It’s not a Warren Miller movie, but it’s the next best thing as far as Josh Anderson of Bainbridge Island is concerned.
Miller was legendary for making beautiful films about snow skiing, and now Anderson is in a similar one. He said even though Miller died five years ago, this is the first year that company didn’t make a movie.
Anderson started skiing when he was 3, but he didn’t start racing competitively until eighth grade. He raced for Crystal Mountain Alpine Club from middle through high school, competing in the Junior Olympics.
A story in the Bainbridge Review April 7, 2001, shows Anderson competing in the downhill at nationals at Mount Bachelor, OR. Starting 83rd, he ended up 53rd out of 100. In the Super G, he started 60th, but improved to 37th.
After graduating from Bainbridge High School in 2002, he competed for four years on the University of British Columbia ski team. He has since skied in New Zealand and Japan, his mom, Susan, says in an email to the Review.
Now living in Tahoe City, CA, Anderson is one of the stars in a ski movie called, “Ski for the Love,” that has been shown at three venues there. It’s also on YouTube. Because of Anderson’s connection to BI, Jeff Brien of Faraway Entertainment told his mom he’s interested in showing the movie here.
Anderson has lived in Tahoe for about 14 years, and is a bartender and server at a few restaurants. He makes sure he spends a lot of time skiing, and much of the film was shot in wilderness areas near resorts like Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood and elsewhere. Other parts are shot in Canada and Alaska.
He and a bunch of friends are behind the movie. They found sponsors and pitched in their own money to get it made.
There are six chapters shown in four parts, totaling about 33 minutes. The chapters are called Morning Light, Exodus and Alaska, Back Home, Spring Bluebirds and Life’s for Living. They are mostly location-based.
Anyone who has ever put on a pair of snow skis will appreciate the fearlessness the stars show as they fly down mountain cliffs that are almost straight down. Cameras on their heads make it feel like you are right there with them, even as they make their way through tight openings through trees. You might even feel dizzy as they do flips and turns off jumps, mostly in the Life’s for Living segment.
There’s not a ski lift in sight. They use snowmobiles since they’re in the wild and do lots of hiking, although that part isn’t entertaining enough for the film. The powder is so extreme they even have fun when they wipeout.
They use binoculars to check out what route to take down the cliffs. “We’d be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t,” Anderson said.
Most of the film is set to music, and there’s very little dialogue, except in one memorable part a thrill-seeker says, “Looks pretty scary man.”
What it looks like when you’re about to go almost straight down.
Skiing down the center of two cliffs.
Skiing out in the wild you can see some amazing scenery.
