Skier Logan Imlach has officially announced his retirement from ski filming.
But what does that mean, what is retirement?
It may seem like a simple concept, but things get messy fast when looking at skiing.
Sure, a comp skier retiring from competing is simple, but what about a film skier?
Do they even have a career to retire from?
Where is that line drawn?
How do you create that distinction?
How old are you?
27
Where are you residing now?
Fairbanks, AK/Woodinville, WA
Basic rundown of where your life is at?
I’m buying land and building a cabin this summer.
Basic outline of your winter?
After that I skied with my girlfriend up in Fairbanks and learned how to develop my own film.
I skied less than 30 days this season, and it was my favorite season yet.
So you’re ‘retiring,’ looking back, what do you think of your career?
If not what do you call it?
Haha, retiring is such a funny term.
I’ll never retire from skiing; it’s something that I love to do.
Looking back at the past 5 years of filming with Level 1 I definitely hold my head high.
In what better way can you leave?
I was always a professional skier because I did it at the highest level.
Who shows more talent?
Looking back what do you see?
What sticks out to you personally?
Any moments, trips etc that stick out?
Oh man, there are so many incredible memories.
I can tell you that the one thing I will miss more than anything is the people.
Remember Tom’s 630 disaster from Sunny?
I was running the winch.
Shit the whole session at that ledge was nuts.
Remember Will’s Flat-Transfer/Redirect-DFD from Partly Cloudy?
He wanted to quit hitting it and I convinced him to hit it 7 more times.
Most of those were me screaming my ass off.
The bonds that you form on a film trip develop so much faster than a normal friendship.
loop back and try."
And hands down the biggest part I will miss.
But you know what?
I mean I filmed my first handrail with Tim Durtschi and Kevin Bennett when I was 15 years old.
Why are you calling it quits now?
Was it the industry?
Haha, the industry hasn’t ever played a role in me skiing or not skiing.
I built some skis, I loaded up my credit card, and I made one trip happen.
Watching those two kids ski just floored me.
Subconsciously, I knew that was going to be my last trip.
What a fucking great way to end it?
The reason that the inclination even entered my brain?
Ski building has replaced my obsession of actually skiing.
There was a time not long ago that I would think about skiing almost every waking moment.
It’s like a tick.
It is wholly and fully my calling in life.
What is next for your skiing?
And I was cool with that.
Is this the transition were seeing now?
But yes, I’m going to start being a recreational skier, whatever that means.
Am I off-base with that?
Mousseau had to pull my teeth to get me to do this interview haha.
I HATE doing video interviews and I really don’t even like watching videos of myself ski.
I used to always say “Fuck that, get a real role model.”
How would/are you going to respond to the haters?
Would Clayton have joined Level 1 and left Stept?
I mean Clayton is a huge part of Stept, what would they be today?
I mean I idolized those guys.
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/756433/Superunknown-VII-Winner-Logan-Imlach
Do you think youll leave a legacy as a skier?
What will it be?
Do you even care?
I like to think that I’m a nice middle man.
But on a personal level I hope that people might be less afraid to speak their minds.
I’m just sick of people thinking they can’t be genuine and succeed in this industry.
But if people start to forget my name, that won’t bother me at all either.
But don’t use that kind of language."
Quoting you in the donators forum: I’m not discounting pulling a Brett Favre.
What are the odds that well see another video part in the future?
I meant just that, I’m not counting it out.
And the awesome part is, all I will have to make is a phone call.
What is next for your life?
Are you going to stick around the industry?
Focusing on building skis?
Hopefully I’ll land a job designing skis.
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/756434/Logan-Imlach-Sunny-Jib-Segment
Are you going to stick around on Newschoolers?
Of course, it’s one of my favorite ways to waste time.
If you could go back and tell your young self any piece of advice, what would that be?
Haha, don’t drink so much.
But in skiing, I’d tell myself to be more confident in my abilities.
I just wasn’t a confident person at the time, both on and off skis.
That translated into me not getting invited on heli trips anymore, understandably.
It also made it way easier to make the decision to walk away from filming.
Advice for anyone else trying to make it in the ski world?
Yeah, be genuine and don’t bullshit people.
This industry is way too small, and everyone hears about everything in one way or another.
