The countdown to ski season has begun (55 days to be exact). And perhaps no single event on the Aspen/Snowmass calendar embodies a whole town's desire for the white stuff to start falling and a return of face shots and steep lines quite like The Meeting.
The event - started four years ago by Aspen Skiing Co. as a way to gather the best ski and snowboard talent as well as those who seek to capture the sheer awesomeness of that talent on film - has already become a can't-miss event within the industry. Combining film screenings from ski porn heavyweights like Matchstick Productions and Poor Boyz, movies from newer companies like pro snowboarder Travis Rice's Brain Farm Productions, concerts, fashion shows and, of course, parties, The Meeting is all about "getting stoked for the upcoming season," says Deric Gunshor, SkiCo senior event marketing manager.
"Back in 2004 when we were looking at new events to put on, we really identified this as a void in the broader ski and snowboard calendar," Gunshor says. "There really aren't other events just like this going on around the country."
Most ski film screenings are thrown by a single company with the aim being to show its perspective on the sport and to highlight its individual athletes. But at The Meeting, 11 different companies bring 12 different films, showcasing all the different aspects of skiing and snowboarding - from jibbing and all-mountain flicks to lifestyle and backcountry powder films.
"I think it's a great place for everybody to get together and share beers and talk about their passion," says Steve Winter, founder and president of 16-year-old actions sports production company Matchstick. "In other industries, you rarely see companies who compete against each other for business get together, hang out and trade ideas."
This is Matchstick's first appearance at The Meeting, and Winter describes their film "Claim" as poking fun at the stoic attitudes of many of the athletes in films over the past decade.
"Our whole theme is how in years past when athletes do something they're really happy they just landed, they make it look like it's something they do all the time. So we wanted to have fun with ourselves and the industry and show people that's it's OK to be stoked on something you just did, and it's good to claim it."
Poor Boyz Productions' "Reasons," on the other hand, looks more at the motivation behind the athletes.
"'Reasons' is more of a ski documentary," says Poor Boyz videographer and editor Drew Lederer. "We're trying to mix up the genre a little bit. We wanted to step back and capture what the athletes think and what they do to give a little bit of insight into the sport."
And "That's It, That's All," from Brain Farm Productions, focuses more on the visual experience of the audience, using the latest in hi-def digital technology to craft stunning, life-like imagery on the big screen.
"A lot of people have described it as 'Planet Earth' meets snowboarding," says Curt Morgan, co-founder of the production company along with Travis Rice. "My goal is to have the filmmaking side of the whole endeavor match the elevation of what's been happening in the sport of snowboarding. It's great to have a different purpose with the film."
Highlighting different points of view is exactly what The Meeting is all about.
This year the event will also feature a film providing several firsts for The Meeting. "Uniquely," from Oakley and 1242 films, is the first all-female film and is also the first to feature action sports other than just skiing and snowboarding.
"Uniquely" follows Aspen/Snowmass team athlete Gretchen Bleiler as well as other top snowboarders, skiers, surfers, skateboarders and wakeboarders across Japan, Russia, Colorado, California, Indonesia, Brazil and Australia as they search for the perfect conditions while building lasting memories.
Last year's incredible snow season means this year's films are guaranteed to be bigger, better and more epic than ever. And while no one knows what the '08-09 season holds, at the very least we'll have films to help us remember the good times.
damien@aspendailynews.com
