O F PISTE F
*Insurance does not cover off piste, neither does mainstream.
Beneath the snow: real people, real stories.
SYNdROME
EDITOR’S NOTE
Snow sports can be seen through a narrow lens— one of luxury, talent, and exclusivity. For 22 years of my life, I was ignorant of what this world really was. I didn’t grow up around it and never thought it was for people like me, from single-parent households or low-participation neighbourhoods, if we’re checking boxes.
Having stumbled upon the sport in a last-minute change of events at a pivotal point in my life, I ended up in a new country, 2300 metres above sea level, unable to comprehend a piste map, let alone stand up straight on a board. At first, I was full of doubt, feeling like I didn’t belong and being humbled daily by ski schools of kids half my age.
But one day there I was—sharing inside jokes with the local rental shop guys, slowly figuring things out, realising there was a whole culture here. I learnt why people care so much about it. I started to love the cold fingers, the numb toes, the insane views, the silence of a solo chairlift ride and the community at après. I met people from all over the world who felt the same way. And for the first time in a long time, I felt free. As well as embarrassed by how wrong I’d been about the whole scene and those who partake in the sport. There’s so much more to snow sports than the glossy stuff. It’s not just the pros and this enviable alpine lifestyle. There are real people out here with real and relatable stories—ones you don’t see in the ads or magazines. And I think those stories matter.
That’s why Off Piste exists. So, for friends of mine asking about seasonal opportunities, I guide them here. For those ‘seasonaires’, it’s the representation of your hard work and an understanding of your lifestyle, and most importantly, for those who haven’t experienced it yet, this is a door in.
You don’t have to follow the usual path.
You don’t have to be born into it.
You can go Off Piste.
(I encourage it)
Do you think mainstream media around snow sports can misrepresent it?
It’s a double-edged sword in a way. There’s people who really show it for what it is. And then there’s a glorified skewed version, painting a very different narrative of what snow sports is. The reality is that the money in snow sports really is held by a small fraction of the population and then the rest are people who just love doing it and that’s why they’re there.So, there’s a big unknown for sure, but I think now there’s more people going snowboarding and those people might be posting on social media, which brings a new demographic of enthusiasts.
What impact do you hope that your work has on the broader snow sports sort of industry?
I think that my goal at the beginning was kind of just to create the cool-looking visuals, drawing inspiration from different videos. That still very much is the case in terms of what I would like to do, but I think my goal now is to show more personality and to be able to show snow sports in general. You don’t have to be the core skier or snowboarder, where every trick needs to be perfect and we’re gonna go shoot the same locations and do the same tricks, but to have a mix of artistic touch and also personality by having these people shine through.
Are there any specific changes you’d like to see in the industry?
To bring more people to the slope and get more people excited to go snowboarding. Especially with the project I’m working on now, I think it’s really impactful working with these people. Their reach and backgrounds have opened my eyes a lot. I think that inevitably changes the way that I approach how I would like videos to look and feel.
What advice would you give someone looking to break into a creative role in snow sports? Even in terms of building a niche and a unique voice?
I guess a approach the entire process more in in your unique way spend as much time as you can just diving into those skills because then by the time that you know you’re shooting what you wanna shoot you’ll be able to have this backbone of experience that’ll help carve your own unique path. It’s easy to recreate a lot of the stuff that has been done, but don’t be afraid of diverging. It’s really gonna benefit you in the long run in terms of being able to stand out in a space, especially with so many creators like there are in the outdoors world.
‘Shooting what you wanna shoot - you’ll be able to have this backbone of experience that’ll help carve your own unique path’.
‘Then there’s a glorified, skewed version. The reality is that the money in snow sports really is held by a small fraction of the population and then the rest are people who just love doing it and that’s why they’re there’.
- Colden
‘ It’s a bit Jerry-ish’.
- George
