Alaska: Jess McMillan and Ingrid Backstrom

Jess McMillan and Ingrid Backstrom took a trip up to Points North Heli in Cordova, Alaska for the 2014 film, "No Turning Back". To this day, we remember how they conquered each line, making it look easy. 

When asked what the two women learned from each other while on this film shoot, Ingrid replied, "Jess is totally even-keeled and just a really strong, rad, smart person. It's refreshing to be around someone who's so comfortable in her own skin. She's always smiling and stoked, making conversation with anyone. I felt like I'd known her for a long time. Oh, and she loves to do air guitar. I'd be getting ready for bed and I'd be like, 'where's Jess?' I'd be in my pajamas and walk into the cafeteria and Jess would be in there with her skis on, standing on a table, doing air guitar. I don't know what time she'd come to bed, but then in the morning, she'd be up super early, ready to teach Pilates." 

Alaska: Lexi duPont, Amie Engerbretson, McKenna Peterson 

In 2015, Lexi duPont, Amie Engerbretson, McKenna Peterson traveled to Valdez, Alaska with Valdez Heli Ski Guides for the film, “Chasing Shadows”.

Lexi duPont had made the trip to Alaska for many years before this shoot. “No matter how many times you come up here, you’re always going to be blown away and humbled by these mountains,” said duPont. With only two open spots in the heli on the first day, duPont let Engerbretson and Peterson get their first taste of Alaska's big-mountain skiing. “She just wanted us to experience it,” said Peterson, “and she was as excited as we were to see us get that opportunity.”

Colorado: Wendy Fisher and Ingrid Backstrom

For the 2016 film “Here There and Everywhere”, Wendy Fisher showed Ingrid Backstrom some of her favorite stashes in her hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado.

As a mother of two racing boys, Fisher gave soon-to-be new mom Backstrom advice on raising the next generation: “Even though I’m a mom, I still feel that itch to ski a harder line and charge with the boys to show my sons that girls kick ass. It’s not a point that I try to make; it’s just staying true to me,” she said. She also said she loves seeing skiing through her kids’ eyes. “It brings it all back. It makes you reminisce about why you fell in love with skiing.”

Kashmir, India: Lynsey Dyer and Lel Tone 

In the 2011 film, “Like There’s No Tomorrow”, mountain icon Lel Tone and Lynsey Dyer traveled to Kashmir, India.   

Lynsey: “Our guides and the pilot showed us how close to the Pakistan border, and the Line of Control, we were about to ski—and said we were only about 40 clicks away from Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden was found.”

Lel: “We had to strategize a lot about where to fly the heli. Since the altitude is so high, the flight times are shorter, so we had to be pretty choosy about our first descents.”

Switzerland: Jess McMillan and Grete Eliassen

For the 2016 film, “Here, There & Everywhere”, Jess McMillan and Grete Eliassen headed to Andermatt/Verbier, Switzerland to take on some burly terrain.

“Skiing is not only my passion,” said McMillan. “It’s my life. It’s who I am.” This shoot wasn’t the Freeskiing World Tour champ’s first time commanding the peaks in Switzerland. She took second three years in a row at the Verbier Xtreme, one of the most prestigious freeride events in the sport. For six-time X Games medalist (two golds) Grete Eliassen, this was her second shoot with Warren Miller Entertainment. “I’m still pinching myself that I got to go on that trip.” 

Iceland: Julia Mancuso, Jess McMillan, Sierra Quitiquit

Julia Mancuso, Jess McMillan, and Sierra Quitiquit all traveled to Iceland’s Troll Peninsula for the 2013 film “Ticket to Ride". 

Writer Kim Beekman came along for the trip to cover the shoot: “’Three, two, one, dropping,’ Sierra’s voice crackled in the radio. She pointed her tips over the edge of the cornice, took a deep breath, and ripped the whole thing in three long arcs, throwing her arms up at the end and yelling something we cannot print on this website. These women, I had thought, are going to be who my daughter grows up watching.” 

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