Words provided by Luka Starmer

On Friday, October 17, The High Fives Foundation premiered its latest B.A.S.I.C.S. documentary titled “#KnowYourPark” at a hip outdoor cinema in downtown Truckee, California. A couple hundred local supporters showed up with a collective eagerness for the oncoming winter, all utterly stoked to catch the first glimpse of the newest High Fives project.

This year, the High Fives Foundation chose terrain-park safety as the focus for its B.A.S.I.C.S. program (an acronym standing for Being Aware & Safe In Critical Situations). The film breaks terrain park safety into five core values: Know Your Protection, Know Your Conditions, Know Your Terrain Park Features, Know Your Progression and Know Your Etiquette.

The cinematic presentation of #KnowYourPark is stylish, tactful and unlike any of the safety talks that have fallen on deaf ears for generations of teenage park rats. The film is completely different than the colloquial “safety meetings” hosted on tailgates in resort parking lots.

Truckee local Jake Perkins said, “It’s always cool seeing what the High Fives crew puts together every year. They’re able to teach important lessons for skiers and snowboarders, but they use the same ski movie style that we all love watching.” Perkins is 23 years old and grew up skiing at Squaw Valley.

Roy Tuscany, High Fives Foundation Executive Director, said at the premiere, “Our goal is simple: encouraging terrain park safety and smart decision-making demonstrated by the five core values shown in the film.”

The B.A.S.I.C.S. program designed to promote safety for skiers and riders based on one educational topic per year. High Fives will spend the winter touring the country presenting the film to schools, ski clubs and industry professionals—an undertaking of High Fives’ vision to be “the safety-net of the winter action sports community.” Last year’s topic was helmets. The year before that was avalanche safety. All of the documentaries are available on the High Fives Vimeo page.

Celebrated Tahoe skier JT Holmes has been a colossal proponent of the B.A.S.I.C.S. program since its creation in 2012. He describes the program as, “A platform for further, safer progression and a way to catch athletes before they crash.”

Olympic Bronze Medalist Nick Goepper came out for the premiere, as well. Goepper is featured in a couple of segments throughout the film, flashing his recognizable steeze and weighing in about the perspective of terrain park safety at the most elite levels.

Nick Goepper in attendance at the #KnowYourPark premiere

“I’m really excited to be here for the #KnowYourPark premiere,” said the 20-year-old Völkl skier. “I think terrain park safety is a huge deal that shouldn’t be overlooked.” Goepper signed autographs and hung out with the crowd all evening.

Throughout the premiere, the High Fives Foundation also showed two of its previously released athlete films, The Cody Walker Story and The Giray Dadali Story. The films chronicle two life-altering injuries sustained in the terrain park by both Walker and Dadali. The films also highlight the recovery process and the assistance provided by the High Fives Foundation for each incident. Both Cody Walker and Giray Dadali are featured in #KnowYourPark, as well.

Among the skiers and riders in the audience was an 8-and-a-half-year-old Truckee grom named Jack Bruce. In an affirmation of the mission of the film, he said that he would be skiing in the parks and all over at Squaw Valley this year. “My favorite lift is KT22; I love going off the rocks they have there.”