Arc’Teryx: A Skier’s Journey keert terug
Na het herstel van een levensbedreigende hersenbeschadiging is Jordan Manley gelukkig weer in staat om drie verschillende ski-films te produceren, in samenwerking met skiers Chad Sayers en Forrest Coots. De eerste twee films zullen worden geschoten in onbekende bestemmingen als Iran en China, dit moet vervolgens leiden tot een spectaculaire thuiskomst in British Columbia.
A Skier’s Journey, de wereldwijd geprezen filmserie, keert dit jaar dus weer terug voor het vierde en laatste seizoen. Geregisseerd door de beroemde Canadese filmmaker en fotograaf Jordan Manley. De serie werd gelanceerd in 2010 en we kijken uit naar de laatste drie afleveringen.
Net als in voorgaande seizoenen zal de nadruk liggen op de persoonlijke ervaringen van de skiers en culturele aspecten van de verschillende gebieden, in plaats van de glamour van big-mountain skien. Hieronder kun je de trailer checken, om alvast in de stemming te komen. Natuurlijk zullen we de volledige films ook weer met jullie delen!
The final series is especially poignant for director Jordan Manley. In 2014, before embarking on a final season of A Skier’s Journey, Jordan crashed while mountain biking. Nothing spectacular, but with a concussion serious enough to put the season on hold. Ten months later, his recovery well underway, Jordan was trying on ski boots. He stood up, knocked his head on a shelf and –the setback was worse than the original injury. By far. Twenty-nine years old, at the peak of his efforts to date and the most he was able to manage was a slow, brief, daily walk. A Skier’s Journey was indefinitely on hold.
This year marks Jordan’s full return from his long and deliberate rehabilitation. Much has been written and documented about how he recovered; watch the videos of his daily walk therapy. It was his process of learning to really look at things close by. Nothing imaginary, cerebral, or huge. Almost like seeing the largeness in everything small, a process that lead to his re-examination of home, literally and metaphorically.
Picking up where he left off with A Skier’s Journey project, Manley set out to film the final three episodes: Iran, China and British Columbia’s Coast Mountains. Was he up for it? “Don’t get me wrong, I love being out in the mountains, but my relationship to risk is very different.” In terms of fitness, not surprising. But the skiing, the joy of being on skis? A simple fall could jeopardize everything.
The final line-up includes Iran, China and Crossing Home (the Coast Mountains, BC). From a very unlikely location to the one right underfoot for Manley. The season is a study in contrasts, probing the margins of skiing, which is what A Skier’s Journey has always embodied. The series continues to portray skiing as the pursuit of a sensation, which includes a community of like-minded individuals and explorations of landscape. No ski porn, no acts of outrageous courage or luck. The characters are not defined as athletes, they are humans on a quest, curious about the world and seeking the simplicity of being borne by snow.
This homegrown project, small in undertaking, ambitious in its desire to find meaning, reveals what we can learn from taking a step back and trying on a new perspective. Discovering what unites us, without words, without rhetoric. After circling the globe, directed by longing, chance encounters and unpredictable sequences of events, Jordan, Chad and Forrest have come full circle. They are home in British Columbia.
