slope in Alaska trying to out-ski their slough? Yet, all of these amazing stunt-like shots make the brain go numb. After 15 minutes it begins to lose the thrill and excitement that the movie had at the beginning. Frankly, today’s movies lack soul. It’s a collection of thrills and spills with no seeming meaning or story being portrayed. In order for a ski movie to have soul, it needs a story.

Greg Stump was the master of ski movie stories in the ‘90’s. I grew up being able to recite several lines from Blizzard of Aahhhs. Anyone who has seen this movie will vividly remember the climax of the story- Scott Schmidt and Glen Plake on the Aiguille du Midi. When stories are used to build toward thrilling ski shots, the movie suddenly becomes electrifying.

Since I was a teenager I’ve long viewed Blizzard of Aahhhs as a standard for ski movies. I’ve compared every ski movie I’ve seen to this classic, and the majority of ski movies I’ve seen don’t come close to meeting this standard. So, when I kept seeing Last of the Ski Bums being compared to Blizzard of Aahhhs, I decided I had to see it.

Created nearly 40 years ago by Dick Barrymore, Last of the Ski Bums might not have all the thrills standard in today’s movies. But it has the more heart and soul than any ski movie made in the last 15 years. The places are the same, but the shots are different. The ski bums in 1967 act just like the ski bums of today. It’s a movie that any avid skier past or present will enjoy.

The movie starts out with stunning scenery of the Alps, and then your classic powder-day shots. Then, the narrator chimes in, “This is Ron Funk. He’s 33 yrs old and has never held a permanent job. His whole life has been dedicated to the sport of skiing. He would rather ski than do just about anything.”

Upon hearing this, I knew I was going to like this movie. And I knew I was going to like it even more when The Sandals began playing their ski bum song. All ski bums will appreciate these lyrics.

Then the movie introduces ski bum #2: Mike Zuettel. He’s 28 yrs old and a graduate of MIT in mathematics”. Zuettel spent 8 yrs in school, graduating with a Doctor’s degree then working in the space-missile industry and then quit because “he wanted to fulfill his lifelong dream of skiing the Alps”. Along the way they meet ski bum #3: Ed Ricks who is “24 yrs old, just out of the army and tired of everybody telling him what to do.”

So then the story begins. It’s the story of these three ski bums, traveling through Europe. Their one goal was to “ski as much as possible, work as little as necessary, and enjoy the simple pleasures of an unhurried life.”

The ski bums’ journey takes them to places like Chamonix, Val D’Isere, Alpe D’Huez, Zurs, Coeur Cheval, and Sestrierre. Flash back memories take them to places like New Zealand and Jackson Hole. Along the way, they have encounters with people who are still famous today, such as Jean Claude Killy. They even talk about Bob Smith testing out his double-lens anti-fog goggles (Smith goggles). The skiing, by today’s standards, is relatively mellow. But when they show the equipment these people skied on- leather boots and scary looking bindings- any skier today will begin to have respect for what they were able to do given the limits of their equipment. The scariest scene was a giant slalom race in Sestrierre. Watching skiers go 60 mph down an ungroomed slope in leather boots turns my stomach upside-down!

My favorite scene was when the three ski bums met Gaston Rébuffat, the famous Frenchman who was a climbing pioneer. Funk asked Gaston why he climbed and he replied, “The joy of climbing is the joy of discovery- of being able to see further and from a greater height.” The ski bums went on to ask Gaston if he climbed for the danger. Gaston then stated, “I do not climb for the danger. I climb because of the difficulty…. It is not enough for a man to exist. He must live, but not live dangerously. That is too easy. Yes, to climb well between heaven and earth, is to find an inner peace- a religion that cannot be found in books. No my friends. I do not climb for the danger of being close to death but for the difficulty of being close to life.”

Dick Barrymore created a masterpiece with Last of the Ski Bums. He got just about everything right. The only thing he got wrong- the vibrant ski towns of today are still chalk full of heartfelt ski bums

Update: Dick Barrymore passed away this year on August 1 in his home in Ketchum, Idaho.  He was 74 yrs old.