MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2018

22 MLCM FALL/WINTER 2018 McIntosh’s work ethic and natural charm mixed well with his hard-charging, fast fall line style. He consistently racked up impressive segments, photos, and industry awards (along with a few injuries including a broken femur), and even ‘went viral’ with a clip of a nasty 1600 vertical foot tumble.Through it all, McIntosh has remained humble, driven, and very cool. “Ian is a force of nature,” says American freeskier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, who has worked with McIntosh since his early days at TGR. “He’s a natural leader. We would be flying around Alaska with a bush pilot, flying recon flights, just exploring and figuring it out, and Ian would be like, ‘go through this col and we are gonna see spines, it’s the so-and-so glacier.’ And the pilot would not be sure but Ian was right. We started joking about it—if ‘Mappin-tosh’ says it’s over there, it’s over there.” “He’s the guy you want on your team,” confirms longtime Sea to Sky cinematographer Guillaume Tessier. “He is never lazy in the mountains and he motivates the others, not with his words but with his actions. He has the ‘C’ on his chest, the Captain.” And the Captain, these days, is all about making the most intelligent decisions possible when he’s out in the mountains. “Anytime I am shooting there is always an emphasis on safety. It’s definitely different from when I was young. I think a lot of us, when we’re young, the ego is steering the ship—you just want to impress people so you’re letting the ego make decisions. Then you get older and realize its all BS and everything should be done because deep down inside you want to do it. I’ve been trying to let my ego stop making decisions and I ask myself now, what is the driving force to want to ski this line?” And while McIntosh admits he will often back off a line if it doesn’t feel right, he says one of the hardest decisions of the past decade had nothing to do with skiing at all—it was when he decided to quit wingsuit BASE jumping. “I’ve always been a person where if I am drawn to something, I gotta do it,” he says. “I don’t want to live with regret and look back when I’m old saying coulda, woulda shoulda.And wingsuit BASE jumping was something that I was really drawn to.” “I’ve always been a person where if I am drawn to something, I gotta do it.” Another day, another drop. Pemberton backyard. REUBEN KRABBE