Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Mountain Lifer

Heavy Mental

  • September 2, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

The Absinthe Films crew found quality snow tougher to come by last year, an ultimately triumphant struggle highlighted in the title of their upcoming snowboarding film Heavy Mental. BC-based director Justin Hostynek showcases the best of an enviable roster of sterling riders including Bode Merrill, Victor De Le Rue, Jason Robinson, and Manuel Diaz. Filmed in part at Eagle Pass Heliskiing‘s seriously mental Monashees terrain, every line will have you gasping.

Check out the film’s North American tour dates – including a Sept 11 screening at Whistler’s Millennium Place, and Oct dates in Nelson, Revy and Calgary – here.

And here’s a recent GrindTV interview with Absinthe supremo Patrick Armbruster:

How is Heavy Mental different from the first movie you put out?

We started out in the late ’90s just to give the European riders a platform. At the time all the films were all coming out of the U.S. and back then the movies were more and more important as that’s where the progression was coming from. We saw the potential of the riders we had—guys like Romain de Marchi, Nicolas Müller, Wolle Nyvelt, Gigi Rüf, and Steve Gruber. So that was the creative spark and motivation to start a film production company.

When did you start to use non-Euro riders?
When our first film came out in 2000, it was entirely European riders. Then in 2001 we added our first American rider, a young Travis Rice riding in Mammoth [California]. From there we slowly started to add riders from all over the world. The idea has remained the same: to show the young and hungry riders performing the most progressive and clean snowboarding in the best terrain.

What’s the signature look to an Absinthe film?
Justin Hostynek has been the driving force on the filming and editing side and always had the last say in the music, which makes sense being the editor, and he has a great taste for picking the right tunes. He only shoots 16 mm film, so that also adds to the unique signature and feeling to our films. I look back on our films and I think they have stood the test of time. You can dig out most of them and enjoy it to this day, and I think they are still relevant because of that quality.

Did you ever think you would come this far in snowboarding?
No way. I mean, I was the biggest fan of snowboarding, and I had a sh*#$y job, and I used to lug snowboarding magazines in to work every day. So back then not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have a say in the direction or even be driving force in the way we see snowboarding.

And what’s next?
We have started working on a signature movie with Nicholas Müller that I am in producing. I am heading to Chile next week to film and hook up with Manuel Diaz. That will be the biggest project we have ever worked on. It is a movie that will encompass the history of snowboarding and will follow Nicholas’ career and timeline and touch on some of the key moments in snowboarding and the idols who inspired him. So that’s a movie with real beef.  Hopefully in one year’s time we will be able to present to the world [adopts comic Hollywood trailer voice] “The greatest snowboarding movie of all time.”

Check out these highlights from last year’s DOPAMINE, including some memorable carnage:

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Absinthe films
  • BC heliskiing
  • Eagle Pass BC
  • Eagle Pass Heli
  • Eagle Pass Heliskiing
  • Heavy Mental film
  • Heliskiing Eagle Pass
  • snowboard films
  • snowboarding BC
Ned Morgan

Previous Article
  • Mountain Lifer

The Healing Surf

  • August 27, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • Stay & Play

On the Ropes at Blue Mountain

  • September 9, 2014
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
knorthphotography.Beverly-Glenn Copeland-crop
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Finding the Universal Broadcast

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 17, 2023
Talon-Pascal-lilWat-feature-crop
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Talon Pascal, Culture Keeper

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 9, 2023
M-Fredriksson-Christina-Lusti-2
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Skiing
  • Women

Christina “Lusti” Lustenberger: Killing It Softly

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 3, 2023
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Skiing
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Santa Rips

  • Sarah Bulford
  • December 23, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

Arc’teryx Backcountry Academy is coming to Whistler B.C.

  • Sarah Bulford
  • December 20, 2022
Ricky-Lewon-ski-racer
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Skiing

Ricky Lewon and the Need for Speed

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 9, 2022
Raphael-Zarka
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Art vs. Skate

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 5, 2022
TylerRavelle_R_Kimura-1410
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Snowboarding
  • Surfing
  • Women

The Jess Kimura Interview

  • Mountain Life Media
  • November 24, 2022

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Mountain-Life-Coast-Mountains-Winter-2023 1
    ML Coast Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now
    • February 3, 2023
  • Saint-Lawrence-ice-canoe-Jean-Anderson 2
    Jean Anderson: 40 Years of Ice Canoeing
    • January 31, 2023
  • CHOK-Images-RAB-Avril-2022 3
    Chic-Chocs: True Eastern Alpine
    • February 2, 2023
  • Life-Time-Grand-Prix-gravel-bike 4
    New Docuseries Profiles the World’s Elite Off-Road Cyclists
    • January 30, 2023
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 5
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec
    L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing
    • January 27, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie.
@shimizuimg getting those January goods ❄️ #mountainlifer
With four decades of ice canoeing under his belt, Jean Anderson has dominated a sport that's unique to Quebec and that he helped shape.
Featuring three gravel and three MTB events, the series explores the intense competition and love of the sport among 60 of the world’s premier cyclists.
Winter commute with #mountainlifer @michelle_pittam ❄️🚵‍♀️🌲
@lhymnedestrembles.ca is no mirage. Set in the lush Laurentian forest, yet easily accessible (less than an hour and a half from Montreal), this luxurious ski-in ski-out residential resort by @groupebrivia is nestled at the foot of the Versant Soleil side of Mont Tremblant. The Tremblant region is a perennial destination for outdoor enthusiasts from around the world, and within the province, attracting 3.5 million visitors annually.
ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie.
@shimizuimg getting those January goods ❄️ #mountainlifer
With four decades of ice canoeing under his belt, Jean Anderson has dominated a sport that's unique to Quebec and that he helped shape.
Featuring three gravel and three MTB events, the series explores the intense competition and love of the sport among 60 of the world’s premier cyclists.
Winter commute with #mountainlifer @michelle_pittam ❄️🚵‍♀️🌲
@lhymnedestrembles.ca is no mirage. Set in the lush Laurentian forest, yet easily accessible (less than an hour and a half from Montreal), this luxurious ski-in ski-out residential resort by @groupebrivia is nestled at the foot of the Versant Soleil side of Mont Tremblant. The Tremblant region is a perennial destination for outdoor enthusiasts from around the world, and within the province, attracting 3.5 million visitors annually.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.