Snowboarding
Chasing Winter portrays the here and now of competitive snowboarding
Join Mark McMorris and an all-star cast of Slopestyle and Big Air riders as they prepare for the competitive season ahead.
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From stomping the world’s first backside triple cork 1440, to winning a record-setting twenty X Games medals, Mark McMorris has established himself as one of the most successful athletes in the history of competitive snowboarding. But despite this long-list of accolades and honours, the Canadian snowboarder has yet to cement his spot on the 2022 world stage — due to the unprecedented 2020/21 season.
Now, the future for many of the world’s top athletes is in jeopardy as a only handful of early-season qualifying events remain.
Chasing Winter follows McMorris and an international collective of Slopestyle and Big Air specialists as they navigate the highs and lows of 2020/21, and prepare for the high-stakes 2022 season.
The full length documentary film shines light on the harsh realities, intrinsic risks, stark passions, and everlasting friendships fastened by snowboarding. From X Games, to the newly-coveted Natural Selection Tour, and finally, the Stomping Grounds training camp in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, Chasing Winter offers a unique look into life as a professional competitive snowboarder.
Watch the film
Chasing Winter is available to watch on Red Bull TV in the player below or check it out here for even more from Saas Fe.
42 min
Chasing Winter
Pro snowboarder Mark McMorris and friends prepare for the upcoming high-stakes competition season.
Watch the film on Red Bull TV!
The drama
A competitive snowboard season runs from December to March. During these months, professional snowboarders travel the world to compete for podiums, national team spots, and every four years, a shot to represent their country on the world stage.
But 2020/21 was unlikely any other — thanks to the global pandemic. Chasing Winter provides a behind-the-scenes look into the inconsistencies, event cancellations, and COVID-related disqualifications that left many of the world’s top Slopestyle and Big Air snowboarders without the points needed to reach their goals.
This means that 2022 is crunch time, as the future of many athletes rests on their performances at a few early-season events.
The park
If Charles Beckinsale builds it, snowboarders will travel anywhere in the world to ride it.
His signature park session, called “The Stomping Grounds,” in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, hosts a variety of high-performance snowboard features that drive progression, creativity, and consistency in the sport. Each October, the world’s best snowboarders travel to Beckinsale’s finely-tuned park to level up their skills before the upcoming competitive season.
McMorris corking out an alley-oop 720 on the quarter pipe
© Dom Daher/Red Bull Content Pool
Hailey Langland front lip through the rainbow
© Dom Daher/Red Bull Content Pool
Langland tweaking a frontside 360 melon
© Lorenz Richard
Brock Crouch Frontside Nose Blunt on the wallride
© Dom Daher/Red Bull Content Pool
From perfectly-built takeoffs and landing, flowy lines, and creative rail hits, the “The Stomping Grounds” has earned a reputation for being the best park ever built.
The riders
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Mark McMorris
Mark McMorris portrait
© Lorenz Richard / Red Bull Content Pool
Hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canadian icon Mark McMorris is one of the most decorated and successful athletes in competitive snowboard history. He’s won a record-setting twenty X Games medals, four US Championship wins, and was the first person to land a backside triple cork 1440 in 2011.
Brock Crouch
Brock Crouch portrait
© Dom Daher / Red Bull Content Pool
Brock Crouch is your typical laid back SoCal surfer that also happens to be incredibly talented on his snowboard. He’s best known for his surf-inspired snowboard style, his aggressive backcountry video segments, and his loud, energetic presence.
Miyabi Onitsuka
Miyabi Onitsuka portrait
© Lorenz Richard / Red Bull Content Pool
Miyabi Onitsuka entered the spotlight in 2015 when she became the youngest Women’s Slopestyle winner at the World Championships of snowboarding. Since then, she’s become one of the greatest forces in women’s Big Air following back-to-back X Games podiums in 2020 and 2021.
Hailey Langland
Hailey Langland portrait
© Lorenz Richard / Red Bull Content Pool
Picked up by Burton at the age of six, this 21-year-old SoCal-native is considered to be one of the youngest veterans in snowboarding. Langland took home X Games Big Air gold at age 16 after stomping the first ever cab double cork 1080, consistently places among the top 10 in the World Cup standings, and does it all with the big smile on her face.
Jake Canter
Jake Canter Portrait
© Dom Daher / Red Bull Content Pool
Jake Canter is the young gun of the group. From Burton U.S. Open Junior Jam podiums to World Cup top 10 finishes, this 18-year-old is as resilient as they come. In 2016, he suffered a traumatic head injury that nearly ended his life. But a year later, he returned the slopes, and two years later, he fulfilled his lifelong goal of competing at the X Games. Now healthy and stronger than ever, Canter hopes to represent the U.S.A. in 2022.
Takeru Otsuka
Takeru Otsuka portrait
© Lorenz Richard / Red Bull Content Pool
This up-and-coming Japanese Big Air specialist is one of the most innovative riders on the circuit. At just 18 years old, Otsuka became the youngest ever to win X Games Men’s Snowboard Big Air Gold in Norway, and struck a two-peat the following year in Aspen when he landed the first ever frontside quad cork 1800 in competition. Now returning from injury, he plans to reinvent the wheel once again in 2022.
The community
Amidst the expectations, exponential progression, and emphasized schedules, the snowboard community never fails to reinvigorate a passion.
In many ways, snowboarding is individualistic. Riders compete against one another and express their individual styles and skills in an attempt to standout. But at it’s roots, snowboarding is a community and culture that inspires and brings like-minded people together — and the result is a communal stoke that drives progression.
Brock airs a perfect method over Mark in Saas Fee
© Lorenz Richard
In Chasing Winter, community is captured throughout. In Saas-Fee for example, competitors are seen coaching one another, hucking new tricks together, and providing encouragement and support every step of the way.
Chasing Winter is available to watch on Red Bull TV now. Download the app and catch the snowboarding action on all your devices! Get the app here.
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