Switzerland segment of (left) andJohanJonssonduringthe Engelberg, Cinematographer JeffWright filmsMarcus Caston Face ofWinter . MAGAZINE

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PHOTOOSKAR ENANDERCREDIT ON GO MUST SHOW THE SKI MAGAZINE form offlattery. right toborrow Warren’s wordsinturn.After all,imitationisthesincerest borrowed one(ormany)ofhis famous,quirkyone-liners,wethought itonly leaves behind.SinceWarrenwould bethefirsttoadmitthathemay have to Warren,theoriginalfaceof winter, andtheentertainment legacyhe sorad. action, andaboveall,anintimatelookatthepeopleplaces that make have becomeknownfor:jaw-droppingscenery,adrenaline-pumping ski decades ago. continuing atraditionthatthelategodfatherofaction-sports films started THIS FALL In thefollowingpages,thisyear’s WMEathletesandcrewpaytribute

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Warren MillerEntertainmentdebutsits69thannualskifilm, NOVEMBER 2018 Face ofWinter promises todeliverallthatWMEskiflicks GOSPEL OFSKIING. SPREAD WARREN’S ALIVE ANDCONTINUESTO A BELOVED TRADITION ENTERTAINMENT KEEPS WARREN MILLER WITH

FACE OFWINTER

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MIKE WIEGELE AUSTRIA TO CANADA BEEN INOPERATION YEARS MWHSHAS EMIGRATED FROM THE SHOW MUST GOON AGE WHENHE 48 21 HISTORY THE

meteoric rise. beginnings to years, fromhumble throughout the A lookatWME of developing some kind of backcountry ski area. I ran a of developingsomekindbackcountryskiarea.Iranaschool I actuallycametoCanadaexplorethemountainsforpotential —WM “It’s beenalong,hardroad,andsomeoftheroadsweren’tpaved.” himself alsoskiedforWarren’s camerabackintheday. been featuredincountlessWMEfilmsovertheyears,andMike and foundingMikeWiegeleHelicopterSkiing.Theophas one ofthefirsttoexploreheli-assistedbackcountryskiinginB.C. Like Warren, MikeWiegelewasapioneeroftheskiindustry,being

SKI MAGAZINE 1936 to save up to buy his own . to saveupbuyhis ownskis. Afterwards, hetakesapaperboyjob skiing onaScouttriptoBigPines. Twelve-year-old Warren discovers WARREN DISCOVERS SKIING

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NOVEMBER 2018 Cariboos onabeautifuldayafterstrenu time Iwasupontopofthemountainin down throughthevalleytookawhile.One I waseasilymotivated.Butthetripback there’s no question thatIlovedskiing,so walk outagain.Ilovedthemountains,and when you’reupthere.Butthenyouhadto up themountain.Thenyouskiadayortwo the valley,andatleastonedaytoclimb journey. Itwouldtakeonedaytohikeinto ages. Abigtripcouldturnintoaweek-long bridges. Abackcountrytripcouldtake big, andallthevalleyshadcreeksbutno mountains toexplore.Thewere at Lake Louise, thenmadetripsintothe of Warren again you justcontinue.AndIdidn’tcrashinfront survive acrash,andyourealizeyou’refine, had moregutsthanbrains.Butwhenyou I I crashedonthefirstrun.wasoftentold one ofthebestskiershere.Sureenough, told meIwouldfall.thought,noway,I’m for. WhenIfirstskiedforhim,theotherskiers Warren wasthepersonyouwantedtoski There wereothers,likeDickBarrymore,but ren. At thetime,Warren was to beasked,itwasanhonorskiforWar good skier.’ Andofcourse,Iwasveryexcited everyone said,‘Here,takethisguy.He’s a It wasmyfirstyearattheskischool,so came upwantingtogetsomeskiingshots. was workingatSugarBowlinCalifornia.He I firstmet I Warren in1963,Ibelieve,when fall.” “You can’tgethurtskiingunlessyou helicopter. way toskiinthesemountains,witha and onthattrip,Irealized:that’s thebest previously withmyfriendHansGmoser, in.’ IhadtakenashortflightintheCariboos wouldn’t itbeniceifahelicopterflewyou and dreamingaway.AndIthought,‘Gee, ous tripup.Iwaslookingaroundupthere Sayer, featuredinthisyear’s film. they shootwithWiegeleguideslikeBob host tothefilmcrewandathleteswhile of theWMEcamerabutplaysgracious Mike Wiegelenolongerappearsinfront IN THISYEAR’SFILM...

1946 —WM where thecamera would takeme.” & Howell8mmfor$77. “Ihadnoidea Warren buyshisfirstcamera,aBell After beingdischargedfromtheNavy, THE FIRST CAMERA the filmmaker.

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PHOTO CREDIT COLIN WITHERILL remember theshootbecauseIworeawhite basically theWorld Cupteambackthen.I doing somerapidfiremogulskiingwith course, inBreckenridge,Colo.We were in 1998.Itwasamogulskiingsegment,of My firstopportunitytoskiforWMEcame when theyaregone,gone.” you onlyhavesomanyinyourknees,and “Bumps onthemountainarelikeheartbeats; keep theWarren Millerspiritalive. try toconvey.Ifeelthat’s thebestIcandoto was sostrongwithWarren, andthat’s whatI connection withskiing—that’s thespiritthat what hedidinthemountains.Thatgenuine genuine. Hewasjusttellingastoryabout so whenhetalkedaboutthem,itwasvery went outthereandshotmostthingshimself, really livedthesegmentshenarrated.He Warren, andit’s hardtofake,isthatWarren son tonow. OneofthethingsIlovedabout willing togrowwithmefrommyrookiesea very fortunatethattheaudiencehasbeen the 10thWMEfilmI’venarrated,andbeen ever comeclosetodoingwhathedid.Thisis ples andoranges,there’s justnowayIcould ulous. Irealizedthatfromdayone.It’s likeap Trying toreplaceWarren asanarratorisridic “Always tryeverythingatleasttwice.” onesie, vividly. WME’s since 1998.Heremembershisdebutin both inandbehindthescenesofWMEfilms He’s abonafide veteran,havingappeared been thevoiceofWME’s annualskimovies. For thepastdecade,JonnyMoseleyhas JONNY MOSELEY soaked up some of the local culture. soaked upsomeofthelocalculture. plored IcelandbyairwithArcticHeliand Anna Segal.Whilethere,thecrewex to shredwithAmieEngerbretsonand cameo appearanceinNorthernIceland Moseley notonlynarratesbutmakesa IN THISYEAR’SFILM...

1946 Freeriders an audienceatthe Alta Lodge. The twoshowtheirsurfingmovieto on askitripwithfriendWard Baker. Warren discoverspowskiinginAlta SKI BUMMINGINALTA , rippingmogulsinawhite

—WM —WM - - - - from myweird viewoflife.” a fewironiccommentsthat came “Thefilmsweresilent,so Iputin bumps leftinme. to skimoguls,mybodywasjustsetdoit.Istillhaveabunchmore I’m abetterbump-skierfinesse-wisenow. I’mlucky,Ithinkwasborn the pleasureofskiingbumps,Iloveit.You know, Ithinkinsomeways able. Ofcourse,Imissthecompetitionaspectofit.Butasfarjust a.m. anddotwognarlyairs.It’s madebumpskiingmuchmoreenjoy skiing bumps.EspeciallysinceIdon’thavetoskianicyrut-lineat7 correctly. No,I’mkidding,itwasalotoffunandIlovedit.stilllove Cosacks. Anditwasjustgenerallyprettyembarrassing,ifIremember one-piece skisuitwhilethrowingabunchofCosacksandIron-Cross SKI MAGAZINE

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1949 instructors ontheir free runs. He beginsfilmingAllaisandother ski schoolheadedbyÉmileAllais. Warren getsaninstructorjobatthe OPENING SEASONAT SQUAW - GOLD AT THENAGANO AGE WHENHEWON “THE DINNERROLL” ROTATIONS INHIS SIGNATURE TRICK 22 OLYMPICS 2

THE SHOW MUST GO ON IN THIS YEAR’S FILM... McMillan joined Forrest Jillson and the WME crew in Denali National Park to ex- WARREN MILLER TOUR plore the pristine beauty of the AK back- country, the luxurious Tordrillo Mountain “One of the biggest things Warren gave the ski and communities is the film Lodge, and remote Ruth Glacier. tour—a chance for our tribe to come together and celebrate sliding on snow.” —Rob Kingwill

TOUR INFO: VISIT WARRENMILLER.COM FOR UPDATED TIMES AND VENUES. limits and summit one of the highest peaks in the world. So to go there and ski tour is just NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA so special. There’s no trace of people. It’s just 10/12 – 11/20 11/6 – 12/8 mother nature, huge peaks, and raw beauty. Oregon, Washington Greater Bay Area, Greater L.A. Area, There’s a true sense of wild. Santa Barbara, and in between… UTAH “When it comes to skiing, there’s a difference 10/17 – 10/27 NORTHEAST between what you think it’s going to be like, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Park City, Orem 11/1 – 12/7 what it’s really like, and what you tell your New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, friends it was like.” —WM MIDWEST Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut, When you’re in a place like Denali, you can 10/25 – 11/1 New Hampshire, Vermont look at photos, but you never know what Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, peak or snow conditions are going to be like. Michigan ARIZONA At night we would gather and say, ‘OK, let’s 12/4 – 12/8 do this tomorrow.’ We would plan and try to ROCKIES Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson, estimate our time, thinking a skin might take 10/16 – 11/30 Scottsdale, Tempe four hours. When we started skinning it just Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado felt like the closer we got, the bigger the TEXAS mountain got. We had to take a step back 10/19 – 10/21 and realize that instead of four hours, this was Greater Dallas Area going to take us eight hours. That’s one of the

biggest things I didn’t realize when I first start- CHOMLACK CHAD ed skiing for the camera: how long the days

are. It’s not like you’re out there for two hours ADVERTISEMENT and then hop in for a cocoa break. When you leave and move into the field, you’re going to be there for 8 to 10 hours. SEASON PASS JESS “There’s no substitute for genuine lack of preparation.” —WM One year when I was competing on the Freeride World Tour, I didn’t have anything set MCMILLAN up as far as lodging between stops. This is kind of standard for me, just the way I roll. And If Jess McMillan weren’t a professional skier, she really has no clue this time I had my mom and husband with me. 7 what else she would be. So it’s a good thing the whole professional But I thought, no problem, we’ll find a hostel or ski bum thing worked out. The Freeride World Tour Champion has something along the way. When we stopped, it NUMBER OF WME won more comps than any other skier, and has been a was late at night, everyone was tired, and the FILMS MCMILLAN HAS APPEARED IN regular fixture in WME films since 2011. locals at the bar we stopped at told us there was no lodging anywhere nearby. We ended “At least once a year, go someplace and do something you have up taking the skis out of our ski bags and 24 never done before.” —WM sleeping in the bags on the side of the road. AGE WHEN SHE This was my first time skiing Denali. We’ve all heard of Denali, and we My mom was not impressed. She booked us a STARTED COMPETING IN FREESKIING think about it as a place to test your skills, test your very nice hotel for the next night. CAM MCLEOD CAM

LIVE THE MOMENT DALBELLO DS 130 THE FIRST SKI MOVIE “I had absolutely no training in THE BREAKTHROUGH Warren begins cutting and scripting Skiing News Magazine gives Warren’s Between the deep days and the vibrant ski-town nights, there’s The new DS 130 features a bi-injected Power Cage construction contain- his first feature-length ski film,Deep motion-picture production. I edited Ski Fantasy a front-page review, and nothing like a trip to Montana. Recharge with a hot springs soak and ing a hard PU frame integrated with a second injection - this new lighter, and Light, out of his new Chevy Warren’s business starts picking up. He an award-winning craft beer, anticipating the pristine powder that slimmer design provides great power transmission, cosmetic appeal, and 1953 1950 panel delivery truck. the film by blundering along.” hires his first employee: his mother. awaits you come sunrise. Live every second to its fullest, just a short ease of entry/exit. On the lower shell, a special textured surface provides flight away. Discover your #MontanaMoment. the power of a thicker material without the added weight.

VISITMT.COM MSRP $900.00; DALBELLO.IT/EN SKI MAGAZINE / 94 / NOVEMBER 2018 THE SHOW MUST GO ON KIM SCHNEIDER

Since 1978, Kim Schneider has been the man behind the scenes of kind of humor, but Barrymore was more seri- WME’s annual film. For 10 years Schneider and Warren worked side ously ski-oriented. But Barrymore didn’t have 40 by side during long, grueling editing days to deliver the next WME a job opening, Warren did. In the end it didn’t YEARS EDITING THE ANNUAL WME film to the masses. Here he reflects on the ups and downs of being matter to me as long as I was working on ski SKI MOVIE part of the WME team. movies. And you have to understand, for the next 10 years working with Warren, I was in “Not getting what you want can be a stroke of good luck.” —WM heaven. I had gotten my dream job. 2 I first interviewed with Dick Barrymore for a job. He was doing the NUMBER OF SONS same thing as Warren—making ski movies and going on tour. I actual- “If you don’t wake up excited a few minutes ALSO ROPED INTO THE WME EDITING GIG ly really wanted to work for Barrymore. They both had that weird before your alarm goes off in the morning, perhaps you have the wrong job, the wrong home address, or both.” —WM I actually quit [WME] after two films and moved back to Alaska. I just couldn’t deal with L.A. It was nice living on the beach and all, and Warren was great about letting me plug in my motorhome right behind the office. It was just freakin’ Los Angeles. It’s just intense. So, after we finished the movie in the fall, I left and went up to Alaska. In November Warren came up to do the show in Anchorage like he did every year. We hung out and played some racquetball. He told me he wanted me back. I had ideas of things I wanted to change, I wanted to do some dif- ferent stuff. And he said, ‘We’ll make it work.’

“Entertain the people who show up, and feel sorry for those who don’t.” —WM There’s nothing like a theater full of laugh- ter, and Warren got that. From the first time someone laughed at one of his jokes, he knew: ‘That’s it, that’s what I want to hear.’ He could come up with funny one-liners on the spot while sitting there looking at a shot for the first time. Every year, we say, ‘We’ve got to do something to make people laugh.’

IN THIS YEAR’S FILM... With Warren having transitioned to the big in the sky, Schneider’s mission was to pay tribute to Warren by communicating Warren’s monu- mental and remarkable insights on his

favorite season. SCHNEIDER KYLE

SPOTLIGHT ON HELI-SKIING “The audiences went nuts SKI HALL OF FAME Warren sends cameraman Ron Allen Warren is inducted into the U.S. Ski to B.C. where Wiegele was pioneer- when we showed them this and Hall of Fame and Mu- ing heli-skiing. Hot-dogger Wayne seum for his role in introducing skiing 1978 1969 Wong skis for the camera. kind of skiing.” to the masses via the silver screen.

SKI MAGAZINE / 96 / NOVEMBER 2018 SKI MAGAZINE / 97 / NOVEMBER 2018 THE SHOW MUST GO ON IN THIS YEAR’S FILM... Jonsson played guide and host to fellow WME athlete Marcus Caston. While filming, the two skied legendary Engelberg pow and banged cowbells in Crans-Montana at the women’s World Cup Super G race.

think I was on my way to the World Cup, but I really wasn’t. It wasn’t just lack of talent, but laziness on my part. After leaving the ski academy, I crashed my dad’s car on a slippery road when I was out having fun. I figured he would obviously be pissed. My 20-year-old brain didn’t want to deal with it, so I took a train down to Stockholm with a friend from the academy to book a ticket to the States and leave town before my dad got home from work that day. My friend and I had been talking about trying this whole freeskiing thing. So, we just went into a travel agency and asked for a cheap ticket to the States— we didn’t know where, we just wanted to go somewhere on the west side of the country on a cheap ticket. We flew to San Francisco and bought a Volvo 240 from this shady pizza joint guy for $2,000. We toured around the West Coast, up to Whistler, to Tahoe and Snowbird for about three months. That was the first time I went freeskiing. After that trip I figured I would not be getting into a speedsuit again. This was way more fun.

“The best place in the world to ski is where you’re skiing that day.” —WM JOHAN When I first went to Engelberg in 2002, I was just supposed to stay for a week. But Switzer- land and I clicked, and I ended up staying for the season. Then I went back the next year. JONSSON After a few years, I thought I should probably try another place, but the more places I saw, Blizzard athlete Johan Jonsson is Swedish by summer, Swiss by win- the more I really liked Engelberg. It’s a great ter. The pro freeskier first fell in love with the lift-accessed extremes place to work for professional skiers and pho- 7 of Engelberg in 2002, and has returned from his home in Sweden for tographers. The extremely good lift-accessed DAYS JONSSON every winter season since. skiing, with big runs that are between 3,000 PLANNED TO STAY IN ENGELBERG and 6,000 vertical feet, is what Engelberg is “If you don’t have any idea where you’re going, you’ll probably end famous for. The is also amazing, up there.” —WM but it ended up in the shadow of the lift- 17 My dad was a coach for a ski club in Sweden, though he never raced accessed skiing because the runs off the lift YEARS HE HAS NOW himself. He’s the one who got me into skiing. I raced until I was 19, but are so special in comparison to what’s at CALLED ENGELBERG A I wasn’t very serious about skiing back then. My father would like to other resorts. SECOND HOME ENANDER OSKAR

INTRODUCING SNOWBOARDING “The first year we put them in the WARREN TAKES A STEP BACK Warren includes snowboarding Warren sells WME to his son, Kurt, in his 1988 film,Escape to Ski, film, I got an earful out of the resorts though he maintains his creative giving the sport some of its earliest role as director and narrator of the 1988 public exposure. that wouldn’t allow snowboarders.” 1989 films into the 1990s.

SKI MAGAZINE / 98 / NOVEMBER 2018 SKI MAGAZINE / 99 / NOVEMBER 2018 THE SHOW MUST GO ON ANNA SEGAL

If there’s one thing that professional free- and Kristi Leskinen religiously in all the ski films, and I just wanted to skier Anna Segal is always game for, it’s do what they were doing. And I was always playing around in the rail 3 adventure. So when the Ozzie native and park and on the jumps. So I got into . After placing fourth TIMES SHE PLACED former slopestyle Olympian was invited to in slopestyle in the Olympics, I decided to retire. Slopestyle got more TOP THREE IN THE X join the WME crew in to shoot for rigid when it became an Olympic sport. Back when I first started, there GAMES SLOPESTYLE this year’s film, she ditched her day job and was a bit more freedom and creativity involved. With filming and big hopped on a plane. mountain skiing, there’s more potential for creativity. In the past I remember always looking at the mountains and wanting to ski tour 32.5 INSTA FOLLOWERS, BY “Adventure is the invitation for common peo- and ski pow, so I thought it was a good time to hang up the competition THE THOUSANDS (AND ple to become uncommon.” —WM thing and learn something new. COUNTING) I got the call to join WME three weeks before [the segment was set to shoot]. K2 sent me a message asking me if I was free in May. Even though I had a full-time job at the time, I said yes. I wanted to hear what the opportunity was first, then figure things out from there. When K2 asked if I wanted to go to Iceland with WME, I thought, oh my gosh, you can’t ask for a better text message! I immediately said yes. Iceland has always been on my radar, I just never expected I would have the opportunity to ski there. Of course, a huge part of it was getting the chance to film with WME. It’s funny, in Australia when I tell people I’m a professional skier, they go on and say, ‘Oh, you compete in the Olympics?’ I tell them I used to do that, but now I shoot videos and photos. And they say, ‘Oh, with Warren Mill- er?’ Everyone knows Warren Miller movies. I used to have to tell them no, I’ve never filmed with WME before, but hopefully someday. Now it’s pretty cool to say, ‘Yeah, I film with Warren Miller!’ That’s the pinnacle.

“Freedom is located somewhere outside the box.” —WM When I was 19 I decided I wanted to give freeskiing a try. I was watching Rachael Burks

IN THIS YEAR’S FILM... Segal joined fellow pros Amie Enger- bretson and Jonny Moseley for a two- week adventure in Northern Iceland. The highlights? Stunning sunset skis and making friends with Iceland’s puffins.

WME ENTERS THE DIGITAL ERA FREEDOM FOUND FAREWELL TO A LEGEND Higher Ground is the first WME Warren self-publishes his autobiogra- At 93, the original ski bum and production to use HD film tech- phy, Freedom Found. All Warren Mill- trailblazer of adventure sports nology. Since 2000 all WME movies er quotes and sayings in these pages filmmaking bids farewell, leaving 2018 are digitally projected. 2016 are taken from this autobiography. behind a lasting ski legacy. 2005 COLIN WITHERILL COLIN

SKI MAGAZINE / 100 / NOVEMBER 2018