The Meeting 9 rolled on with the showing of Poor Boyz Prouctions’ latest effort, Tracing Skylines. The film documents six trips that encompass the different variations of the sport of freeskiing in locations around the world. And while there was everything that we come to expect in a PBP film, director Johnny Decesare seems to have taken a new direction in his latest work.
The film kicks off with a banger segment from BC pillow slayer Sean Pettit. It’s no surprise, as Pettit is arguably the best at turning a natural pillow zone into a terrain park. After his solo section, Pettit is joined by his K2 teammates for a BC segment full of butter spins off natural terrain. Pep Fujas highlights the segment with huge backies and threes, as well as an enormous zero spin (a trick that is very underrated in my opinion). The trip is cut short by rain, and the crew promises to finish what they started later in the season.
The film takes a more serious tone as Karl Fosvedt, Khai Krepela, and Max Morello head to the once booming, now dilapidated, inner city of Detroit. The segment features incredibly creative jibs made possible by the abandonment of industrial factories, proving that anything is possible with a wench and bungee cords. The rooftop step up gap is phenomenal. In a moment of irony, but seemingly real danger, the tall tee’d crew leaves a jib spot after feeling threatened by men in ski masks who seemed a little too interested in what was happening. Despite this, Fosvedt and crew leave Detroit feeling rightfully accomplished, coming away with the best segment in the movie.
From Detroit, the movie heads to the Alps, where Seth Morrison, Glen Plake, JP Auclair, and Julien Reigner successfully complete the Haute Route. The 110 mile high alpine tour between Chamonix and Zermatt is made more dangerous by the fact the crew completed it during winter, and skied some technical lines along the way. While it was a good attempt by Poor Boyz to document true mountaineering, the segment seemed to lose the attention of the audience, as it was very drawn out.
Tracing Skylines then moves to Alaska, where Seth Morrison and newcomers Lexi Dupont and Logan Pehota base themselves out of an island lighthouse to explore the surrounding terrain. While the segment isn’t a stand out one, solid skiing from the rookies shows promise for the future. From Alaska, the film goes back to B.C. where the K2 crew goes to finish what they started. Pettit’s 180 to nosebutter spins in natural terrain are some of the coolest moves out there. The movie finishes strong with a park shoot at Stevens Pass featuring a star studded crew. Highlights include Shuster’s double tail grabs and a feature that has one skier jumping diagonally over another on a rail.
Overall, Tracing Skylines is a solid effort from the Poor Boyz crew. The Detroit segment makes the movie. After a stellar opening and the Detroit segment, the movie loses some steam. The Haute Route segment could have been shorter and stronger. One issue noted by viewers was the fact that a lot of the movie’s best shots were already seen during the X Games Real Ski edits. Not PBP’s fault, but it may detract from the overall experience.
Purchase the movie on Itunes through this link.
