Like all good (and some bad) ideas, it all started with some friends drinking beers around the coffee table. They were skiers who’d been spending their winters filming on other projects, but getting out together whenever they could. A few PBRs (I’m assuming) sparked an idea: why not start their own project to capture the hijinks and don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously vibe of the local Tahoe ski scene?
Those coffee-table beers ultimately led to Ski For The Love, a half a decade old project that brings the fun and passion of a Tahoe ski crew to the world.
“So pretty much kitchen beers turned into a project that succeeded.”
I spoke with Josh Anderson, aka Senior, to learn more about the project, what keeps the crew coming back, and what we can expect from their latest film, Way She Goes.
Good skiing and good company
The core Ski For The Love crew consists of Josh Anderson, Brandon Craddock, Jedidiah Kravitz, Alex “Shugz” Dorszynski, and filmmaker/editor Hazen Woolson, with friends such as Noah Gaffney, Trevor Semmens, and Connery Lundin joining them along the way. The goal is to make fun, upbeat films with good skiing to back them up. They draw inspiration from older Level 1 and Poor Boyz movies, where the personalities and soundtrack were part of what made you want to get out and ski.
“We have a good time and try and show people what it’s like out there.”
Hazen is the creative force behind the scenes, tasked with capturing the group’s personality, the skiing, and everything that happens in between. The goal is to give viewers the sense that they’re along for the ride with the crew, which shines through in all their movies. Josh credits Hazen with finding that balance: “He’s the maestro and the genius.”
The way she goes
The crew’s first project, Ski For The Love: Season 1, took a serialized approach with shorter installments. Their second, Home, Sick! Too Good To Leave, moved to a longer film format, with the crew staying close to home when Tahoe delivered a winter too good to leave. Mad Love followed, embracing the highs and frustrations of time in the mountains, from coordinating shots to getting deep into the backcountry. Last year’s Yard Sale took the crew from the Sierra through British Columbia and Alaska, with plenty of skiing and stories along the way.
The latest film is Way She Goes, a title fans of the raunchy Canadian TV show Trailer Park Boys will immediately recognize. (If you haven’t seen TPB, do yourself a favor and watch an episode or two, but be warned: it’s not safe for work.)
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
The title stemmed from a running response to the season’s setbacks. With an inconsistent winter in Tahoe, the crew needed to chase conditions and make the most of what they found. They rolled with the punches (way she goes) and got out far and wide, to Canada, Japan, Alaska, Argentina, and New Zealand. Josh is particularly stoked for viewers to see Noah Gaffney and Carson McCarron’s footage from Canada and Alaska, with epic lines and some absolute tomahawks.
And the crew didn’t have to look far to cast their version of the show. “Jed is obviously stupid sexy Julian,” Josh says. For the uninitiated, Julian is the character rarely seen without a glass of rum and Coke in his hand, even when everything around him is going sideways. Josh assures me the drinks in the film’s intro were alcohol-free - I remain skeptical.
Making room for their kind of ski movie
With GoPros and social media, putting out ski footage has become increasingly accessible, giving individual athletes and smaller crews a way to release their own edits and films. Twenty years ago, the fall ski-movie premiere was how we saw the biggest lines from the prior season. Nowadays, athletes are posting lines daily to Instagram.
While the big production companies still do a great job of bringing top athletes together to put down big lines and unique trips, SFTL and other smaller crews are finding their own audiences and connecting with their local communities. Josh sees that growing variety as one of the biggest changes in ski filmmaking: “Each athlete, each crew has an edit, has a movie.”
For SFTL, that has meant building recognition while keeping the project rooted in the people who started it. Josh credits consistent support from ON3P, Flylow, and Mountain Gazette, with Moment joining in, for helping them keep going. “The fact that people are still supporting us, we’re doing our best to take that and make something real out of it,” he says.
As for the long-term vision, Josh has some ideas he’s keeping to himself for now. The immediate goal is pretty straightforward:
“Just keep it alive as long as people are willing to do it.”
Bringing it home to Tahoe
For all the traveling, showing the finished film to a room full of Tahoe locals is something Josh looks forward to. Friends, families, and community members turn out at the Art Haus to see what the crew got up to, and the screenings have become their own fall gathering.
The earlier show tends to draw parents and kids. “Do our best not to swear at them too much,” Josh says. The later screening has a slightly different energy and, in true ski-community fashion, quite a thirst: “I think we’ve got the record for beer sales at the Art Haus.”
“We’ve had a really solid crew of friends and community members come out to support us at the Art Haus. It’s always a really good time.”
Way She Goes screens at Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema on Wednesday, October 21, at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. More information and tickets available here.
The crew then heads to Reno for Moment’s season kickoff party on Friday, October 23, with films from Britta, Tyler Curle, and Ski For The Love. Expect ski movies, raffle prizes (including a chance at new Moment skis), plenty of new gear to check out, and winter friends back in one place. Proceeds support The Holland Project.
Follow the crew on Instagram, and check out their spiffy new website: skiforthelove.com