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As lovers of deep snow, crazy skiing, and endless stoke, ski movies have captivated riders since the 1950s when Warren Miller began releasing films. Ski movies have transformed over the past 70 years, with an avalanche of films after the release of The Blizzard of Aahhh’s in 1988, followed by the creation of now monumental film producers such as Matchstick Productions and Teton Gravity Research. These major production crews put together exceptional, high cost, and helicopter-ridden ski movies on terrain that most riders will only see in their dreams. Smaller indie producers craft unique and masterful videos in the streets, hiking in the backcountry, or just ripping up the open slopes. The Newschoolers awards try to level the playing field and pit major production movies against smaller crew films, to choose the movie with the gnarliest tricks, best production, biggest impact, and most unique style to win movie of the year. This year the film TKO by MAGMA, with riders Alex Hall and Hunter Hess, filmed and produced by Owen Dahlberg, won first prize.
With limited nomination slots, many creative and groundbreaking movies had to be left out, but the five finalists were: Ornada by Armada, Jet Skis Movie by Jet Skis, Browser Video by Browser Magazine, Catpiss by Capeesh, and TKO by MAGMA. Honorable mentions from the Newschoolers judges include Too True by Entourage, Cali Rambo by Boom Club, and Shimmer by Labor. Every single one of these deserves a watch from everyone interested in freeskiing, and each film has a great argument for the top prize, but only one can receive the glory.
With Hunter Hess and Alex Hall as the premier riders, it’s a given there will be massive sends, never before done tricks, and stupidly technical rails. Hunter Hess is a world class competition halfpipe skier, most recently getting second at the FIS world championships. Alex Hall is an Olympic gold medalist and Crystal Globe winner, competing in slopestyle, big air, and knuckle huck. These athletes are at the top of the game both in competition and on film, with TKO being only the most recent success in a spectacular filmography.
TKO blends together mindbending skiing, captivating editing, and beautiful tunes that keep you sucked in for all 19 minutes and 45 seconds. To mention every moment that made my mouth gape would take 19 minutes and 45 seconds, but I will narrow it down to the highlights (of which there are many). From the opening segment featuring the freestyle icon Tom Wallisch, I knew this edit was gonna be a knockout.
The first ski shot of Hunter Hess stomping a gargantuan backcountry triple cork sets the expectations high. Hunter continues pushing the pace throughout, putting on a masterclass of big sends accompanied by challenging rails. His massive 450’s on to both handrails and concrete barriers make my knees tremble. The blind cork 630 nose tap off an urban uprail at 12:10 nearly had me shut off my computer. Hunter’s prowess is in halfpipe, and that is more than obvious watching him hit backcountry hip jumps. When airborne, it’s as if he never loses track of his position midair, always ready to contort his body whatever way to land feet first.
Alex Hall is either a rail god, and/or a masochist who loves repeatedly taking hard falls on concrete stairs. The difficulty of the rails that he completes along with the precision of his tricks is otherworldly. This ability is displayed countless times, at 18:08 with the FDFDFDFDFDFDF (Flat down flat down…), and at 16:00 with back to back clips of rails that skiing doesn’t even have the lingo to describe. He pairs these rails with masterfully executed jumps, using taps and shifty’s to elevate simple tricks to steezy perfection or double corking for the judges.
A skiing edit needs great riders, but requires a creative producer as well. Owen Dahlberg has had a meteoric rise in the ski industry as of recent, producing the MAGMA videos, working with countless athletes, and now running his own magazine and media company, Browser. His producing magic is interwoven throughout the entirety of TKO. Using editing tricks and captivating B roll he blends the impressive skiing with enchanting transitions. At 17:27, he times a bus zooming by to coincide with the beginning of an 80 foot DFD, putting high pressure on both filmer and rider. From waterfalls to heavenlike landscapes, this crew blends dazzling visuals with skiing expertise.
Making a ski movie is a long and laborious task. While we only see the final, perfected product, the reality of ski edits is countless hours of failure and repetition. Even the “simple” shots require hiking, jump building, and synchronicity between rider and filmer to get the clip. The more challenging sends can take hours or even days of hitting the same feature, further pushing the filmer to be perfect on every shot so as to not miss the one final success. Urban features are more often than not surrounded by staircases, on concrete, over massive drops, or any combination of dangerous conditions that elevate the risk to potentially fatal levels. MAGMA contains risk, skill, producing, location choice, music selection, and tops it off with some brotherly love that compounds into beautiful artwork, worthy of a watch by all.
