Words and photos below by Magee Walker. All gallery photos taken by Brian Hockenstein with the amazing Olympus E-PL5 camera and 12mm lens. currently known as "Hock's dream setup"
Ah, Intersection—the WSSF where the rowdiest skiers and shredders come out to play and make an awesome ski/snowboard film in six days. Friendship, snow, skier/snowboard harmony and exciting tricks. What could be better?
The event featured the premiere of four crews’ 5 - 7 minute movie packed with epic skiing and snowboarding, big mountain riding, park action and even a segment featuring sponsor Bromley’s toboggan/skeleton hybrid contraption, the Bromley Baseboard. But what the audience does not get to see is the six long days of hard work involving the coordination of big crews and building of features, the scouting of locations and the dealing with uncooperative weather, the watching raw of footage and the endless hours of editing, and above all, the not sleeping.
The fraction of time I spent with two of the four teams participating in this year’s competition gave me a small taste of what it’s like to make these films happen. Allow me to show you.
Team Leo Zuckerman
If one had to pick an underdog for Intersection 2013, it would be Leo Zuckerman. Leo’s was the only rookie team in this year’s competition. Still a student at the University of British Columbia, Leo recruited the majority of his team from the UBC Ski and Snowboard Club (plus a few solid local and Idaho imports). As I shared a lift with a few members of Team LZ, one guy told me he was meant to have an exam that day, but his prof had changed it for him so that he could film. Rad prof!
After some classic “hurry up and wait” action, I set off with part of team to scout some locations while we waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. I followed Team Leo early in the competition before we had any new snow, and conditions were bleak to say the least.
Though Leo has experience with other types of filmmaking, ski and snowboard filming was relatively new grounds for him. Still, the team had done some prepping and brainstorming before the competition and had some big ideas in store. For one: the Bromley segment.
Ah, the Bromley, the bane of every Intersection team’s existence. As the main sponsor of the Intersection event, the Bromley Baseboard was required to make an appearance for 20 seconds of each team’s film. Team Leo had a beauty of a vision for the board segment: build a luge-type course for the board and have the riders jump across the course as the Brom made its way down. Killer.
Armed with shovels and youthful exuberance, the athletes took double duty as building crew and began the tedious task of digging the Bromley trench. When I eventually saw the scene at the show, I was stoked to see that their vision had been perfectly executed. Way to go, team!
Team Nuulife
There are large crews, and then there are LARGE crews. Nuulife had the biggest crew I have ever followed. Surrounded by a crowd of young men in baggy shred attire ready to slay the park, I fit right in. Just kidding. I felt incredibly intimidated by pretty much everything going on around me. I’m pretty sure half of the crew had no idea why I was even following them.
However, beneath every steezy chap who is doing gnarly upside down thingies off jumps, there is a nice boy who is willing to chat with me on the chairlift and is, in fact, very kind and probably loves puppies. It didn’t take very long to feel comfortable with the Nuulife crew, largely thanks to John Swystun, who heads up the crew with co-pilot Dave Craig. This year would be their third time entering the competition, so they had a good idea of what they needed to do.
The boys were a full-on spectacle in the park that day. Their signature move was to partner up and make a train over the first few jumps. It was quite a sight to see. I heard more than a few curious onlookers ask what was going on. In their finished product, there is a solid scene where they train down through the trees—easily my favourite part of the film.
The Competition
For the other WSSF events, my pre-show activities have included a beverage at a nearby pub, some time spent perusing the art show in the foyer, and then carefully selecting a prime seat. Not so for Intersection. Pre-gaming consisted of a backyard BBQ in a sea full of plaid and toques. Eventually, forty or so Nuulifers crowded into a trailer/RV and took off to the show.
Nuulife was first up and the cheering was deafening. There were some super gnarly sledding scenes that prompted the man in front of me to ask, “Who was on that snowmobile? That’s insane!”. Preach!
Up next was Leo Zuckerman with his film, Restless. When I met Leo on Day 1, I asked how his previous night had gone. “I didn’t sleep,” he said, so Restless seems like an appropriate name for the film. He had some solid intro and conclusion scenes and a whole lot of slow motion action and helicoptery goodness in between the two, and the crowd ate it up.
Third came the Voleurz with Resurrection, aptly named since these guys (who had previously won every iteration of the competition) came out of retirement to put on the show. These guys know how to have a good time and it showed.
Rounding things off was Heart Films, who had also competed at last year’s event. I felt for the team as the event host Robjn Taylor told us that the team was not eligible to win the big prize, since they’d submitted their film late. Heart Films put on a great show, but can we take a moment to talk about all the avalanches that were in their film? These guys need to brush up on their avi safety skills! Even their Bromley set off an avalanche. I guess it makes for cool shots, but THAT STUFF IS DANGEROUS, Y’ALL!
The time came for the audience and the judges to select their favourite show, and wouldn’t you know it, the underdog prevailed! Leo Zuckerman Productions swept the show and walked away with an impressive $16,000! Not bad for the rookie team. I last saw them celebrating at Longhorn, drinking their 10% away one beer jug (per person) at a time.
And that is the story of Intersection 2013.
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