Let’s be clear, I was looking for an excuse to post this video. It is one of dozens, if not hundreds of pieces of resort marketing content that I’ve seen this week. I’m not your typical snowboarder so I probably don’t represent a huge portion of the industry when I say this, but this is one of the best videos I’ve seen all season because it did something few others have done: it made me want to drop whatever I was doing and get my butt up to the mountain.

With my mind atwitter about the footage I had just watched, I hated to step back and try to figure out why it had reached me more than others, but, since that’s kind of the way my mind works these days, I ran with it.

Reason #1 – Well Made
The camera work and video quality is impressive. In fact, the first thing you see is a tip reminding you to view it in full screen so you can appreciate the HD-ness of it all. Filmed partly in the early morning during what some photographers call “magic hour”, the shots are impressive, full of color, and crisp.

Reason #2 – Fun
I’m a people watcher, and one of the things that kills me when I ski is to see the “racers”. You know the type: POC helmet, POC goggles, “aggressive stance” as they carve wide turns on a groomer with their hands out like they are carrying a giant, invisible teddy-bear under each arm. I’m sure they’re having fun, but it looks like they are more worried about looking like a racer than enjoying the level of skiing that being a racer could provide.

I got the exact opposite vibe from this movie. They weren’t worried about style or extreme-ness, they were simply having an awesome time skiing. Powder turns feel amazing to make, but they can get repetitive to watch. This held my interest and looked plain, downright, completely, totally fun. That’s a huge reason why Switchback’s beginners movie rocked, because, for one of the first times, skiing looked as fun on film as it is in person.

Reason #3 – Realistic
None of these riders and skiers and doing anything ridiculously difficult. No double corks were to be found, just airs off wind lips, a solid 540 or two, backflips, and even a 180 here and there. Even in the terrain park section, watch how many times the riders do nothing more than an grab. That’s not to say the skiers/riders weren’t talented, there absolutely were, but seeing a pro like Josh Dirksen do something that I could probably do made me want to see if I really could.

So, there you have it. The movie that made me want to ride. Now, that’s why I thought I was influenced, but that’s always hard to pinpoint, especially when looking at ourselves. The bottom line is that I watched dozens of resort movies this week and only this one made me want to ride.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.