Hall Pass: Tanner cleans up at 2008 PVAs
Tanner Hall followed a move into number 2 of the Powder Reader Poll by winning two individual awards in the Powder Video Awards. In addition to winning Best Performance by a Male and Best Line, Tanner’s movie Believe also took Movie of the Year honors. Want to know why? For that answer and to see the rest of the 2008 winners, keep on reading.
The Nominees:
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Realtime
Level 1 Productions
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Believe
Tanner Hall
Lost and Found
Teton Gravity Research
The Nominees:
Ingrid Backstrom
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Sarah Burke
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Grete Eliassen
Dakine
Rachael Burks
Fall of 07
Levitation Project
Two ladies rose above the rest of the field in contention for this year’s Best Female PVA. The difficulty came in deciding between two amazingly talented skiers with such different styles. On top of that, both skiers got out of their comfort zone for at least one shot. Sarah showed some impressive big mountain skills, while Ingrid proved that she isn’t afraid to get inverted. In the end, though, Ingrid won out. She had a longer segment, including a Best Line nomination. On top of that, she had impressive performance in MSP’s Bralorne segment, where her skiing was often difficult to distinguish from that of Full Throttle winner Eric Hjorleifson.
The Nominees:
Eric Hjorleifson
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Mark Abma
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Tanner Hall
Believe
Tanner Hall
Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
Lost and Found
Teton Gravity Research
Pep Fujas
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Select Best Male from this list? I think I’d rather take a Louisville Slugger in the teeth. But since the PVA voting panel doesn’t have that option, we have to select one skier: the guy who shreds harder than all the rest, at the highest level in all aspects of skiing. That means big descents on huge mountains; innovative tricks; creativity, flow and general excellence. He is also at the mercy of his producers, cinematographers and editors, as well as his soundtrack. Everything has to go together in order to win Best Male. With such impressive performances from the men on this list, the competition was almost unheard of.
But given all the criteria, the award has to go to Tanner Hall. No one in the sport right now is pushing as hard as Tanner, in all areas. His focus on backcountry skiing has elevated his game beyond the X Games in ways that have brought him newfound respect from some of the best big-mountain skiers. While his Alaska descents in Believe are relatively tame compared to something you might see from Jeremy Nobis—or Sage or Hjorleifson, for that matter—Tanner combines it with stunning footage of deep powder shots, and thrilling descents of pillow lines. Though some might question his musical choice of Tears for Fears for his Alaska segment, that’s merely a matter of taste. When you add it all up, Tanner had the best performance of the year.
Tanner had a distinct advantage over the other nominees, with the exception of Pep Fujas, in that he had an entire movie as his stage. Abma, Hjorleifson, and Sage were limited to one or two segments in their respective films. It could be argued that if they had their own movie, as Tanner does, they would have more opportunity to showcase more of their skills. But they don’t have their own movie. And the panel agreed that Tanner shouldn’t be penalized for this fact.
So there you go. Tanner Hall wins Best Male for the second time at the POWDER Video Awards. Now where’s that baseball bat?
The Nominees:
Cody Barnhill, Dash Longe, Kye Petersen
Lost and Found
Teton Gravity Research
Tanner Hall, C.R. Johnson, Ian Provo
Believe
Tanner Hall
Pep Fujas, Andy Mahre, Eric Pollard
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Jay Bowan, Stacey Rachdorf
Wanderland
Meathead Films
Tanner Rainville, Dan Marion, Rich Permin & Sean Decker
Realtime
Level 1 Productions
Best Powder is, quite simply, about powder. That is, snorkel deep. Up your nose, down your throat, in your ear, filling in the crevices between goggles and hat, hat and collar, tooth and gum. This is why we all ski; powder is universal and accessible.
This category in 2008 has no shortage of plumbing the white depths. But besting them all was Realtime’s segment of Rainville, Marion, Permin and Decker digging mole holes in Japan. No other movie this year included snow so deep, and it occurred not on a bluebird day, but during a blizzard—days that go down among friends as the most memorable. The music also fit the scene, rounding out the strong segment, and making all of us crave a trip to the Far East. While the other contenders—namely Believe, Idea and Lost and Found—had more creative skiing style, you can’t argue with the utter deepness from Realtime.
The Nominees:
Jamey Parks
Fall of 07
Levitation Project
Eric Hjorleifson
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Ingrid Backstrom
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Tanner Hall
Believe
Tanner Hall
Not that the footage itself lacks legitimacy, but consider this statement from Mike Douglas about the pillow line Tanner Hall chose to pin-ball down in Believe: “I’ve stood on top of that and I know how crazy it is.”
Many past winners of this award pieced together lines through cliff bands, narrow chutes, steep couloirs and burly mountain faces. Tanner did nothing of the sort. Instead, he created a line where none existed.
His form was spot on, his speed was unquestionable and aggressive, and the line had serious consequence should he make a mistake. While it can be argued that Tanner’s choice wasn’t the most creative in the mix this year—that could go to Hjorleifson for piecing together a descent of an entire peak in British Columbia—that he dared to go where other pros have looked and turned away, and nailed it with such smooth style couldn’t be overlooked.
The Nominees:
Jon Olsson
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Candide Thovex
Lost and Found
Teton Gravity Research
Pep Fujas
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Charles Gagnier
Yeah Dude
Poor Boyz Productions
People have been sculpting jumps for a long time. But the art of shaping the perfect park kicker or backcountry wedge has subsequently evolved with technology. Giant snowcats push and move tons of snow to build terrain park features, while manmade booters in the backcountry allow skiers to send it knowing they’ll be landing in soft powder. With perfectly built jumps, skiers have been able to evolve faster than you can say kangaroo flip. And no one skier has been more determined to invent new tricks than 25-year-old Jon Olsson. During the 2006-07 season, Olsson pioneered the dj flip and hexo flip--two tricks that nobody had conceived let alone performed. Although Charles Gagnier’s 1260 octograb was so tweaked it seemed like he blew a knee and Pep Fujas’ tail grab on his Dorian underflip oozed more style than Weird Al Yankovic, Olsson’s hexo flip from MSP’s Seven Sunny Days was the clear-cut winner. Matchstick Productions close-up shot on this provides the viewer a front-row seat to all the rotations and grabs involved. Congrats to Jon for continuing to innovate the sport and pushing youngsters to think beyond just on-axis spins.
Best P.O.V.
The Nominees:
Andreas Hatveit shot by Jon Hatveit
Yeah Dude
Poor Boyz Productions
Colby West shooting TJ Schiller
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Mike Douglas
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Andreas Hatveit
Yeah Dude
Poor Boyz Productions
An award highlighting equal parts athlete and production company, the point of view angle allows the viewer to appreciate better the skills being displayed. Whether it’s descending a big Alaska peak or performing a trick over a road gap, P.O.V. shots have become more commonplace in ski cinematography the last few years. P.O.V. shots come in many forms—helmet cameras, cable cameras, or dollies. Nearly all of Mike Douglas’ Seven Sunny Days segment was filmed via the use of a helmet cam, which continues to blow us away as he spins 3s off big cliffs and descends steep faces skiing over blind rollovers. 2007 P.O.V. winner Andreas and Jon Hatveit (brothers) nearly repeated for the 2008 award, but New Hampshire native Colby West and MSP take home the award in 2008 for their never-before-seen helmet cam footage of T.J. Schiller skiing in the pipe. With a 16mm camera welded to Colby’s helmet, West followed Schiller down the pipe, catching air right alongside Schiller giving the viewer a whole new perspective on halfpipe skiing.
The Nominees:
Pep Fujas
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Eric Pollard
Idea
Eric Iberg/PBP
Eric Hjorleifson
Seven Sunny Days
Matchstick Productions
Wiley Miller
Realtime
Level 1 Productions
Eliciting some of the loudest oohs and ahhs from the audience during the red-carpet event, this award goes to the skier boosting the biggest air off some sort of geologic feature, aka, a cliff, or windlip or cornice. Best Natural Air 2007 winner Seth Morrison was nearly a nominee for this award, but a broken binding and suspect film quality on his insane 160-foot double front flip took him out of the running. While Eric Hjorleifson stomped his Lincoln Loop off a monster cliff in British Columbia and Montana native Wiley Miller got some serious redemption after stomping a huge Fakie 900 off a cliff, the 2008 winner goes to Eric Pollard. The Welches, Oregon, native skied into a 40-foot cliff in Alaska and spun a slow, stylie 180, and stuck it so smoothly his face was still dry as he made fluid, switch turns down the rest of the line.
Best Jib
The Nominees:
Andreas Hatveit
Yeah Dude
Poor Boyz Productions
Candide Thovex
Lost and Found
Teton Gravity Research
PK Hunder
Magic Moves
Field Productions
Pat Cowan
Wanderland
Meathead Films
Skiing is no longer limited to a ski area, or even a mountain. The feats of athleticism and balance being performed and filmed on rails, trees, poles, lift house, towers—you name it—were off the hook last year, making Best Jib the hardest category to narrow down to nominees, let alone choose a winner. Andreas Hatveit’s spin on and off of this box mounted to the top of one of the structures at Mount Schweitzer was not only an amazing showcase of skill and talent, it was also unique and filmed well to music that fit the shot.
Best Storyline
The Nominees:
Steep
The Documentary Group
Return of the Niña
Right on Brother
Weather We Change
Adventure Film Works
The budget for Steep, a mainstream theater release, easily quadruples the combined totals for Return of the Nina and Weather We Change. But big budget or not, it is the superior film and wins this category easily. Steep follows the growth of big mountain skiing, from its 1970s origins in Chamonix and the Tetons, to the recent exploits of Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison and Andrew McLean. Some of the best footage is of the late Doug Coombs, who died in April 2006 while skiing in France. In between some of the sickest ski action ever caught on film (Steep’s producers used original content from MSP archives) are interviews that explore the reasoning behind skiing steep, wild terrain.
Return of the Nina, a grassroots film from the Great Northwest, scored big praise for its gritty, earthy feel, and its association all skiers have for epic storms. The movie recounts the history 1998-99 season at Mount Baker, which saw world-record snowfall.
Weather We Change is an excellent piece on the difficult—albeit widely discussed—topic, global warming. The film is heavy on interviews exploring how skiers can change their habits while still pursuing their passion.
Full Throttle
The Nominees:
Eric Hjorleifson
Seth Morrison
Andreas Hatveit
Dana Flahr
2008 Powder Reader Poll Results:
1. Ingrid Backstrom
It was only four years ago when Ingrid Backstrom stormed onto the ski scene by claiming Best Performance by a Female and Breakthrough in the 2005 Powder Video Awards (for her work in MSP’s Yearbook). Until then, the Seattle, Washington, native had been a relative unknown to the mainstream audience. Now, Ingrid is not only the best big-mountain female skier on film, but is quickly gaining status as a ski celebrity with her recent appearance on “Good Morning America,” for her role in the documentary Steep. This is her third year in a row being named first in the Reader Poll, and it’s the third time in four years she’s won Best Female in the PVA’s.
2. Sarah Burke
This past year was a good one for Sarah Burke, even considering the many successful years she’s already had. She won gold medals at the X Games and Whistler’s WSSI. Then in July, she won an ESPY for the Best Female Action Sports Athlete, beating out household names in surfing and snowboarding. Burke, who grew up in Midland, Ontario, and now lives in Squamish, B.C., continues to influence thousands of young girls with her class, work ethic, and athleticism.
3. Grete Eliassen
Ms. Eliassen, the winner of Best Female for the 2007 PVAs, finished 3rd in the Reader Poll voting in 2008, her highest-ever finish. Via Minnesota and Norway, Eliassen skis like a park skier from the Midwest and shreds the big mountain as if she were in the Scandinavian Alps. The affable Eliassen now lives in Utah attending the University of Utah during the off-season.
4. Michelle Parker
Tahoe’s own Michelle Parker placed 4th in the 2008 installment of the Powder Reader Poll. The only female on K2’s talented Factory Team, Parker suffered a torn A.C.L. in her right leg on March 22, 2007, at the Orage European Freeski Open. She came up short on the landing of a 360 during the slopestyle event. Unfortunately her injury prevented her from appearing in any ski films produced in 2007. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old’s fourth place finish acts as a testament to her influential abilities on snow despite hardly appearing in the limelight last season. Parker has been rehabbing her injured knee all summer after surgery to repair the ligament on May 17, so don’t be surprised if she climbs up the Reader Poll rankings next year courtesy of added motivation to add to her versatile skills.
5. Lynsey Dyer
Making her first appearance on the Powder Reader Poll, Sun Valley native Lynsey Dyer now calls Jackson Hole home. Lynsey is the face of Rossignol skis women’s line and has appeared in the last few Teton Gravity Research films. She recently started a foundation called SheJumps, a non-profit whose goal is to help empower young women.
1. Seth Morrison
Seth Morrison has finished either first or second in all eight annual Reader Polls. And he has owned it as of late. Though he hasn’t won a Best Male Performance since the early years of the PVA’s, it’s obvious that he continues to thrill audiences with his balls-to-the-wall skiing, and ups the ante in every movie he’s in. His skiing alongside Tanner Hall in Believe was integral to the film winning the award for Movie of the Year. There are few people, if any, who can hang with Seth on big mountain faces, and no one lands bigger flips off giant cliffs. His 160-foot double front flip from Believe was one of the most insane stunts of the year—and he probably would’ve landed it had his binding not pulverized on impact.
2. Tanner Hall
For years, Tanner Hall has been one of the public’s favorite skiers to hate. Now mellowed and more mature, Tanner has evolved into simply one of the public’s favorite skiers. Long considered the best of skiing’s new freestyle regime, Tanner is quickly becoming recognized as skiing’s best. Period. Out-spoken. Innovative. Entrepreneurial. You can use a lot of words to describe Tanner Hall. But the one thing he has always been is true to himself. Now the most knowledgeable audience in skiing is starting to recognize and respect this, as Tanner moves into a spot on the Powder Reader poll that has only been held by Seth Morrison and Shane McConkey.
3. Pep Fujas
His highest-ever finish in Reader Poll history, Pep Fujas was voted 3rd by the skiing public. The Sandy, Utah, resident filmed alongside Eric Pollard and Andy Mahre during the 2007 winter for Eric Iberg’s film, Idea. Pep seemed to butter off nearly everything—cliffs, windlips, jumps—this past winter while performing the stylie tricks. Although he didn’t turn in the hard-charging segments that we’re accustomed to seeing from Mr. Fujas, it’s obvious his influence still pervades. Just go to any ski area in North America and count how many kids are buttering and skiing without poles.
4. Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
Sage Cattabriga-Alosa is the archetype of a true freeskier. Multi-dimensional, this former dish pig rarely competes, skiing solely for the love of it. A former star of Wind-Up Films, Sage has become a leading man for Teton Gravity Research. He followed up his Breakthrough Performer award in 2003 with Best by a Male the following year for his role in TGR’s High Life. He has appeared on two Powder covers.
5. Eric Pollard
The multi-talented Pollard finished 5th in the 2008 Reader Poll. One of the first skiers to ski sans poles and build a rockered twin tip, Pollard had an artistic 2007 season, where he co-edited and starred in Idea. The mellow film personified Pollard in his element, whether he was painting on canvas, paddling out in Mexico, skiing entire faces backwards, or floating lofty spins over a huge gap.
7. Jon Olsson
8. Simon Dumont
9. Shane McConkey
10. Eric Hjorleifson
Link: powdermag.com/