Need something to look forward to now that Christmas is done? Check out the inspirational Warren Miller Ski Film Tour, coming to 10 different locations around the UK this January.
“Our mission is to get people excited about the start of the ski season!” says UK tour director Nell Teasdale.
This year’s Warren Miller film Here, There & Everywhere features floaty powder and epic lines everywhere from Alaska to Switzerland. But who’s the man behind these inspirational films?
Warren Miller is every bit as legendary as the 67 snowsports films in his name. Born in Hollywood in 1924, during the Depression, he got into the outdoors to escape from his dysfunctional home. Warren joined the Navy when America entered the Second World War, and with his Mustering-out Payment (given to US servicemen returning from WWII to help them restart their lives as civilians) he bought a movie camera and three rolls of film.
Warren then embarked on a four-season ski odyssey, including two years living in the car park of Sun Valley resort, Idaho, in a teardrop trailer with his ski buddy Ward Baker. Warren and Ward filmed each other skiing to improve their ski techniques, and during the summers they shifted to the California coast where they filmed each other surfing.
Warren would often show his skiing and surfing films to friends, making jokes about their exploits throughout the showing of the film. When he began to receive invitations to show and narrate his films at parties, it occurred to him that he could turn this hobby into a business. In 1950 he screened his first ski movie, called Deep and Light, which began his long-standing tradition of producing one feature-length film a year.
Warren showed the films in venues near ski resorts, so that he could film the next year’s footage during the day, and show the current film in the evening. Now 92, Warren appears in Here, There & Everywhere, still offering inspiration to the younger generations. What a hero.
The Warren Miller Ski Film Tour is showing around the UK this January. See www.warrenmiller.co.uk.
