WINTER/SPRING2017
MLCM
31
“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.”
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 containedmostly
his work. “So now it’s all Leo.”
“When you’re doing backcountry filmmaking you
have to be so efficient with everything,” Leo
explains tome when we finally connect for a
shred day inWhistler. “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. Aone-
wheeled, 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.
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 12months, 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
fromme, 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 accomplishedmy
childhood dream in a slightly different way.”
I never do find out if his barstool originmyth
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.
“Leoonlyhas one speed,”says longtime friendKyePetersen.“And that’s pinning it.” JAKEDYSON/SHERPAS
