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First Descent: The Story Of The Snowboarding... : Review

FIRST DESCENT: THE STORY OF THE SNOWBOARDING REVOLUTION
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The self-congratulatory aura that surrounds this valentine to snowboarding and its evolution — "revolution" is really stretching it — from backcountry pastime to full-fledged Olympic sport and licensing industry reeks of desperation: It might be more persuasive if the boarders and enthusiasts didn't seem to be trying so hard to convince themselves that their beloved sport is of earth-shaking significance. The film is structured around a three-week Alaskan backcountry freestyle workshop that brought together three generations of boarders — old-timers Nick Perata, 38, and Shawn Farmer, 40, who helped usher the sport into the mainstream; Norwegian Terje Haakonsen, 30; and youngsters Hannah Teter and Shaun White, both 18 and already renowned for their skill and exuberance, and Travis Rice, 22, drops in for a brief visit. Directors Kevin Harrison and Kemp Curley weave interviews and historical footage from the '70s and '80s into scenes of Farmer, Terje and the others tearing down insanely steep mountain faces followed by a wake of billowing powder. The scenery is stunning and the riding is astonishing, but the riders themselves come up a little short on personality: Teter, White and Rice seem like nice kids, Farmer comes off as the genial neighborhood mad dog, the self-contained Terje isn't much of a talker, and Perata, who organized the first boarding expedition to Alaska back in the '80s, is relegated to worrying that someone might get hurt in his "backyard." They're all stoked to be in Alaska and delighted to have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the others — overall, a far cry from the snotty snow punks who ticked off skiers in the sport's early days. There's a lot of talk about how dangerous it is to board in the Alaskan wilds, where you're many frozen miles from help (except for that omnipresent film crew hovering nearby in a helicopter), and the challenges of riding soft, deep, free-range snow rather than the carefully prepped half-pipes found in parks and ski resorts (which the footage of Haakonsen riding out an avalanche vividly conveys). But while snowboarding enthusiasts will eat up every minute of its two-hour running time, it's thin stuff for the unconverted. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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