Sponsored by Peak Performance, Pure, released this month, is the second Shades of Winter all-female freeski movie to be created following the worldwide success of the first movie last winter.
We talked to three members of the team behind the film: Matilda Rapaport (MR), Sandra Lahnsteiner (SL) and Evelina Nilsson (EN).
ITS: What was the best thing about filming the movie?
SL: I love the whole process, but the best thing is always when everything is done and you get to watch the movie on the big screen with all your friends and athletes and partners etc. and hear them cheering.
MR: All the remote, beautiful places I get to see and ski as well as the people we’ve met when travelling. I’ve also gotten some close friends through filming, including Evelina and Sandra.
EN: The best thing was the amazing people I met that share the same passion and to be able to visit really great places with a fun crew and do the thing we love, together.
ITS: Which was your favourite location and why?
MR: Haines in Alaska will always be special to me. The nature, snow and atmosphere really make the place something extraordinary. In the last two years that’s probably the place I’ve spent the longest time in a row without travelling in! (Laughs)
SL: I love to travel the world on skis and be able to explore so many different countries, but I would say for fun, freeskiing Niseko in Japan is super high on my list.
ITS: What were you most proud of in your performance?
MR: To be able to get back up skiing a line after a crash or the slide I got caught in last time I was in Haines. It’s not always easy, but the feeling afterwards is just … magical.
EN: I am proud that I decided in my mind to do something and then I did it. I was 100% focused on the present – and always feeling the joy!
SL: I’d rather talk about my awesome teammates! Evelina really impressed me; not only is she an incredibly talented skier with no fear to even try double backflips or hiking up bigger lines, but on her first ever filming trip she was super confident and highly professional, but didn’t stop us laughing and has a great future ahead! Matilda is an amazing, inspiring lady, ready to push herself, who stepped it up on some gnarly ridges above no-falling zones in Haines. For myself I am proud about doing backflips and skiing steep spines on one side, and of the whole Shades of Winter project.
ITS: In what ways is it better to make an all-female movie?
MR: I’ve been filming with guys too, and I can’t say that it makes much of a difference really. The important thing is to film and ski with people I trust and have fun.
EN: I think it´s good to highlight the incredible women that are out there. When doing an all-female movie, you really focus on the girls. My opinion is that we push each other to bend our boundaries and so we grow!
SL: To be honest, it’s not about it being better to make all-female movies; we are not in a battle with the guys’ other movies, it’s just a great opportunity for the best female athletes to show what they are capable of. Besides, behind the all-female cast it’s ALL guys we use to travel with!
ITS: Is a third Shades of Winter film planned?
MR: I definitely want to be part of the next SOH film, as the two previous ones have given me so much, and there are so many cool places I’d like to see and ski. And we’ve already started discussing ideas.
SL: I am currently working on the set-up of the third Shades of Winter project. So stay tuned – we will not disappear!
