The hombres that collectively make up Child Labor, the Salt Lake City-based group of rail warriors, went beyond ballistic this past year. With shot after shot of rule-bending, mind-melting tricks, this has to be one of the greatest culminations of street skiing humankind has ever witnessed. While I am very late on the draw with this one, seeing as this was released in early November, the dedication in this flick is too impressive not to post about. This 21-minute hawg of an edit is NOT for the faint of heart. I’m pretty sure I winced every 10 seconds at each insane slam; the commitment and resilience that each of these skilled skiers displays is uncompromising and relentless, and concrete and metal-eating tumbles taken by each and every person featured is just a testament to their devotion to the craft.
At the end of the day, riding street is arguably the most testing discipline one can try on skis. If you are not a fan of urban, I still beg you to watch this assembly of wizard maneuvers, for nothing more than to simply witness how physically and mentally trying just one feature can be. The ability to get up after being thrown down over and over again is a skill that is useful is any aspect in life. While it might not always be quite as rough as this, everybody knows that sh*t will come around that knocks you down—that’s just a part of life. But, as the old saying goes, the only thing that matters is that you get back up. Not that it should mean much, but to Andrew Egan, Garrett Whaley, Bennie Osnow, Thomas Stone, Blake Rolfing, Dakota Connole, Zach Sturtevant, Cal Carson and anyone else showcased, I have the highest praise for all for resiliently fighting and conquering these spots. It might all be done for the love of the sport, but that sure as hell doesn’t make the slams hurt any less. It does however fuel the fire to keep on going, and that much is evident.
