[REVIEW] Level 1 Freeski Film Tour Kicks Off in Boulder, CO

2026 ski films have officially started to drop across the United States, and you can feel that winter is in the air. In Colorado, the first ski film tour to make the rounds was the annual Level 1 Freeski Film Tour, which had its worldwide premiere at the iconic Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado. We were on the ground to see who was a part of this year’s film tour, and how each of the films stacks up.

Negative Capability – 4Leaf Productions

The night kicked off with a film from 4Leaf Productions, a local group of skiers and riders from Boulder. What I loved about this film, and it embraced from the get-go, was the fact that, as we all know, last year’s ski season wasn’t the best. From the street skiing scenes around Boulder to the backcountry days up in the mountains, the low snow was abundantly clear, yet it never felt limiting. The lack of big mountain skiing appeared to only push the team to come up with more creative locations and tricks, most notably turning a bar counter inside a restaurant into a long box/rail combo.

With great pacing, perfect music, an authentic homegrown vibe, and a home crowd to support its premiere, Negative Capability was one of the highlights of the night.

Sorry I Missed Your Call – Manon Loschi

To completely contrast the low snow year film beforehand, Sorry I Missed Your Call demonstrated how the Tetons didn’t really experience the awful snow drought that the rest of the American West did. While the tricks, cinematography, and pacing of this film were spot on, the most impressive fact above all of those was that this 7-minute film features just one athlete – Manon Loschi. While almost all of the other films in this tour feature a roster of athletes, it was mind-blowing to know that this many big mountain lines and backcountry kickers were all done by Loschi in just one season.

Manon continues to impress with her contributions to Level 1 year after year. Excited to see what she gets up to next.

• Related: [REVIEW] Level 1 Freeski Film Tour 2025: The Rawest Film Tour This Fall

absORB – Justin “Juice” Kennedy

Juice’s first solo project centered on street skiing across the West, featuring seemingly never-ending rails, unique locations, and creative combos. His rails really stole the show, with shot after shot grabbing people’s attention and cheers. However, one of the best reactions from the crowd during the entire night came not from a rail, but rather when Juice threw a double backflip off a wall jump.

It was half freeskiing, half aerial acrobatics, and with all of the impressive tricks throughout the film, I was itching for some better pacing and emphasis on certain tricks to really let them hit viewers so we could soak it all in. 

Star Gazers – Alex Lundstrom & Dilon Flinders

Right from the get-go, this film had me hooked. An incredible opening credit sequence was extremely well done, before we cut straight into an edit at Snowbird, UT. We then move up to British Columbia to witness some of the biggest lines on Earth that felt more like Alaska, if anything. Bouncing between a variety of featured athletes in each location segment, we then head to Japan for some classic deep Japanese powder skiing.

While the skiing across the entire film was undeniably impressive, the pacing between the segments and the film overall felt a bit disjointed and unrelated. I was craving more hints of the story behind what we were seeing. Why are we here? Who is with us? How are we enjoying the conditions? How are we feeling? Overall, a solid ski edit that I was dying to know more about the backstory of.

Block Buster – BOOM Club

The BOOM Club was back with Level 1 again this year, showcasing their latest film from Japan. While Japow makes it easy for skiing to look good, I was really hoping for more out of this recent film. The film did nothing wrong, showcasing deep powder, using trees as natural park features, and occasional intercut shots of some stereotypical elements of Japanese culture, but it all just felt like something I’d seen before. The film’s monotone pacing made it feel like this film relied too heavily on its incredible location, and not enough on the skiers’ and filmmakers’ creativity to really make it distinctive.

Escape Room – Keegan Kilbride

Keegan Kilbride showed us his best when it comes to street skiing with this latest project. Besides incredible East Coast street skiing shot everywhere from the coast of Maine to Quebec City, this film did something very few ski films do by using the camera to help bring viewers into the tricks themselves. Unlike most ski films where the camera and thus our viewpoint remains mostly static and at a distance, this film was shot in unison with the freestyle tricks being performed, flowing with Keegan as he sped through the streets of Montreal and the terrain park of Sugarloaf.

In addition, Escape Room established a terrific sense of location and unique style that helped really distinguish it from the countless other ski films coming out this year. My favorite film of the night.

Dweller – Adam & Sam Kuch

The biggest names of the night put together a masterpiece in cinematic big line skiing in the heart of British Columbia. From pillows to deep powder, spines, and huge big mountain lines, this film had all of the essential building blocks of what makes a great ski film to get you excited for ski season. The film also had a storyline that we intercut to of skiers emerging from a cave, discovering the snowy mountains, and skiing. The narration was a little difficult to understand at some points, but overall, I really appreciate this film attempting to add some storyline into it to help elevate it beyond just a ski edit.

Watching Adam and Sam ski is always a treat.

BPC – buldoz

This was the first ski film I have ever seen without snow. BPC fully leaned into showing the viewers the consequences of freestyle skiing gone wrong, which were only amplified due to the fact that all of this skiing was done without any snow. From glades in the summertime to hitting rails in the city without snow, to dropping multiple waterfalls that were more akin to cliff diving with skis, BPC was a unique and entertaining end to the night.

The film felt like an unpolished, more aggressive version of Candide Thovex’s well-known Ski The World video, which went viral almost a decade ago. After watching the film, the two biggest questions I was left with were: how many skis did you go through, and what settings could your DINs possibly have been at to prevent your skis from coming off during all of these insane “ski lines”?

Overall, Level 1 continues to provide a film tour that is committed to the outer edges of freeskiing. Its focus on showcasing younger, up-and-coming athletes, alongside seasoned pros, is unlike any other of the main film tours in North America. It serves as a critical element that helps define and move the progression of our freeski culture, and is a hell of a night to get you stoked for ski season.

For future tour stops and tickets, visit Level 1’s website for details.