By Tyler Allen Explore Big Sky Senior Editor
BOZEMAN – Red Bull Media House and MSP Films will present a film two years in the making Thursday, Oct. 16 at the at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman. “Days of my Youth” examines skiing as a way of life, following the journey of self-discovery that every skier takes.
Narrated by Alan Watts and interspersed with footage of an introspective Bobby Burns – a freeskiing pioneer – the film follows a group of elite athletes in mountains such as Alaska’s Tordrillo Mountains and Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. The production value that Red Bull Media House and MSP films brings to the screen pushes the industry standard, and athletes such as Mark Abma, James Heim, Michelle Parker, Cody Townsend and Markus Eder prove that freeskiing hasn’t hit a ceiling and there are still innovators in the sport.
“It is your solemn duty to learn how to enjoy yourself,” Watts says early in the film, and this group of skiers obviously has. From gratuitous face shots and pillow lines in British Columbia to storming Snowbird’s lift-serve terrain with local Sander Hanley, “Days of my Youth” makes it clear why these athletes – and the rest of us who are passionate about the sport – have dedicated so much of their lives to skiing.
“You don’t stop playing because you grow old,” says the silver-haired Mike “Rad Dad” Legay, shown throwing backflips on a bluebird day. “You grow old because you stop playing.”
You’ll see James Heim get humbled in the high alpine of Peru, US Olympian Bobby Brown taking massive air at Breckenridge, Colo. and Cody Townsend ski what is possibly the scariest, most committing line ever captured on film.
“This is the first time in over 20 years of making ski films that we’ve had the luxury of taking two full winters to capture the action and really focus on our creative direction,” said Executive Producer Murray Wais.
The extra time paid off, as Red Bull Media House and MSP Films bring an exciting, polished product to the big screen in Bozeman tonight.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. “Days of my Youth” show are available at Ph.D Skis and Cactus Records in Bozeman, as well as at the door of the Emerson. The film premiers at Big Sky’s Lone Peak Cinema on Oct. 18 at 6 and 9 p.m. a
