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Extreme Evasion from Elections and Economics

VIDEO: Tired of Harper, Palin and stock markets? Take a three-minute, thrill-seeking break.

By Allison Martell, 7 Oct 2008, TheTyee.ca

Extreme skier

Caution: slippery slopes.

It takes a particular sort of person -- a compulsive thrill-seeker, a vicarious adrenaline junkie or at least a teenage boy -- to sit down and watch a full hour or two of extreme sports. But shrink the action down to a short viral video clip, and you've got yourself a wider audience. This extreme skiing video, featured on the Guardian website, and starring Shane McConkey, a Vancouver native, has me hooked. Maybe it's election fatigue, but as YouTube boils over with attack ads and Sarah Palin interviews, this clip has more to say to me about a different kind of life and death reality.

Part of the beauty of viral video is that it allows us to dip our toes into unfamiliar waters without sacrificing much time or attention. The 15-minute interview with the makers of Steep is about some pretty uncomfortable realities.

Extreme skiing is an unusual subculture. In Steep, one skier describes the release of a groundbreaking 1980s ski stunt video, The Blizzard of Aahhh's, as "like Kennedy's shooting" for ski people -- everyone remembers where they were when they first saw it. Behind the eccentric enthusiasm, though, this is a deadly pursuit.

"All of them [the skiers] have friends who have died. I mean, you can't do this for 10 years and not know a lot of people who've died," says Tom Yellin, executive producer of Steep. Kayce Jennings, also executive producer, describes how a young boy pointed out to her the slope where his father died. Another skier showed them where his son made a final run. One of Steep's main characters died before the film was finished.

I can't decide whether the danger adds to or subtracts from the appeal of extreme sports videos. The risks seem to be part of the thrill for extreme athletes, and I, for one, feel a bit uncomfortable participating in their cultural death wish. At least, until I'm watching Shane McConkey fly off a cliff again -- then, it's hard to think about anything other the spectacle of a human being in flight.

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Allison Martell writes regularly about Internet video for The Tyee.

2

NicS

10-10-2008
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Extreme an Understatment

Skiing the steep on consistent, skiable snow or gripable conditions gives one a feeling not easily duplicated elsewhere. Your evasion article reminded me of skiing Mt. Washington's Tuckerman's Ravine in the spring, in the 70's. This New Hampshire mountain is a mecca for wanna-be extreme skiers from the east coast. No lifts, a 2-3 hour hike to the sub-alpine area where you camp in the spring snow before hiking the various chutes (avalanche)you want to ski. The famous 'headwall' begins as a relatively easy ski, which leaves one at the top of an almost 400 ft. drop looking down at the 'lunch rocks' below wondering how steep it is going to get. Once you break over onto the face of the slope, you are committed and every turn leaves you dropping and adjusting your turns so you don't literally fall off the face of it. The thrill can be addictive and according to the Park Rangers, at least one person dies every spring.

What struck me about your story was that Kayce Jennings, the executive producer of STEEP is married to an extreme skier. Having lived in a BC ski town for 25 years, I knew plenty of talented skiers who became extreme skiers for all types of media. In the 90's there was one such skier who fell hundreds of feet to his death on a steep slope and left behind a spouse and a couple of children. He became a hero in town overnight. Bumperstickers with his name were plastered everywhere. I didn't know his spouse, but I always wondered how she felt before and after. Maria Coffey wrote an excellent book about just such a situation.

"'Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure' by Maria Coffey

Most books that have related the exploits and perils of mountain climbers have been first person accounts that balance observation with self-analysis, or journalistic efforts that seek to glorify or demonize the intensely individualistic adventurers that comprise the community of climbers. The views and impressions of those closest to the climbers, their spouses, lovers and children, have largely been ignored or suppressed... until now."

sthrendyle

13-10-2008
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steven threndyle

As a freelance writer who has written about this action sports oriented subculture for 20 odd years, I would certainly agree that there is a dark side to the young and wild adventure seekers who push the limits in just about any of these sports - skiing, big wave surfing, mountain biking, high altitude mountaineering, and the more esoteric sports like base jumping and now, 'human wing' flight. Participants seem to ignore mother's maxim that 'it's only fun until somebody gets hurt' - and indeed, getting beat up (if not dying) is part of the game. While these are largely self indulgent pursuits, i must say that i always look forward to the current crop of ski and surf adventure films and am blown away by how the sports continue to 'go bigger'. some of this is driven by - are you ready for it - the same kind of 'fear and greed' that are features of, say, the stock market.' while you are right in wondering about the lives of the loved ones left in their wake, these are not 'death wish suicides' for the most part - they are higly motivated, well conditioned athletes who prepare every day of their lives for these moments. after interviewing and knowing many of these people over the years, i have come to the conclusion that we are all born with a certain predisposition towards risk, and a belief in our own immortality. for some people, it's very high; others, not so much.
at a recreational level, however, i'd also inform allison and others like her that most of these sports can be enjoyed in a safe and responsible manner and can hugely add meaning and perspective and even balance to your life. mountain biking, skiing - especially backcountry skiing - surfing, just about all of the self propelled sports we participate here in BC - do not need to be as 'extreme' as Steep and other flicks make out.
as john muir said, 'go into the mountains and enjoy their glad tiding...'
as a more soulful antidote, you might want to watch some of bill heath's movies (from Nelson, BC) - "Sinners", and "Nine Winters Old" - both of which show that a life in the mountains is indeed one well spent.

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Extreme Evasion from Elections and Economics

2

NicS

Extreme an Understatment

sthrendyle

steven threndyle

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