Featured Image: Bruno Long | Skier: Trevor Kennison
Full Circle, Level 1’s latest theatrical release, is more than a ski movie. Full Circle is also bigger than snowboarder-turned-sit-skier Trevor Kennison’s redemption story following a devastating accident. Full Circle is larger than an ode to outdoor adventure pioneer Barry Corbet, the namesake for Jackson Hole’s famed Corbet’s Couloir.
Full Circle is an emotional journey that tells the tale of two athletes reinventing themselves following spinal cord injuries that left them disabled. Level 1 exposes viewers to both Kennison’s and Corbet’s vulnerabilities and perseverance. Full Circle demystifies what life is like for a person with paraplegia while providing hope to those who experience devastating life-changing events. Don’t sleep on the skiing either—from cliff drops to street segments to backcountry double backflips; Full Circle delivers action that rivals previous Level 1 features. The film elicits tears, laughter and stoke and is a must-watch for skiers, riders and just about anybody with a pulse.
Kennison’s Journey
Like many of us, Kennison loved sliding on snow but was by no means a professional. “I could snowboard for sure,” says Kennison. “But I wasn’t throwing flips or hitting rails or anything like that.”
On November 15, 2014, Kennison broke his back after hitting a jump and landing awkwardly in the Colorado backcountry on Vail Pass. Kennison was determined to walk again, but after seemingly endless rehab at Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, he came to the realization that walking was not his destiny.
Less than two years after the accident, Kennison was depressed and aimless—bound to a wheelchair and unable to practice his previous trade as a plumber. He traveled to Crested Butte to try sit-skiing, and his life dramatically changed again.
“Ever since that trip, I said [sit-skiing] is going to be a huge part of the rest of my life,” says Kennison. “Looking back at that footage from 2016 in the film, seven-and-a-half years later, it’s a massive part of my life. It’s given me that freedom, and as I always say, ‘the best chair is an empty wheelchair’—and it sure is.”
Full Circle begins at the event that launched Kennison into a viral sensation—the 2019 Kings and Queens of Corbet’s at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Amongst pros like Travis Rice and Caite Zeliff, Kennison became the first sit-skier to launch into the famed Couloir.
“I mean, Corbet’s was amazing and really put me on the map,” Kennison explains. “I just kept grinding from there.”
Grind he did. Over the course of the next few years, Kennison set goals like backflipping off a rail, sit-skiing in the X Games Big Air competition and returning to Vail Pass to throw a double backflip, amongst others. The Level 1 crew was there to support and document Kennison completing all of these feats. They were also there to tell the less glamourous parts of Kennison’s post-injury life, like needing to use a catheter to pee or a suppository to empty his bowels or the realities of sex following a spinal cord injury.
“From day one, I wanted to be as real as possible, and I wanted to put these things in the movie,” says Kennison. “It felt very vulnerable putting myself out there completely. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be a ski movie.’ But in reality, it’s way bigger than that.”
Corbet’s Untold Story
Every serious North American skier knows Corbet’s Couloir in Jackson Hole. However, even the most tenured Jackson local or resort employee knew little about the famous steep chutes’ namesake.
Corbet was an avid skier, mountaineer, explorer and filmmaker in the early days of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort until he broke his back in a helicopter crash in 1968. Like Kennison, Corbet spent months at Craig Hospital trying to walk again but ultimately was confined to a wheelchair until he died of cancer in 2004.
Also, like Kennison, Corbet’s injury changed the trajectory of his life. Following the crash, he spent the next 30-plus years writing books, producing films and editing magazines, shining light on topics pertinent to those with spinal cord injuries.
Another parallel to Kennison, Corbet redefined what was possible with a spinal cord injury. He took up kayaking and hit all of the biggest and baddest rivers in the American West, including the Grand Canyon.
Despite these similarities, Corbet was not on Level 1 or Kennison’s radar when they set out to make Full Circle. That changed thanks to a chance encounter with Kennison’s friend Greg Hydle and his mom, who spent her career working at Craig Hospital.
“We had just broken ground on the project, and Greg’s mom said something to the effective of ‘what a wild story with Trevor and Corbet’s Couloir and Barry Corbet—a paraplegic,’ and I just looked at her sideways,” Level 1 Owner and Full Circle Director and Producer Josh Berman explains. “I didn’t say what I was thinking like ‘you crazy lady, Trevor’s the paraplegic, not Corbet,” but it was on my face, and she read it. She was like, ‘You don’t know—Barry was a paraplegic too.’ My jaw straight up dropped, and when I got home, I opened my computer and typed in Barry’s name. Right then and there, the film completely changed in scope.”
That’s when Full Circle transformed from a short film based on Trevor’s redemption story of returning to Vail Pass into a feature-length film that told a much bigger tale.
Level 1’s New Path
For over 20 years, Level 1 has produced award-winning freeski action films. Despite the accolades, the fun and the role Level 1 has played in advancing the sport, Berman was looking for a new purpose.
“After our 20th anniversary, we agreed that we were going to press pause and try to find something new to inspire us—something different—and ideally tell some stories,” says Berman. “Trevor showed up in my life at the perfect time and put this initial concept on our plate, and it really allowed us to go down a new path.”
Level 1 will continue to produce freeski action features, but Berman hopes that Full Circle will serve as a launching pad for the company to pursue more story-driven documentaries.
“We’re not going to abandon what we’ve done—we’ve worked really hard to help create and support a culture around freeskiing, and we will forever be a part of that,” says Berman. “But I’d also like to use [Full Circle] as a stepping stone to tell more stories and create content that ultimately makes a difference in the world and impacts people. I mean, that’s the ultimate goal.”
