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“The name’s Bond. James Bond.”
The memorable quote was made famous by Roger Moore in the 1985 blockbuster A View To A Kill. And now, a famous piece of memorabilia used in the movie’s mountain chase scene has landed in the Colorado Snowsports Museum: the original Sims snowboard from the film. This makes the board the newest addition to the Tom Sims Collection, an archive on display at the museum.
During the scene, the elusive Bond is being chased by the Russians who are on skis, in pursuit of the agent. Being trailed by a snowmobile and helicopter, Bond manages to steal a snowmobile in an attempt to escape. The aircraft then guns down the snowmobile blowing it up, and the parts fly everywhere, including one of its blades. Bond is quick to hop on one of the ski blades like it’s a snowboard and shreds down the hill in style.
The production team was in need of a stunt double to do the riding when they called on none other than one of the godfathers of snowboarding, Tom Sims, and snowboard pioneer, Steve Link. Big airs, pow slashes, and a pond skim, the scene has it all. The segment was filmed on the Pers Glacier at the base of the Piz Palü in the Eastern Alps, close to the nearby Swiss ski resort of Diavolezza.
As the year was 1985 and snowboarding was still banned at most ski resorts, the iconic scene holds a great cultural significance, putting snowboarding on the map for the masses. With the help of the make-shift board, Bond was able to outride the soviets and continue on to pursue the mission. The unforgettable clip from the movie is also part of the museum exhibit, where visitors can witness how the legendary snowboard was incorporated into the getaway scene.
Jen Mason, Executive Director of Colorado Snowsports Museum told the Vail Daily;
“Snowboarding wasn’t even allowed on Vail Mountain until 1989, so it really shows you that it was far ahead of its time…It’s really incredible that we have so many of his boards. Tom Sims is a California guy, but his family loves the Colorado Snowsports Museum and we actually have several of his most precious artifacts. We have his first snowboard that he made in shop class when he was a teenager, it is on permanent display. And this James Bond board is now on permanent display in the museum.”
