Power of Snow, People in Focus

There was some debate over whether to cut the segment filmed in Iran before Sept. 11, but ultimately the Warren Miller team decided to run with it--and it has no regrets.

In fact, the sequence showing Chris Anthony, Spencer Wheatley and Dean Cumming mingling in the streets of Tehran and carving up the slopes of the local ski resort is considered an ideal capper to the latest Miller production, “Cold Fusion--The Power of Snow.”

“At the screening in Boulder, [Colo.], a crowd of 1,200 gave a standing ovation, they were so touched by the film and the ending,” said Kurt Miller, son of Warren and the executive producer of Warren Miller Entertainment. “It was giving me chills.”

In defense of his keeping a segment showing the Americans smoking, smiling and, of course, skiing with the people of Iran at such a precarious time, Miller added, “We are not ABC. We are Warren Miller Films and what we do is shoot people in the mountains, who love the mountains and who ride down the sides of those mountains.”

If nothing else, the film pointed out what a lot of people didn’t know: that Iran has snow!

Anthony, Wheatley and Cumming were welcomed with open arms, but they were fortunate to have gotten out of the country alive--and you’ll know what we mean when you check out the rickety helicopters that delivered them atop the snowy peaks.

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Another winter season is upon us and, thus, so is another Warren Miller film, which is making the rounds.

“Cold Fusion” is the 52nd such production and it does its usual good job of stoking the fire burning within skiers and snowboarders as they eagerly await the whitening of their world.

Miller calls “Cold Fusion” the best Miller film yet, but he says that every year.

However, this is a good one. It is expertly edited around a sound track woven ideally around each sequence; sequences featuring everything from spectacular big-mountain conquests to back-country expeditions to exotic locales such as Kenya and Iran.

The film takes viewers on a tour beginning in Verbier, Switzerland, with renowned skiers Seth Morrison, Glen Plake and Shane Szocs. It continues into Alaska and the heli-skiing paradise offered by the Chugach Mountains, and on to such destinations as Brighton, Utah; Whistler, British Columbia, and Winter Park, Colo.

At Winter Park, during a big-air exhibition last spring, Matt Chojnacki set a freestyle aerial world record with a “quad-quad,” or four back flips with four twists. It was the first time anyone had tried the incredibly difficult trick on snow and he nailed it. It was captured by Miller’s crew and it’s certainly one of the film’s highlights.

The second record captured by Miller’s cameramen was even more impressive: a 41-second free fall, while dressed in a flying suit, by BASE jumper Dave Barlia off the Eiger in Switzerland.

That comes immediately before the Iran segment entitled “Bridging Cultural Gaps on Skis,” which includes the closing narration by Warren Miller:

“What these people really say is ... ‘Welcome.’ What they do is work to better their world. And what they love are the mountains.”

What did not make the cut was the rest of the sentence:

“Had we known these people and this place, there would never have been a reason to fear them, because as Hannes Schneider said after the first World War, ‘If everyone skied, there would be no wars.”’

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Southland “Cold Fusion” dates: Sunday at 7 p.m. at Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa; Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Long Beach State; Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. at the Pasadena Civic Center; Dec. 2 at 5 and 8 p.m. at Laguna Beach High; Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. at Redondo High in Redondo Beach; Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. at Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks, and Dec. 8 at Wadsworth Theater in Brentwood. Admission ranges from $14.50 to $16 and includes a free lift ticket (with restrictions) and a discount certificate for Sports Chalet. Details: https://www.warrenmiller.com.

Be Dazzled

It is indeed the season to be hyping....

As California resort operators wait for more snow and as they try to make their own in preparation for openers, or to expand their limited terrain, the buildup of a new season continues in, of all places, the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

“Ski Dazzle,” the nation’s largest ski and snowboard consumer show, begins a four-day run Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The annual extravaganza features more than 360 exhibit booths and representatives of more than 85 resorts. Sales, seminars, clinics and even free lessons will be offered daily.

Admission is $12 and includes a lift ticket (with restrictions) to Big Bear Mountain. Admission is $3 for children 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. Details: https://www.skidazzle.com.

Meanwhile, Up High

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area opened the top of its mountain last week, marking the first expansion of terrain since it opened Broadway Express on Nov. 8. Face Lift Express and Chair 23 also opened, enabling top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding. Discovery Chair, servicing beginner terrain, also opened.

Local resort operators have been busy making improvements for the new season. Among them, new terrain parks at Mountain High in Wrightwood and Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake.

Mountain High spent $2.5 million on improvements, including the purchase of new grooming equipment, the moving of the quad chair Mt. High Express to a more strategic location and a new learning center as part of an ongoing remodeling of East Resort.

Snow Summit, voted to have the No. 1 terrain park in North America by readers of Transworld Snowboarding magazine, has added East Why Superpark to complement Ego Trip Superpark.

Summit also boosted its snowmaking capability by nearly 20%.

Nearby Big Bear Mountain spent $1 million during the off-season, most going to the purchase of 16 energy-efficient snow-blowing guns.

The resort also hired as consultants noted terrain park designers Keith Pfahler and Michael Binnel.

Snow Valley in Running Springs has renovated its restaurants and upgraded its menus, and hopes to have its new terrain park open by mid-December.

In hopes of capitalizing on the hype generated by Ski Dazzle, Snow Valley is offering lift-ticket package discounts of 25-30% Nov. 29-Dec. 2.