1996 - Snowriders

FEATURED ATHLETE: JOHN EGAN

 
Name a person who inspires you to be a better skier?

Patrick Vallençant.

  
What would you do if you won the lottery? 

Ski my 7th continent (Africa) with my family, support YES (Youth Enrichment Services) even more, oh and buy Sugarbush.

 

Breakfast of champions?

A breakfast burrito on any first chair.

 
Favorite chairlift and why?

KT-22 (at Squaw). If it was the only chairlift on all of the mountain, I'd still go there, happily.

 
The most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this year? (books, podcasts, TV shows)

The Golden Spruce.

 
Ideal down day?

Spending time with my family, my wood stove, my wood shop and my dog.

 
Fictitious character you most identify with from a book, movie, etc. and why?

More animal, less fictions character. A sloth, my wife says I'm the fastest sloth she knows.

 
Favorite classic ski film and why?

Hot Dog. It's hilarious.  

 
Highlight memory from filming with WME for this year's film?

Catching up with old buddies (Scot Schmidt and Tom Day) in places we've skied for decades.

 

How do you think the year 2020 will shape the future of skiing?

I think more people will explore more of nature and strive to protect what we have.

 
Gear you are loving right now, on or off the ski slopes, and why?

Obermeyer lined flannel shirt/jacket. I wear it all the time. Otherwise my CRF 250 rips.

 

What is your vision for the future of skiing?

More meditation through movement. Feel the turn.

 

What is a cause you care about that you'd love to share with the Warren Miller audience?

YES (Youth Enrichment Services), Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, High Fives Foundation.

 

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Don't miss John in our 71st film, Future Retro, dropping Fall 2020 

Snowriders - 1996

Come along for an outrageously entertaining, trans-global adventure with the world’s hottest downhill skiers and snowboarders! Breathtaking vistas in the Rockies, Cascades, French Alps—even mainland China—provide spectacular settings for the most extreme slopes action ever captured on film! To the hot sounds of Big Head Todd and the Monsters and more, an unmatched array of world-class athletes—including Olympic Gold Medalist Jonny Moseley and Silver Medalist Billy Kidd—launch off cliffs, soar over moguls and carve up incredible steeps in search of the greatest thrill ride on snow! If you want fun and exciting action, hang on to your seat! Snowriders delivers everything you’ve come to expect from Warren Miller Entertainment…and more! 

 

FEATURED ATHLETE: JONNY MOSELEY 

 

 

Wish I could remember back that far. The photos are awesome. I do remember losing my sick Oakley blades I won when I was 10. Damn, I miss those still. I remember sleeping in the car a lot on long drives.

 

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?

Gold Medal

 

Any nicknames?

Jmo, JBAM, Slomo, Motown (Karaoke AE), Mozor, Kzor, Mose, Jonathan, Jonny F-in Moseley, Stinky

 

Favorite ski films?

Extreme Winter, Blizzard of Ahhhs, Degenerates, and Art of Flight.

 

 

Featured Athlete: JT Holmes 

 

 

Name a person who inspires you to be a better skier?

Shane McConkey (deceased), Timy Dutton (deceased), and Jeff Engergretson (alive and working for WME).

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Buy an airplane, payoff my families debts, then helicopter ski, or maybe purchase my own ski resort.

Breakfast of champions?

Breakfast sandwich from Wildflour Baking Company in Squaw Valley's Olympic House.

Favorite chairlift?

KT-22 at Squaw Valley.

The most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this year? (books, podcasts, TV shows)

Blitzed by Norman Ohler.

Fictitious character you most identify with from a book, movie, etc. and why?

James Bond because he uses clever pieces of gear to outwit his opponents with a confident swagger.

Highlight memory from filming with WME for this year's film?

Speedriding at Solitude right off the chairlift as well as in their nearly endless lift acccessed backcountry.

Gear you are loving right now, on or off the ski slopes, and why?

Alps & Meters Patrol knit sweater and their Alpine WInter Trouser. Both are warm, breathable and very stylish. I like their stuff because of the comfort and because I look different than anyone else on the mountain. I get compliments on my attire all day!

What is a cause you care about that you'd love to share with the Warren Miller audience?

Red Bull's Wings For Life. They raise money for spinal cord injury research.

How do you think the year 2020 will shape the future of skiing?

It was nice to stay at home and ski Squaw Valley rather than travel a bunch. COVID travel bans definitely had their silver linings.

What is your vision for the future of skiing & snowboarding?

I would like to see North American skiers and riders skiing with parachutes inbounds just like they do throughout Europe and Scandinavia. I have seen families of four with kids 11 and 14 speedriding like it is no big deal. In fact, it is not a difficult activity and it should not have the stigma of an extreme sport.

What do you do to calm your butterflies before a big line/moment?

Take slow deep breaths, then exhale with my lips softly closed but relaxed. This makes that horse like sound and flappy lip movement. If you are too tense to flap your lips, you should take a moment to calm down and push the fear aside.

Favorite classic ski film and why?

That is a tough one but it is hard to beat Hot Dog: The Movie. It is hilarious and captures the vibe of early days Squaw Valley freestyle skiing.

What makes the Warren Miller films different than other films you have done?

The cool thing about the Warren Miller program is the tours. Just the fact that it’s still based around having everybody in one room and you feel that energy and pre-season ski stoke, and that just really fires me up, to go and shoot stuff that I know is going to get people off their seats and just stoked.

So you have spent some time speed riding. Is it one of your favorite ways to ski?

Speed riding is adding a fourth dimension to skiing. Suddenly you're able to ski all sorts of places that otherwise aren't available, and you do that by flying over the sections that are un-skiable or even just undesirable to ski, and what that does is it allows you to just ski the highest quality ski experience, and then you're using the wind as transportation to the next high quality ski experience. It's almost gluttonous with the amount of fresh tracks we're able to get and the amount of fun we're able to have.

It's a pretty innovative way to ski, what motivates you to keep innovating?

First of all, it's just fun. Second, doing something new that is really uncommonly done or never done before, that adds kind of an exploration element to it where you feel like you're figuring something out and conquering new territory and it really kind of triggers a new type of motivation. You brainstorm something interesting to do and then you figure out what toys you need to bring or develop in order to make it possible and then when you do complete it, it's not only fun but also an accomplishment feeling. That's really what motivates me.

Anything you would say to someone looking to give speed riding a go?

Everybody needs to try speed riding. Put it on the bucket list and then scratch it off the bucket list and put it on the now list, because it’s just so dang fun. I know a lot about having fun - I'm an expert at having fun, and this is really fun. And it’s not that hard.

 

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Don't miss JT in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!