Freeskiing
5 things you should know about freeskiing film The Sky Piercer
It's about the skiers, but it's also about the mountain. What you'll see in The Sky Piercer is quite literally the stuff of legend. Here are several reasons to hit play now.
1. The film is star-studded
The Sky Piercer stars Austrian freeskier Nadine Wallner, who was the youngest person to win the Freeride World Tour championship, in her debut pro season in 2013. Former Olympian and three-time FWT champion Xavier De Le Rue will also be familiar to everyone who's seen the brilliant Shred Hacks series on Red Bull TV. New Zealand natives Sam Smoothy and Fraser MacDougall previously worked with The Sky Piercer director Jase Hancox in The Lost Gringos in Bolivia, and have many other part (not to mention freeride comp) credits to their names.
2. It's about the mountain
They say 'Aoraki always stands'. European explorers named the mountain Mount Cook, after Captain James Cook, but apparently Cook never saw it himself on his voyages. These days the mountain is also more widely known by the Maori name Aoraki. In legend, Aoraki was the young son of the Sky Father, and the shape of the south island around the mountain meant that it came to symbolise Te Waka o Aoraki, or Aoraki's Canoe.
Another meaning comes from the Maori name Aorangi, Ao (Sky) + rangi (Piercer), where of course this film takes its name. Sir Tipene O'Regan, a respected academic and supporter of Maori rights in New Zealand that's made him a hero to many, explains more of the Maori legends in the film.
Climbing a couloir
© Jason Hancox
3. The chances are against the cast and crew
Aoraki mightn't be the world's tallest mountain, but it is one of the youngest, and still growing by about 7mm a year, though in the last few decades erosion of the ice cap means it's 30m or so shorter after massive falls of rock and ice. Where it differs from bigger mountains in the Himalayas or European Alps is that it's exposed to whatever westerly weather systems the Tasman Sea throws at it, meaning strong winds, heavy snow, and thick cloud that can make visibility a serious problem, and this goes for the eastern side, too, if the wind changes.
To underline the respect needed on the mountain, the cast flew over Aoraki in a glider to feel and hear the forces of nature at work they otherwise might've missed on a recce in a helicopter. At the start of the film, our protagonists rate their chances of success skiing down the mountain between 20 and zero percent. You'll have to watch to find out who are the pessimists.
Taking to the sky
© Jason Hancox
4. They had to climb the mountain as well
Of course, the film's stars didn't just heli up and ski down. Wallner had caught a cold from surfing that turned nasty, but somehow this didn't stop her or any of the rest of the team from making the ascent, which included climbing up sheer rock faces that have to be seen to be believed.
5. Making the film itself required an understanding between director and cast
The Sky Piercer director Hancox has mentioned that there has to be an understanding between the protagonists and the crew that cuts both ways, and that The Sky Piercer works so well is a reflection of the mutual respect. "The film maker needs to understand that the athlete isn't an actor," Hancox has said in interviews. "The athlete also needs to understand that it takes more than just skiing or 'action' to create an engaging film."
Stoked!
© Mickey Ross
