2008 Woodie Awards
The hottest sport gets chilly in"First Descent"
Joel Roch
Issue date: 12/8/05 Section: A & E
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Throughout the past few years we have begun to see a growing interest in the histories of sports such as skateboarding, surfing, and now snowboarding. This is no surprise due to the ever-growing "extreme" sports industry that has swept the world.
These films tend to follow the same formula and systematically tell the story of their respective sports by showing interviews along with home video footage and photographs. Where Final Descent differs from these other movies is that it documents the travels of five individuals as they attempt to snowboard some of the last untouched mountains on earth.
The riders are a who's who of professional and past snowboarders. The list includes Shaun White, who is considered the best freestyle snowboarders in the world, Hannah Teter, and Terje Haakonsen who is also considered one of the best in the world. Also on the trip are Shawn Farmer and Nick Perata who are two of snowboarding's earliest pioneers.
The film chronologically tells the story of snowboarding's history and uses biographical segments on each of the five riders followed in the film.
The only problem with the film is that it seems to take itself too seriously. At one point there is talk about how snowboarding reignited interest in alpine sports and single handedly saved the ski industry. While snowboarding has certainly helped the industry, it is hard to say that it actually saved it.
The film also includes interviews with many of those within the snowboarding community who helped it to take off in the early years along with those who are currently helping to continue the legacy of the early riders.
One aspect of the film, which came as a surprise, was what each rider expected from the journey to Alaska. For some this was their first experience with riding anything even close to the size of the mountains in Alaska, for others this was another chance to ski untouched lands.
One such story is that of Shaun White. White has won several Winter X-Games gold medals and is considered by most to be the best freestyle snowboarder. When it comes to big mountain riding however, White did not feel as confident. He explained how this was a learning experience for him and it was a chance to try something new in a sport that he thought he had mastered.
The sequences that show the riders carve down the sides of the mountain are breathtaking. At the end of the film the most skilled of the boarders, Terje Haakonsen, is filmed taking the first run on a mountain face, which is 7,000 feet tall.
While clocking in at an hour and fifty minutes may be a little bit much for those just interested in seeing some spectacular snowboarding footage the time and money spent are well worth it.