Good Morning from day 2 at IF3, here in sunny Montreal. The second day promises to be just as ski star studded as the first but before we jump into today’s events, here’s a quick recap from yesterday.
Friday saw the gathering of countless ski stars on the red carpet in front of Cinema Imperial in downtown Montreal. Outside, was filled with Red Bull and free shwag goodness, inside, the VIP cocktail party was underway. Boreale provided complimentary beer that went down smoother than a milkshake on your tenth birthday! Numerous pro skiers, including the new self proclaimed Prime Minister, Scott Hibbert, were seen double fisting throughout the party. As the cocktail party raged on, more and more people were filing into the theater. Simon Dumont showed up repping his new company, Empire. Stay tuned for more information on Simon’s latest venture. The strongest presence of the party however, was ski legend Glen Plake, in full Mohawk, chatting it up with the partygoers. Yesterday saw the world premieres from Stept Productions, Montage Inc., and Field Productions. The Norwegian based Field Productions made left a strong impression on the IF3 crowd, showcasing some of Europe’s best talent, slaying it in both the park and the backcountry.
Next it was onto the Pro category. Theory 3’s Jeff Thomas hopped on stage and presented his latest flick, PNW. This film garnered loud cheers for it’s deep and steep, jib filled adventure. One of the more anticipated films of the evening was Realtime, this year’s Level 1 film. Wow. Wow. Wow. Berman and crew stepped it up this year with a new formula for their film, chronicling their season month by month, session by session. Check out the helicopter shoot in the Keystone. Trust me.
After a short half hour break, it was time for Eric Iberg’s Idea. No film in recent memory has captured the true essence of skiing in the way this film has. After the showing, I heard numerous, “That made me want to go skiing” and “How long till winter?” comments. If this is his last film, Iberg went out in style and on top. Check out this film, it’ll make you proud to be a skier.
The last film on Friday night was Save, from Plehouse. The film focuses on the effects of global warming and is a sort of call to arms in order to slow down the negative impact global warming is having on the ski industry.
After five hours of ski film madness, everyone was anxious to get his or her drink on if they hadn’t already. The crowd moved to the K2 party at the Lola Lounge. Red Bull and vodkas were downed in typical ski party style. Most of the chatter in the crowd was focused on the day’s films or the upcoming season. Drinks were downed, boots were shot (see photo), and the crowd at the Lola Lounge partied into the early morning.
Today’s events promise to be more intense than yesterdays, featuring showings from Meatheads, Rage, Poor Boyz, TGR all leading up to Tanner Hall’s Believe. The night ends with a rager of party at Club Soda. The Newschoolers Awards kick off at 10 tonight featuring the musical stylings of Kid Koala. If you’re in driving distance, start the car, get here, and party with the best in the ski biz. IF3 2007 – Makin’ it rain.