by Karl Fostvedt

If there’s anything we can be certain of, it’s that Seattle loves Poor Boyz. The world premiere of PBP’s latest offering, Tracing Skylines, went off Friday night at the Neptune Theater, and by the time the doors opened at 8:00 p.m. the line to get into the venue was halfway down the block.

Once inside, anxious filmgoers were greeted by former PBP star Jon McMurray, a.k.a. McFee, on the microphone, who rapped his latest hits. McFee tore up the stage as folks filed in for autographed posters and free swag courtesy of their favorite pros. The atmosphere was awesome—Seattle’s ski community was more than stoked to embrace the first viewing of what many are calling Poor Boyz’s finest film since Reasons.

Neptune Theater, Seattle, WA

By 9:00 the theater was packed to the brim. The classic PBP logo—that we all know and love—panned across the screen as the lights dimmed. It was made clear from the first segment of the movie that PBP had taken a very unique direction with Tracing Skylines. This was a very special moment, for myself in particular, because I was involved as an athlete, and also in the editing of this film; this is the most involved I’ve ever been with a major film production.

I spent June and July at the Poor Boyz office in Hermosa Beach so that I could be more involved in the production. When I left Hermosa at the end of July I knew that the crew was on a good track with Tracing Skylines. The attention to detail was superb, and the finishing touches that were added to the film after I left were magnificent. The artwork in particular is real’ sick.

When the Detroit segment began rolling, I was overflowed with stoke. As with the rest of the various parts, the Seattle crowd went wild during this particular segment. Our goal with this portion of the film was to challenge the conventional way of hitting urban, and judging by the crowd reactions, we did just that.

Packed house inside the Neptune

The film was followed by a blur of madness as most everyone at the show reconvened at Dante’s Bar for the afterparty. McFee put on a bonus performance at the bar—the personalized show was a perfect treat for all of the stoked fans in attendance.

From here, PBP’s Tim Sorenson will be taking the movie all across the western U.S. with major showings going down in Bozeman, Missoula, Spokane, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Boise, and Whistler. Tracing Skylines will also being playing Saturday, September 14 at iF3 Montreal. If you can’t make it to any of those showings, stay tuned for the iTunes release of Tracing Skylines that will be available in the very near future. You don’t want to miss this offering.

[Ed’s note: Stay tuned for the feature story about the Detroit trip, dropping in the October issue of Freeskier.]