FALL/WINTER2016
MLCM
39
Somewhere amongst the desolate expanse of Siberia, the Russian sky has
finally cracked blue, a tasty ten centimetres of fresh snow has fallen and
the crew from Sherpas Cinema finds themselves amongst something that
hasn’t come easily of late: Mountains. Sweet, beautiful mountains.
With cameras rolling for
TheSiberianTraverse
, professional skier Callum
Pettit drops off a ridge and trenches his way through the trees towards the
valley below. The shot makes themovie
—
explosions of smokey pow set
against a deep blue sky, the athlete unrecognizable within themicroclimate
created by his silky turns. But a blasphemous secret lies beneath those
powdery plumes
—
Callum isn’t skiing at all... he’s noboarding!
Evenmonths after the release of
TheSiberianTraverse
, Callum admits
to dealing withmultiple rumours that he’s given up skiing in favour of
unshackled powder surfing. “Yeah, that’s kinda the ongoing joke,” he laughs.
Officially of course, he’s still a professional two-planker, but Callum, his
brother Sean, Kye Petersen and a few other local pro skiers, have found
themselves hooked on that bindingless feeling of surfing down the
mountain when conditions allow. “It is the best and probably the most fun
you can have in powder,” Sean Pettit says.
Beyond sheer enjoyment, noboarding is also a function of convenience.
The flat, low profile boards are easily slung over one’s shoulder or
strapped unobtrusively to the back of the sled. Also, snowmobiling in ski
boots is a slippery affair andmany skiers will opt for comfortable boots
on the way into their chosen ski zone.
“It’s always nice to sled up in the Sorels and then get a couple warm-up
laps on the noboard to get the blood flowing before switching over,”
Callum says.
BACK
YARD
KCDeane, Christmas Day.Whistler Backcountry.
WORDS ::MIKEYNIXON /PHOTOS ::MASONMASHON
