On February 5 I set out on my journey to Northwest China to shoot for the next Warren Miller film. When I arrived in Beijing, eleven hours had passed since I’d left Vancouver and by the time I met up with the rest of the group I was ready for some sleep. After a more than memorable stay at Beijing’s Crowne Plaza hotel we continued two domestic flights, Beijing to Urumqi and then Urumqi to Aletai. In Aletai there happened to be a light festival happening so we used it as an opportunity to stretch the “ol’ lodge legs” and break out our cameras to capture some local culture. 

The next morning we hopped on a bus and drove a few hours to a village called Chunkor where we transferred our gear to six chauna’s (horse drawn sleighs). It was then that we started on our unsuspecting journey to Kanas Village.

 

One of our guides had found a stone pictograph the summer before that had an ancient drawing of a horse and a skier. This discovery dates skiing back three thousand years. The Beijing Museum is buying it from him this May. Our mission was to seek the place where skiing as we know it was invented and document the contrast between our modern styles and their age old tradition.

 

After two days of traveling by horse North through mountain passages we arrived at a farm called Axialbak. The only people there were a Mongolian family who were very welcoming despite the fact we arrived out of the cold, late at night. We all unrolled our foam pads and sleeping bags on their woven mats and it was lights out. As I fell asleep I wondered what kind of terrain we would find to ski the next day. 

 

We spent two nights at the Mongolians cabin. During the day we would tour from their backyard into the hills and shoot in the light powder snow that blanketed the side of the mountain. We would follow them on their home made ski’s with horse hide skins into the hills and watch as they pointed it straight relying on one single pole as a rudder. Both groups had fun and it was apparent by the universal language of smiles and laughs. 

 

 

We got back on the chaunas and continued on; we arrived in Kanas that evening. In Kanas we met with some locals and sessioned a snowy hill behind some of their houses. The sun was shining and having finally made it the whole 108 kms from Chunkor our spirits were high. That night Kanat, the head horseman, laid a soundtrack on a local string instrument. 

Here’s a shot a snapped of a man making repairs to his shovel. I noticed that many of the tools around town were all hand made. 

Here’s a picture of the typical house in Kanas. Many people used motorcycles in the snow, I didn’t see one snowmobile but I could imagine the look on their faces if someone road in on one. Priceless.

 

I met a young boy that got a blast from stepping on my skis with his shoes and sliding down a small hill in the village. I had Akbar our guide/translator ask him whether he had some ski’s at home that he could use if we went to a bigger hill and he said that he’d go get them if I came along. I followed him down a trail that led over the Kanas River bridge and down to his farm. He showed me around his animals and his two little twin sisters were following us around with toy whistles, they must have been about 3 or 4 years old.

China was an exercise for my mind, body and soul. I was born a skier and I’ll die a skier. To travel thousands of kilometers from my home mountains to pay respect to the birthplace of my sport, and my lifestyle was an honor and a privilege. 

Huge thank you to Chris Patterson, Collin Witherill, Ilja Herb and Chris Anthony. What an amazing experience; I learned so much! Also, without the help of Akbar from Kashgar Mountain Adventures our trip would have been nowhere near as successful and smooth, cheers buddy! Big ups to Josh Haskins at Warren Miller! To everyone else that we came across along the way, thanks for the great food and hospitality.