Level 1 isn’t dead, far from it, in fact.
I would suggest that Strictly look best placed to fill that gap.
The movie is a perfect, near equal, blend of street, park and backcountry freestyle.
Perhaps the true standout here is the unbelievable editing.
My take is there’s an increasing amount of over-editing in the industry as technology improves.
I want to see the best of the skiing without it being messed with too much.
The film itself opens with Benny Smith, a skier who I’ve not entirely understood the hype around.
Things like the Candide-esque pole plant on his cork 7 blunt off the backcountry whale tail.
Like his control in the air as he bounces through crazy pillow lines.
Tweaks like this one… it’s the little things.
There’s a whole lot of ‘why?
moments’ in here.
His is a part that displays bucketloads of creativity without pretension.
And damn does he know how to tweak a grab.
There’s also a proper, relatable park shoot.
Gavin himself has a couple of sneaky heaters in here.
It’s a big claim but prove me wrong.
Sam’s ender is straight-up terrifying too by the way.
And that’s it for the plot summary.
So what can I get all ‘armchair critic’ about?
Well, the music in the first half was a bit on the mellow side for me.
On my first run-through, I was a touch underwhelmed overall.
I think more ‘upbeat’ songs would have helped with that.
It’s harder for a film to grab you without a tune early on that gets you going.
Ultimately, not all of the crew is on that pro level… yet.
I mentioned this concept when discussing Benny Smith’s part.
There are other skiers in this crew who are also on that level already.
But not everyone and everything is quite up there (yet).
But there’s no denying you could import riders and strengthen the crew.
I keep bringing it back to Level 1.
In doing so, I don’t mean to discount the entirely distinct identity of Strictly.
To me they are an essential part of the future.
The Strictly crew have made me hopeful that there’s more to come in that space.
It got me super stoked to ski go skiing.
More than pretty much anything else I’ve seen in fact.
I’ll be watching segments on repeat to get stoked before skiing this winter.
And ultimately, that’s the point, isn’t it?
