The Art of Flight Page #3

---

But the danger is always there.

We are in an environment that has

snow, steep slopes,

and if that's all we had, there'd be no problem.

But as soon as we introduce

man and his toys

into that avalanche triangle,

then we have the avalanche hazard.

That would've been us, dude.

Avalanches were just popping, popping, popping, popping!

Everything that we are touching is avving.

You need to know that it's not just snowboarding.

You learn to ride some fun stuff, some good stuff

and push yourself, but at the same time you're gonna risk the mountain.

It's always this border line

respect relationship that you have to have with the mountain

because the minute you stop respecting the mountains,

that's when things just go bad.

Some of these avalanche accidents

are not these magnificent, large slopes

that have these great powder clouds and

overwhelm everybody, but they are very small slopes.

Ready for this, Marcus?

We are good to go.

You're excited for your run,

but at the same time, those conditions, it's like, "All right,

"well, have a good one, I hope I see you at the bottom."

- Dude, have fun.

- All right, I'm ready.

Go ahead, buds.

Mark's down, Mark's down. Eyes on him, eyes on him.

I got him.

Oh, sh*t.

Mark, are you good?

I don't know what's going on down there. Scott?

Yeah, this is stupid.

We can't f***ing push this sh*t.

We know everything is f***ing popping.

Well, dude, I'm glad you're all right.

Kind of how it goes out there sometimes.

Always trying to be as careful as we can

and, at the same time, push it

which is how you find yourself in these situations sometimes.

We'd pushed our luck quite a bit on the trip as it was.

I think that was the final piece where we decided to call it.

Glad to hear you are okay, buddy.

Yes, glad to see you, too, Ken.

Nasty, eh?

Yeah, it could have been a little worse.

That's what snowboarding is. It's just a constant search

and it's a constant struggle to find the best pow, the best lines.

That's what keeps us coming back year after year.

As it always goes, not completely satisfied with...

the snowboarding we were able to do

but something's got leave you hungry for the next time.

That felt good.

You could say that snowboarding is like church to me,

like church is what it is for other people.

Snowboarding down the mountain

is like flying.

It feels like...

..there is no friction, I actually feel like...

It feels like flying.

Despite riding through one the most aggressive avalanche circles we have ever seen,

we decided to head back north to Canada.

With time, the mountains can heal themselves.

That's what we were hoping for.

I think the reason you never give up

is because you know...

we dedicate enough time, eventually,

you're gonna get it good.

And I guess that's where we find our passion

in this never ending gamble of this so-called sport,

Snowboarding is more than just a sport.

There's the mountain, there's you,

and you pick your own line.

It's your soul

that... that does that and...

that always feels good.

When a human being can be creative,

it's... that's...

..when really anything is possible.

Yeah, Nico!

Yeah!

Wild man.

All right, Nico, ready?.

Ready.

Oh, my god.

All right, Travis. dropping in...

..three, two, one.

- Yeah, good.

- Holy sh*t!

So what you think you would've done if you didn't become a snowboarder?

Did your career path lined up before you were pro?

Well, I was on this super intense career path to be a...

..a world-class dirtbag.

I hated school.

I mean, I knew like so early on, by, like 12 years old,

for sure, I was like, "I'm living in the snow and I'm gonna be riding everyday."

That's a pretty worthy little spine wall back there.

Yeah, you like that? Cool.

I mean, spines is what we do backflips for.

It just continues to blow me away that

you know, 25 years in, I'm...

amping as ever to go snowboard.

The mountains are serious

and they are serious for anyone getting into the backcountry.

And I have seen that, over the years, you learn.

It's not just going and riding and crazy stuff,

It's not just with film crews,

it's like you are in mountains, you're in the backcountry,

you are putting yourself at risk

and no one is above the law.

Blind rollers, here we go again.

Good jump. Keep your tips up.

Yeah, Jeremy, it's beautiful.

Yeah, Rice, snow's rippable, slash's pretty manageable.

Get out of town!

Dude, you've got be kidding me.

That is the future and the future is now.

Ridiculous.

It was really cool being out there this morning with Travis.

He's better every time I ride with him.

Every time I ride with him,

he's doing stuff that I've never seen anyone else in the world do.

And it's pretty much the best snowboarding I've ever seen.

And that's...

..every day with Travis Rice.

Nice.

All right, Let's slip. bump up, warm-up run.

Hit it.

When it comes down to it,

it's pretty simple.

Adventure is what you make it.

And whether it's the travel,

the discovery,

or just the feeling of letting go,

the only way we will ever find out

is to get out there and do it.

Enjoy the ride.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes