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MORE BEER THAN GEAR PHOTOS BY TANNER LATHAM
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hose frequenting ski hills across America and watching videos on newschoolers.com are familiar with ski crews. Ski crews consist of rambunctious, riotous individuals, typically young men, who can be found sending it in the back country or park, causing an uproar in a lift line, or “thumb gunning” beers on the mountain. (Thumb gunning is the act of piercing a beer can with one’s thumb, then drinking it as quickly as possible). They ski hard, fast and loud, and they are probably better than you.
Bozeman is home to a few ski crews, including the Carnage Crew, a group of guys who have been skiing their “whole heckin’ lives.” For the interview, Jack Jochum, Seth Harding (the lone snowboarder of the crew), Cayden Cecil, Nash Lisac, Jack Harris, Derek “Beef” Van Itallie and Nick Hall were present. A few other members were missing due to a “hostage situation” (they have girlfriends). There was a lot of yelling and laughter, and a touch of sentimentality that can only be found in kids who love what they do.
Rail Jam. They often refer to themselves as “Bozeman’s least favorite ski crew,” but it has nothing to do with pranks or recklessness. “It comes from the heat we get on Newschoolers from not filming park edits,” Cecil says. “We’re skiing around the resort. And then when we do ski park, we’re just having fun.” “We’re also really loud.” The Carnage Crew prefers backcountry skiing to park. Everyone can find their own line, and they don’t have to throw insane tricks to be considered good. The park presents the same routes over and over, and there’s an expectation to it that none of them are interested in. “If you’re not 14 years old and throwing quadruple corks in the park, you’re going nowhere,” Harding says. “But, there’s also a lot of nerds in the back country.” Everyone laughs. For the most part, the Carnage Crew avoids competition. Some of them participated under the name Bozeman Sewer Mutants and won the Red Bull Bracket Reel Snow video contest in 2016. Both Van Itallie and Harding have competed in ski racing and snowboarding in the past, but competition, corporations and name-brand ski gear are not what drive the Carnage Crew to hit the slopes. “You have to go against all these other kids and it takes the fun out of it,” Harding says. “It does push you and make you a better skier,” Van Itallie says. When they started out, the guys would take turns using Jochum’s Cannon t3i with a fish eye lens to make movies. They would follow each other down the mountain, sticking together and watching out for one another. The just-for-fun short films have developed into a new project for the crew - they’re hoping to make a full-length film. Tanner Latham, local photographer, has taken over the filming. The movie isn’t without its challenges; finding funding, shooting enough
The members of Carnage hail from all over the country, including Michigan, Colorado, Oregon and Maine. They came to Bozeman for school and skiing, and met freshman year in the dorms. In January 2015, in room 802 of Roskie Hall, the Carnage Crew was born. “It was Seth and my dorm room,” Jochum says. “I wanna say it was like, January 12th.” “That was the first day we ever filmed,” Harding says. “That was the best video we ever made.” Ski crews film their days on the mountain then edit and post their videos online. The Carnage Crew’s videos can be found at newschoolers.com under the handle BloodyCarnage. Three-minute videos showcase the boys shredding at Bridger Bowl, Big Mountain in Whitefish, Alta in Utah and dominating the Bozeman
CHECK OUT THE CARNAGE CREW E Search Carnage Crew at www.newschoolers.com
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Follow them on Instagram at ski_carnage
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Find the Bozeman Sewer Mutants winning video at www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Red-BullBracket-Reel-Applications-Open CARVE | 2017
NASH LISAC SHREDS NEAR FAIRY LAKE