Premiere of Warren Millers Children of Winter
By Tony Harrington/Wheresharro.com
What would the kick off of the snow season be without a screening of Warren Miller’s latest movie? Very luck lustre to say the least for 100’s of 1000’s of snow enthusiasts around the world. Australia and New Zealand is no exception, as was proved again last night with the turn out at Sydney’s State Theatre for the Australian premiere of “Children of Winter”.
For the first time in his movies you won’t hear that old familiar voice from the man himself, as now Warren Miller is entering into his mid 80’s and has moved on from the company. His passion still lies strong within though, as I found out in a catch up with him last year in the U.S. Gone from the movie might be his comical narration and directors vision that have made his movies so famous, but the sheer magnitude of imagery captured on film, sound and production value matches that of the craziness of the athletes in action that will never let an audience down.
The opening scene of the movie starts with Points North Heli Skiing in Alaska. Owner Kevin Quinner and his partner Jessica are shown ripping steep and deep ski lines the Chugach Mountain range along with Olympic Gold Medallist in Boarder X Seth Westcott putting in rowdy snowboard lines. I’ve spent 4 visits to Points North Heli Skiing, dropped into the same type of terrain featured in the movie and have got to say, the way the camera captured it all makes you feel like you are right there with them. You could hear the oooohhh and aaahhhs of the audience as they also experienced what it is like to ride down a 50 degree slope or the hard banking against a mountain of snow in a helicopter. There’s a good reason why National Geographic Adventure magazine recently rated Points North Heli as the number 11th spot of the “50 American Best Adventures”.
Other feature segments include Daron Rahlves swapping icy Down Hill race courses for free skiing powder lines in Austria, Chris Anthony getting his face smashed in a horse towed ski race in the main street of Leadville Colorado, Gerry Lopez riding frozen waves in Bend, Oregon, Johnny Mosely taking time out from mogul fields to explore the zen of the back country in Japan and plenty more action packaged adventure in a movie lasting close to 2 hours.
Interesting to note, Daron Rahlves is just one of the star athletes in the upcoming World Heli Challenge in New Zealand this winter, along with Chris Anthony, Lynsey Dyer who also have a close association of this event among other Warren Miller athletes. And I wont start rumour just now as to what might be happening, but maybe I already have????
Many people last night commented that it was better then last years production, though still misses the integral personal touch of the man himself to define how special his films were and the story line that he was so famous for. But don’t let that in anyway misrepresent how good the film is. It’s not about being the best snow movie, its about the gathering of the tribe and us snow enthusiasts love nothing more then a major social activity that brings everyone together and celebrate the start to a new season.
Make sure you take the opportunity to see “Children of Winter”, it’s certainly a great way to amp up on the coming snow season. Screening details and more information can be found at:
http://www.warrenmiller.com.au
