The snow guns have been fired at River Run, which is a sure sign winter is on its way. For those of us who live for winter mountain sports, the latest Warren Miller film, "Children of Winter Never Grow Old," will not only make you feel young but eager to hit the slopes. Even better, this 59th film from Warren Miller Entertainment has a stellar sequence on Sun Valley with a history of the Harriman Cup and a look at the present with coverage of last spring's 48 Straight event.
"Children of Winter" will screen at the Sun Valley Opera House on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, at 6 and 9 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 2, at 4 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 plus tax and can be purchased at the door or the Sun Valley Recreation Center office, as well as at Sturtevants in Hailey and Ketchum.
The film calls Sun Valley "the birthplace of the American ski resort and the birthplace of the American ski resort party." Competitive skiing is a celebration of mountain life, and those on the winter sports competition circuit have defined the adage, "work hard, play hard," which can be seen in all the footage from 48 Straight in Sun Valley. Sun Valley's own Reggie Crist introduces the segment with a brief history of the coveted Harriman Cup, brought back from retirement for the skiercross winner.
Watch Colby West, Peter Olenick and Seth Wescott go extreme at the Warm Springs halfpipe, on Dollar Mountain's demanding skier- and snowboard-cross course and relive the Michael Franti and Spearhead concert staged in the middle of Ketchum.
"Children of Winter" explores all of last winter's big snow with Daron Rahlves in the Austrian Alps, Jenn Berg in Utah, Kevin Quinn in Cordova, Alaska, Gerry Lopez in Bend, Ore., and Johnny Mosley with Takehiro Sakamoto in Sapporo and Hokkaido, Japan.
Enjoy some girl time with Wendy Fisher, Rachael Burks, Grete Eliassen, Yukon Kornelius and hometown favorite Lynsey Dyer playing and jumping in Crested Butte, Colo. And if the backcountry bug hasn't bitten you yet, it might when you get a chance to see the Silverton, Colo., backcountry resort. Maybe backcountry snowboarding is more your style—if so, you won't want to miss JJ Thomas, who makes it look way too easy.
"Children of Winter" has some spectacular scenic footage from all of its destinations, but the most captivating is in Iceland. Though skiing and sailing are not usually two sports associated with each other, in Iceland it works. Jeff Annetts, Derk Foose and Sun Valley native Drew Stoecklein explore Iceland on the 60-foot Aurora, a type of mobile backcountry hut.
"It was an amazing trip out there and traveling around the country," Stoecklein said. "Every place we stopped, we thought it was the most amazing place we had ever been."
Stoecklein said the only boats he had been on were at Redfish Lake. Within two weeks of a call from Warren Miller Entertainment, Stoecklien arrived in Iceland and began sailing.
"We would spot a line from the boat and figure out where the sun was setting and row ashore," Stoecklein said. "Iceland has open faces and all the terrain like any other mountains, only we could ski right to the water."
Stoecklein has been going to school at Montana State University in Bozman and studied photography and film, which is no surprise given that his father is Sun Valley's national award-winning photographer, David Stoecklein. He is on the U.S. freestyle ski tour and said he still has posters of Warren Miller films all over his bedroom walls, and it's funny to finally be in a Warren Miller movie.
This year the film is dedicated to pro extreme skier Billy Poole, who died after a cliff jump in Utah while filming with Warren Miller Entertainment. The Billy Poole Memorial Fund has been set up to honor the life and memory of the big-mountain skier, and the charity introduces youth to skiing and outdoor programs. Donations to the fund may be sent to: The Park City Foundation, c/o Billy Poole Memorial Fund, Box 4631, Missoula, MT 59806.
Photo by Gene Dwarkin
Sun Valley native Drew Stoecklein skis Iceland.
