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
  • Snowboarding
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • The Great Outdoors

Mountain Lifer: Leo Hoorn — The Littlest Guy With the Biggest Pack

  • March 10, 2017
  • Ben Osborne
Total
6
Shares
6
0
0
0
0
0
Total
6
Shares
Share 6
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

Every good hero has an origin myth; something that demystifies their past. And if there’s anything the art of storytelling has taught us, it’s that those myths don’t necessarily have to be factual. Not that this one isn’t, but as of now it’s unconfirmed…

 

Mason Mashon Photo Leo 16
A spelling mistake in Leo’s Instagram account turned “Tones of Grey” into “Tonnes of Gary.” It worked out though. Just look at all that Gary! Photo: Mason Mashon

words :: Mikey Nixon

The details are loose on Whistler filmmaker Leo Hoorn’s origin story, but it goes something like this: as a teenager, Leo was invited on a trip to film some snowboarders hitting handrails across Northern BC. On one particular day, the crew found a worthy feature, but the athletes were blowing it—no one was landing anything. Apparently Leo, without a word, clipped his camera into the tripod, strapped into one of the athlete’s snowboards and frontside board-slid the entire rail on his first try. Instead of going home with nothing, he salvaged the day himself.

Of course, a decade later, Leo doesn’t quite recall that moment, nor does he seem that impressed with his own origin myth. “I don’t know if I did anything to make that trip productive,” he says. “I think I just wanted to be snowboarding.”

When pressed about his roots, Leo talks about borrowing a camera from the local skate shop in his hometown of Smithers, BC and learning how to use it by filming his friends. He also mentions finishing high school a semester early and hightailing it to Whistler the very next day (via Rossland). The handrail story is never mentioned again.

“Being an action sports cinematographer is by nature an act of humility,” says Dave Mossop, principal director of Sherpas Cinema and, in theory at least, Leo’s boss. “Basically it’s saying, ‘I’ll carry a heavier bag and sacrifice some of my run so that you can look rad.’”

Standing at about five feet six inches and weighing in around 140 pounds, Leo possesses what Mossop calls, “elf-like physical abilities” and a calculated-but-fearless approach to the mountains, on either side of the lens.

“As I was learning how to film, my love for skateboarding and snowboarding was also growing, but my body started getting beat up,” Leo explains. “There were more doors and paths opening up on the filming end of things so I just started to kinda transition, not even necessarily consciously.”

“The mentors have become the mentored. Leo teaches me every day: about life, about art and about filmmaking. It’s the best.” – Dave Mossop

Which isn’t to say he can’t still ride with the professionals. Last spring, on a film expedition in the Rockies for Tourism Alberta, Leo had to film skiers Johnny Collinson and Ian McIntosh climbing and skiing The Sickle, a terminally exposed face at the back of Lake Louise.

“Leo’s a super capable snowboarder,” McIntosh says, “but he was the only snowboarder in the crew and also the smallest guy with the biggest pack. And to access The Sickle you have to traverse out onto this steep face over several hundred feet of exposure, and everything was covered in ice runnels because it had been really warm and had frozen solid overnight.”

“For us, on skis, it was a pretty puckering situation,” McIntosh continues, “and we got to a point where we all started thinking ‘what about Leo?’…

 

Mason Mashon Photo Leo 9
After almost everything he shoots, Leo is known to say, “There should be a moment in there.” Or two… Photo: Mason Mashon

But then out of the darkness Leo appears with his crampons already on and a big smile on his face, totally unfazed.”

After nailing the shots, Leo dropped into the same face the athletes did, a line that very few snowboarders have done before and even fewer have done with $60,000 of camera gear on their backs.

“I think the funniest part of the story is that he’s the ultimate maximizer of his time,” laughs McIntosh. “He actually managed to scratch himself into a tinder date the night before we went into the mountains.”

McIntosh and Leo had worked together before. While filming for Sherpas Cinema’s Into The Mind, they embarked on an expedition to Denali, the highest peak in North America. With temperatures dropping as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius after sunset, the athletes were forced to retreat to the cook tent and huddle for warmth. “But Leo would be out in the night somewhere shooting a time-lapse,” Ian says. “Eating and being warm and all those other things that we put so much value on, those are all secondary to him when it comes to getting sick shots and getting the job done.”

 

Mason Mashon Photo Leo 6
“You just can’t crack the guy.” – Ian McIntosh. Photo: Mason Mashon

“He carries a big load,” says Callum Pettit, professional skier and one of Leo’s best friends. “It’s like he carries himself on his back.”

Pettit would know. He was one of three skiers who accompanied Leo on his directorial debut for Sherpas Cinema, a 6,000-kilometre ski journey (by train) from one side of Russia to the next, that became the film The Great Siberian Traverse. The final product was a 30-minute film that earned rave reviews.

But what the audience didn’t see was Leo hanging out the window of a train going full speed, filming the barren landscape while being held in place by a local, cigarette-smoking cook.

“Leo also ended up filling the roles of DP, Field Producer, Writer and Editor,” adds Mossop with obvious pride. “Just look at the film, pretty damn decent for a first kick at the can.”

Leo attributes a lot of his prowess to the mentorship he’s received from Sherpas. And while his co-workers are some of the most award-winning filmmakers in action sports, they’re starting to see their relationship with Leo a little differently.

“The mentors have become the mentored,” explains Mossop. “Leo teaches me every day: about life, about art and about filmmaking. It’s the best.”

It’s hard to believe that the kid sitting across from me, a 26-year-old skate rat from Smithers, BC, was recently in Beirut filming a commercial for a local telephone network.

Completely self-taught when he was hired by Sherpas in 2011, Leo quickly amassed a base of knowledge that now sees him transitioning from backcountry filmmaker to Director of Photography on commercial shoots.

“The commercial scene was extremely intimidating when we first got into it,” says Mossop. “Usually over 100 people on set with huge budgets, accompanied by huge pressure from clients. I’m still amazed at how confident he has become heading into these big jobs.”

Mossop explains that they would originally hire DPs from LA and Leo would take a more secondary filming role. But then they realized that Leo was the one getting all the best shots and the finished commercials contained mostly his work. “So now it’s all Leo.”

“When you’re doing backcountry filmmaking you have to be so efficient with everything,” Leo explains to me when we finally connect for a shred day in Whistler. “It’s kind of a microcosm of a commercial shoot in a sense.”

To start our day on the mountain, Leo picks me up around 11:30 a.m. in an early-2000s black BMW sedan stuffed to the ceiling with an unwieldy amount of camera gear. A onewheeled, motorized skateboard contraption rolls around behind the driver’s seat. Leo’s been using it as a camera dolly, a throwback to his roots and his DIY filming style that’s characterized by intimate, moving shots.

 

1E7A2367
“Leo only has one speed,” says longtime friend Kye Petersen. “And that’s pinning it.” Photo: Jake Dyson/Sherpas

After bashing some technical pillow lines (Leo’s style is to beach himself atop lines few would even consider and then leave a trail of detonated pillows in his wake), we load the Whistler gondy and reflect on his year. In the

past 12 months, he has visited El Salvador, Japan, the US, Brazil, Northern Labrador, Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and Lebanon.

It’s hard to believe that the kid sitting across from me, a 26-year-old skate rat from Smithers, BC, was recently in Beirut filming a commercial for a local telephone network. He’s certainly made sacrifices to get where he is. But the “Lou Dog’’ has a smile that just won’t stop shining.

“Travelling to exotic locations and snowboarding down an amazing run somewhere like Greenland really was my childhood dream,” he says. “But I guess I just kinda feel like I accomplished my childhood dream in a slightly different way.”

I never do find out if his barstool origin myth is real or not. But it’s cool to see that Leo’s accomplishments are creating a mythology all their own. Though I can’t help but be curious, on this day of pleasure shredding without any cameras around, why he’s still wearing such a massive pack.

 

You might also like:

BrookbankthumbMOUNTAIN LIFER: WENDY BROOKBANK HELPED LAUNCH WOMEN’S FREESKIING
As a 19-year-old skier, she discovered the meaning of life: Ditch the gates, charge hard, make movies, have fun—and never get an indoor job. Twenty-five years and two kids later, the creed still serves her well. When Wendy Brookbank quit ski racing, she figured that was it—no more free pairs of skis. How was she to know, at 19, that she was about to become one of freeskiing’s founding women? Trained as a ski racer back east since she was 10, Wendy recalls an early trip out West… Read more

 

 

Russel thumbMOUNTAIN LIFER: MITCH SULKERS, BRINGING OUTDOOR EDUCATION TO THE COAST MOUNTAINS FOR OVER TWO DECADES
“I’m an outside kind of person,” says Mitch Sulkers, a veteran schoolteacher at Whistler Secondary and creator of its highly regarded Outdoor Recreational Leadership program that brings students up into the Coast Mountains backcountry or out kayaking on the Pacific Ocean. “Most of us can learn in different ways, but outside is where we are meant to be,” Mitch says. To be able to stick your fingers, toes and hands into it…nothing facilitates learning like being involved and active.”… Read more

Total
6
Shares
Share 6
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Dave Mossop
  • Ian McIntosh
  • Johnny Collinson
  • Leo Hoorn
  • sherpas cinema
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

From the Vault: Celebrating 75 Years of Blue Mountain Resort – Part 7

  • March 9, 2017
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

How to Care for Climbing Skins Throughout the Day with Jasmin Caton

  • March 13, 2017
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing

  • Editor
  • January 27, 2023
Wachs_Fairly-Mellow
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Videos

Friday Flick: “Fairly Mellow” at Fairy Meadow Hut

  • Ned Morgan
  • January 20, 2023
Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf
View Post
  • Photography
  • Rockies

Behind the Photo: Rockies Edition

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 19, 2023
Season-Pass-Skis-and-Splitboard-both
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • WINTER GEAR

Gear Shed: New Season Pass Skis + Splitboard Exclusive to evo

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 15, 2023
Vincent-Colliart-Caroline-Cote-antarctica-sunset
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Trips & Expeditions
  • Women

Canadian Explorer Caroline Côté Reaches South Pole in Record 34 Days

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 13, 2023
Marie-France-Roy-at-Icefall-Range
View Post
  • Rockies
  • Skiing
  • Trips & Expeditions

The Wild West

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 10, 2023
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-stack-winter-2023
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Blue Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • January 6, 2023
SORCERER-LODGE-Steve-Shannon
View Post
  • Skiing

Out of the Darkness

  • Mountain Life Media
  • January 5, 2023
Featured Posts
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 1
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML 2
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec 3
    L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing
    • January 27, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop 4
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
  • Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf 5
    Behind the Photo: Rockies Edition
    • January 19, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Wachs_Fairly-Mellow
    Friday Flick: “Fairly Mellow” at Fairy Meadow Hut
    • January 20, 2023
  • knorthphotography.Beverly-Glenn Copeland-crop
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Finding the Universal Broadcast
    • January 17, 2023
  • Season-Pass-Skis-and-Splitboard-both
    Gear Shed: New Season Pass Skis + Splitboard Exclusive to evo
    • January 15, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
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.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Behind the scenes of three action photos from ML’s Rocky Mountains edition.
The @banffmountainfestival 2023 Signature Image Search is on🚨
In 1986 @beverlyglenncopeland recorded Keyboard Fantasies using an Atari computer, a keyboard and a drum machine. After releasing it on cassette and selling maybe 50 copies, he went back to writing for Sesame Street and making the odd guest appearance on Mr. Dressup. In 2015, a cassette made its way to Japanese collector Ryota Masuko, a record store owner with a big online presence, who quickly bought, and then sold, all the Keyboard Fantasies cassettes he could find. Record labels worldwide lined up to reissue the hidden gem on vinyl.
MUSIC SERIES TICKET SALE IS NOW LIVE 🗣️
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

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.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.