Interview by Jeff Schmuck
Photos courtesy of Michael Clarke
So tell us about this project that you're starting up.
I'm currently working on a new video project with Blake Kimmel in association with Jiberish clothing and Salomon. We're doing a three-week road trip around the Northwest and we're going to go to pretty much every summer ski destination that we can think of.
Nice. And you're going to be filming the whole thing?
Yeah the plan is to make a video series of sorts. We're not entirely sure how we're going to distribute it at this point in time, but imagine a Road Trip Challenge without the challenges; mix in some Chug Life and some really quality skiing, and there you go. Pretty much we're just trying to do something new for the ski industry.
Mike Clarke
When's the whole thing get going?
We're leaving this Friday, June 8th and it's going to be about three weeks long.
Where exactly will you be going?
There's a full itinerary on on our website: http://www.justpassingthru.tv, but we're going to have stops at Copper, Salt Lake, Ogden, Mt. Hood, Whistler, and then back down south through Montana where we'll check out Cooke City and Yellowstone National Park. Then it's just back home to Denver.
Blake Kimmel getting the scenic shot of downtown Denver at the start of the trip.
Sounds like a sweet trip. How many episodes are you planning on doing in the series?
The plan for this first trip is to create a three episode series. We're looking to make it 50% skiing and 50% traveling and behind-the-scenes. Pretty much it should be a good mixture of action and fun. We plan on having a lot of different people cycling in and out of the car so everyone can see some new faces, and all in all make it a damn good time. And then in the future, I'm hoping to expand this into something I do next winter, and produce some more series throughout my season.
Who's locked in for the trip right now?
At the start of the trip when we leave Denver, we're going to have Keri Herman, Blake Kimmel and myself. John Symms will join us in Salt Lake and from there, people hopefully will be cycling in and out of the car. The plan is to pretty much have no plan, because a lot of my friends are going to be in many of these locations this summer, so it'll be pretty easy to just pick people up and get them involved. But you can expect to see the likes of Matt Walker, Tom Wallisch, Henrik Harlaut, Jon Brogan, Mike Hornbeck, Ian Cosco, Corey Vanular, and the list goes on and on. We're leaving it kind of up in the air and are just going to let things happen.
Symms & Clarke
When are you planning on release the episodes?
Well after the trip is done, I'm going to be in school, and since I'm one of the editors in the project, it's going to be difficult for me to get them done right away, but we're aiming for the beginning of August. And like I said, we're still working out how they're going to be distributed, but we'll be letting everyone know, so stay tuned for that. We'll also be constantly releasing posts and behind the scenes video on our website.
How'd this whole idea come about? What prompted you to start it?
Well, over the course of this winter I spent a lot of time trying to shoot with Level 1, but I had a lot of difficulties with bad weather and luck, which was really frustrating. So, since I'm going to school right now for film and photography, I thought it'd be an interesting idea for me to try and do some of my own projects. I still plan on shooting with Level 1 and continuing to do all the competitions, but I just figured it would be a lot of fun to start up something different with my friend Kimmel. Our goal is to try and bring something new for the skiing community to watch and enjoy.
Now in addition to the actual episodes, you've dropped a website to go with everything as you mentioned. What can everyone expect to see on the site during the course of your trip?
Yeah, be sure to check out http://www.justpassingthru.tv, because it's sure to be action packed during our adventure. We've got a Twitter account, so we'll be tweeting our little hearts out. We'll also be posting blog stories daily, and expect to see some small videos going up every once and a while. It's going to be a good way for people to check in on us, and maybe give us some ideas on what we should be doing in each area as we're passing through. We really want to keep everyone involved in our trip as much as possible.
Neil, the mastermind behind the Jiberish stickers, working the logo placement...
...looking pretty good.
Sounds like a great plan, because it'll give everyone out there something to follow and enjoy during these summer months when a lot of people don't have the opportunity to ski.
Exactly. We want to give everyone something to watch as there isn't a lot of skiing going on in the summer time. We know that not every kid is lucky enough to be able to ski this time of year, so we thought it might be fun for everyone to follow our adventures on the website, and get involved in it if they want. We may also be doing some contests on our site involved with the trip, so make sure you keep checking in with us on the site, and if we're in your area, be sure to let us know. Maybe we'll come by and say hello.
Are you excited?
Yeah, I'm so pumped man! I'm a little bit nervous, but hopefully it all runs smoothly. We're going to be doing a lot of camping and I've been buying some ridiculous stuff to bring along that I'm going to keep secret for now. Overall it should just be a lot of fun.
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