Squaw Valley, CA
Doug Rotz
Chambersburg, PA & Alpine Meadows, CA
Village Ski Loft - Incline Village, NV
2021 Winter Starts Now
All my male and female ski buddies that create a group energy that cannot help but keep me psyched and on my game.
Winter sports and really all sports should be accessible for the disabled. When I see the smiles on the faces of those people making their first turns I am truly inspired. I also cannot stay enough about the professionalism of the Palisades Tahoe Ski Patrol. They should have the finest equipment available to keep us all safe.
A cup of Joe with friends and the great staff of the Members Locker Room at Palisades Tahoe and then any bowl of my mountain filled with snow flakes, of course, and topped with big dollops of powdered sugar and a “latte” of that all day long!
KT-22 aka “The Mothership” at Palisades Tahoe. The diversity of challenging pistes, varied exposures and conditions, offers skiers and riders the most awesome 1800 ft. of vertical they could want.
I’m interested in anything to do with science and the Universe and the new discoveries being made every day. A first descent of Olympus Mons on Mars is a dream I have. At 20 miles high and ruby red snow, a nonstopper would make an entire WME movie!
James Bond. He gets a lot of action in all regards.
I enjoyed getting up on the mountain before the general public and reveling in the beauty and quiet serenity of a ski area getting prepared for a day of joyous activity and, of course, getting some freshies with the cameras rolling.
Volkl skis, Salomon skis and bindings, Helly Hansen clothing, and the great Arc’teryx pants and jackets that really keep me dry on the wet days.
I care about the environment. Litter is offensive. The beauty of nature cannot be enjoyed if we have little respect for it.
How do you think the year 2020 will shape the future of skiing?
Besides the mask mandate I was extremely impressed with the actions taken by the employee and staff of my mountain. Courtesy ruled and I am proud of each and every employee that enabled Palisades Tahoe to stay open for the entire season.
The popularity of skiing/riding is definitely on the rise, good for the industry but not without an impact on those of us who enjoyed less crowded slopes and facilities. Less expensive pass prices have had a big impact as well. Uphill capacity, always an issue, shorter lift lines, ease of access to and from the mountain, upgrades to lifts and infrastructure, and mountain safety, are issues that must be addressed by the industry to reduce the frustrations of the ever increasing customer base.
I really enjoy “Hot Dog..The Movie”. Filmed at Squaw Valley and the local Tahoe area, many of its cast of talented characters are people I still ski with. It stands out as a cult classic on par with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
-
Don't miss Doug in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!
Chris Delumyea
Plattsburgh, New York
FEATURED ATHLETE: CHRIS DELUMYEA
Guests will need to make reservations!
Day Dreams. The first movie to show the Palisades at Squaw Valley.
-
Don't miss Chris in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!
Karsten Hart
Mill Valley, CA
2021 Winter Starts Now
FEATURED ATHLETE: KARSTEN HART
My Mom and Dad.
Invest it…well, most of it. An Audi R8 would definitely be one of those investments.
Gumins Smoothie.
KT-22 in Squaw…there are so many lines and variety that you can hot lap over and over and over. It never gets boring.
OBX Season 2 of course.
Lightning McQueen….”Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Brekkie could be good for me. No, no, no, focus. Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning.”
Listening, in disbelief, to a voicemail from Tom Day that we should go skiing together.
My bike and surfboard. Santa Cruz V10 and my Lost Mayhem. The perfect compliments to snow.
Children’s health care in Zimbabwe, specifically the Harare Children’s Hospital Relief Fund, a project created by my teammate, Parker Gumins.
So many things were…awkward. Travel, distancing, wearing masks on chairlifts, no Dave’s Deli. But, the snow still fell and some amazing days were had.
Skiing is too amazing for people not to experience. I’d love to see it become more accessible and affordable for everyone around the world…but we’d need to figure out the lift lines.
Channel Wim Hof. Get a few quick breaths in and send it.
Blizzard of AAHHHs. It was a game changer. Super raw, different, and it pulled together three legends that I can relate to independently but that I want to emulate as one.
-
Don't miss Karsten in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021
Cheryl Varner
Tacoma, WA
Featured Athlete: Cheryl Varner
If I won the lottery I would take a group of my close ski buddies for 2 weeks to Las Lenas, Argentina, my 2nd most favorite ski area. Gotta love the Marta chairlift
The best place in Olympic Valley to get that breakfast of champions is the Wildfour Baking Co. because everything is made from scratch with the best ingredients.
My favorite chairlift is KT22, at Squaw Valley because it has everything. The diversity of this chair is beyond compare. For over 20 years now I have made it my mission to be1st on the KT chair on a powder day. That 1st run can be the best thing on the planet.
Some of my fondest memories of filming for this WME film was the peace and tranquility of being on the mountain before any of the public and making new ski friends. One morning we were up on Granite Chief Peak. The wind was howling and the powder was deep and it was all ours, for at least one run. It was awesome to get to ski for Tom Day and his crew.
I super love my Volkl Secrets. They are super versatile and quick to respond. I have been on Volkl skis for years and years. Same goes for my Atomic boots. My feet are always warm and happy.
There is a cause that I’ve held dear to my existence for over 50 years and that is “STOP LITTERING”. I cannot believe that in this day and age that littering is still a major issue. I thought that after a couple of decades of our youth being taught the importance of caring for our planet that it would be second nature to everyone that we need to take care of our planet first and foremost.
The longer lift lines created by “covid spacing” and the number of folks on each chair actually turned out a benefit. Fewer people were on any run at any given time. That was sweet.
My vision for skiing and snowboarding is a culture, an industry and a community of inclusion. I hope that rather than our sport becoming more exclusive, that we can grow the sport to include more and more people, sharing the joy of the mountains and sliding on snow with as many people as possible. I believe there is plenty of powder to go around for everyone!
To calm myself before any big venture, be it competing in the bumps 35 years ago or stomping in front of a camera, I sing a song to myself . This seems to center my energy and calm my nerves.
-
Don't miss Cheryl in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021
Connery Lundin
Hometown?
Oakland, California
Home Mountain?
Palisades Tahoe
Current Location?
Olympic Valley, CA
Warren Miller Films:
2019 Timeless
2021 Winter Starts Now
2022 Daymaker
2024 75
FEATURED ATHLETE: CONNERY LUNDIN
Marcus Caston. And anyone doing it with a fat smile on their face. The best skier is the one having the most fun.
Silverton Segment with Andy Mahre & Pep Fujas "Children of Winter" - 2008
KT-22 at Squaw Valley. From the top of KT you can access so much terrain.
Shredding in a big group with your friends, skiing fast, not stopping, pushing each other, leaving your comfort zone and throwing out high fives after.
Errol Kerr
Birthplace? Brooklyn, New York
Home Mountain? Squaw/Alpine
First job? Mowing the neighbors' lawns.
Best way to spend your down days? Find something fun to do with friends. Also, I love spending time in my workshop.
Headshot via Facebook
What is your number one goal in skiing/riding right now?
Ski hard and fast, and be a positive role model for others on the mountain.
Current favorite piece of gear?
Boots. Once you get a good boot setup that you like and feel comfortable in, it makes everything else come together.
Best advice you were ever given?
Ski fast, take chances.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from watching other sports, and I like to see how I can apply those techniques to skiing. Also, there is something powerful about standing on the top of a mountain all by yourself, getting ready to ski.
What is your greatest fear?
Really high old chairlifts freak me out.
Best moment filming with WME this year?
By far, my best moment was a day we had in Silverado at Squaw Valley USA. We had the place to ourselves for the whole day. I got to go through my list of lines that I have always wanted to ski.
Wendy Fisher
Any nicknames? Fish (during my ski racing days)
Birthplace? Woodland, CA
Home Mountain? Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Hero in Skiing: Shane McConkey
Heros in Life: My parents, for staying strong and positive about skiing after the death of my brother from a ski accident.
You're on a hut trip: no phone, no internet, no tv. What board game is your go-to? Backgammon
Reading any good books right now? The book Wonder was a great read to my kids, unfortunately I don't get much reading in for myself. I have been trying to get through Top Dog.
Favorite ski film? Oh man, I am not good at remembering every ski movie. Not sure if "McConkey" is a "ski movie" but it was very inspirational.
Current favorite piece of gear? Why?
This one is really hard for me to answer. All my gear items are equally important, but I will have to say my POC Mitts are the most important. If my hands are cold, at all, then I struggle to enjoy myself skiing. My favorite non-skiing related gear is my new DJ controller to play music.
How do you like spending your down days?
If I have nothing pressing to get done then I like to be with my kids, Aksel and Devin. Playing and hanging out with them is the best, the ultimate being a ski day.
Fondest memory from learning to ski or ride?
Skiing on the Squaw Valley ski team with my two brothers, Mark and Craig. I fell in love with skiing by following them wherever they would go and try doing whatever they would do.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I don't know if I am talented, because I still have a lot to learn, but I like to DJ.
What would your superpower be?
Mental strength, the use of willpower to overcome physical problems.
Spirit animal?
Otter
What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
Being an Olympian.
Any pre-riding or skiing rituals or superstitions?
No, I have never let myself get caught up in any of that.
Do you have any pets? What are their names?
One cat and her name is Snowball. Can you guess what color she is?
Can you speak any other languages? What other languages would you like to learn?
I took German, but never really learned it. I would love to learn another language, but first need to get better at my own!
What is your biggest goal/something you hope to achieve in your ski career?
I have never been one to set goals or have aspirations of any kind. My path has always been led by instinct and my heart, followed up by, working my hardest at whatever it is I get involved in.
Amie Engerbretson
Squaw Valley
Truckee, CA
Squaw Valley
Spyder, K2 Skis, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Scott Sports, Stanley PMI and Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows
2015 Chasing Shadows
2017 Line of Descent
2018 Face of Winter
2019 Timeless
2020 Future Retro
2021 Winter Starts Now
Featured Athlete: Amie Engerbretson
My dad! He is a great skier, my favorite ski partner and as he always likes to point out, he did it on skinny skies, so it should be easy for me!
Invent (okay find someone to invent) an electric helicopter and then take all my friends heli-skiing all the time!
Sourdough toast with extra butter. Whatever else you want to pair with it is great, but good sourdough with good butter is a must!
KT-22, duh! (at Squaw) It's my favorite because it is the best chairlift on the planet! The terrain access is amazing, fall line, steep skiing. No hiking, sidestepping or mega traversing necessary. The lift access multiple aspects which is great for spring skiing as well because you just follow the sun to ski great snow all day long.
I have been on a documentary kick lately... my top three are The Fantastic Fungi, Biggest Little Farm and Miss Americana (the T-Swift doc, oh ya!).
I love to sleep in and enjoy a long morning with great coffee (and heavily buttered sourdough toast of course) on a down day. Beyond that I love spending down days with my dog Bill, snuggling and playing. If I can find a killer massage or a great bubble bath, then I am the happiest girl in the world!
I mean Carrie Bradshaw duh! No idea why, other than I want to! "Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous!" - Carrie Bradshaw
We scored the day of my dreams in Engelberg this year. My first trip as a professional skier was to Engelberg about 8 years ago. I have wanted to go back ever since and more specifically I have wanted to shoot with Oskar Enander at Engelberg. Well my dreams came true and we had a spectacular blue bird pow day! Oskar showed us all the goods and you know we got some banger shots!
I am obsessed with my new Spyder Solitaire Kit. I have been working with Spyder for a few years on the new Big Mountain Freeski line and we released the second generation of the Solitaire jacket and bibs and I couldn’t love them more. The kit has a great practical, athletic fit but is still super flattering and comfortable. We changed a few of the details of the garments, upgraded a few things and I love where we are at. The kit is Goretex pro and I LOVE the new colors!
POW! Also known as Protect Our Winters. Keeping our planet, our climate and our winters alive and well for generations to come is cause that all of use, lovers of the mountains, can come together on. Check it out and find out how you can help!
This year was different in so many ways and I have to say I have never been more grateful for a ski season. Skiing was the first thing I got to do that felt normal in a long time and while I didn’t travel like normal, I still found great snow and had epic days in the mountains with friends.
My vision for skiing and snowboarding is a culture, an industry and a community of inclusion. I hope that rather than our sport becoming more exclusive, that we can grow the sport to include more and more people, sharing the joy of the mountains and sliding on snow with as many people as possible. I believe there is plenty of powder to go around for everyone!
Ski Movie 1. I am not sure it qualifies as a classic but it has been my favorite for most of my life. The skiing is killer of course and I love the way all the athletes play a character and you get see their silly and goofy side. To me skiing is fun and I love movies that show that!
-
Don't miss Amie in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!
JT Holmes
Squaw Valley
Red Bull, Squaw Valley, Polaris RZR, BFGoodrich
2009 Dynasty
2013 Ticket to Ride
2014 No Turning Back
2015 Chasing Shadows
2017 Line of Descent
2021 Winter Starts Now
Featured Athlete: JT Holmes
Shane McConkey (deceased), Timy Dutton (deceased), and Jeff Engergretson (alive and working for WME).
Buy an airplane, payoff my families debts, then helicopter ski, or maybe purchase my own ski resort.
Breakfast sandwich from Wildflour Baking Company in Squaw Valley's Olympic House.
KT-22 at Squaw Valley.
Blitzed by Norman Ohler.
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.
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!
Red Bull's Wings For Life. They raise money for spinal cord injury research.
It was nice to stay at home and ski Squaw Valley rather than travel a bunch. COVID travel bans definitely had their silver linings.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
-
Don't miss JT in our 72nd film, Winter Starts Now, dropping Fall 2021!