1
(STILL MUSIC)
(WIND BLOWING)
(WIND BLOWING)
(WOOD CREAKING)
NARRATOR: I'm gonna
tell you a story.
Not just any old story.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
The story is about a man.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
A man on a mission.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
(ROCK MUSIC)
A man that possesses
an alien proclivity
for the complex physics
necessary to move a body
in calculated and
unnatural ways through space.
Ha. Just kidding.
It ain't that kind of story.
(PLAYING KAZOO)
It's a tale of four
snowboarders.
The young gun,
the veteran,
some chick,
and this other guy.
Hello.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC)
NARRATOR: The story
starts in a place that, well,
I'd be lying to you if it wasn't
some straight out of what
you might call fairytale.
I'm not kidding.
Who am I to say?
There could be thousands
of fairies in these woods.
Certainly, used to be
thousands of salmon
that would travel half the
continent upstrem from the Pacific
just to spawn on these waters.
It's a little place deep
in the interior of
British Columbia.
A place they call Galena.
Far from civilization,
but about as close to heaven
as you can get in this world.
A place that during
this time of the year,
and nearly always, is
shrouded in cloud and fog.
Rock and earth stand snow-capped
like great cathedrals.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC)
I should tell you,
Mother Nature still rules
this part of the world.
And below that thick,
shrouded clouds, well,
that's where she
had some of her most
intricate works of art.
She's quite the
Picasso, I'll say.
She paints in broad,
heavy white brush strokes.
And the weather had
to be just right,
not too hot, not too cold,
or these delicate
little snowflakes
couldn't stack up just right.
Well, lucky for our heroes here,
this winter turned
out to be perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
It was a field of dreams.
Which is why these fellows
called them "pillows" I suppose.
Funny choice of words, I'd say,
since watching them
riding down these things
looked more like a bar fight
than a good night sleep.
(NEW AGE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
(NEW AGE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
Now, it's not all
just about bar fighting
down a pillow
stack around here.
If a man wants to draw a lone
line through a quiet forest,
by all means he can.
(CALM MUSIC)
I don't often show
folks this place,
I've grown quite
weary of strangers,
but I can tell by the
look on their faces
they were different.
I've felt drawn
to show it to 'em.
And, who am I exactly?
Well, we'll get to that.
I've been in Galena a long time.
Just think of me as the
steward of this land.
And if you listen close enough,
you, like them, might learn that
there's a lot more going
on here than meets the eye.
(ACTIVE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Now, before I head down the road
of this long and endless
story, and I assure you,
it is the most endless of roads,
I should tell you how
these folks came to be
in this part of the world,
for it wasn't by some
random act of chance.
No, it was most definitely
an act of faith.
TV COMMENTATOR:
Nine, nine, nine!
NARRATOR: Austen Sweetin.
Friends call him "Sweet
Tea", "Sweet and Low".
Fire monkey of a kid.
In the good year of 1999,
on this particular day, his
life would change forever.
TV COMMENTATOR:
Are you kidding me?
NARRATOR: In "The
Birdman's" precisely
two and a half rotations,
Austen saw a glimpse of
his own true potential.
This is the best
day of my life.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
NARRATOR: His infatuation
with skateboarding grew
until it could no longer
be contained withinin the limits
of the concrete jungle.
So he turned his sights upwards.
Bryan Fox. Like
most San Diegans,
he grew up with an afinity
for punk-rock music
and the Pacific Ocean.
By the young age of six he had
become the Anthony Bourdain
of local burritos.
By the age of nine
he'd mastered the art
of drawing a perfect
barreling wave.
A right of passage and a skill
he still maintains today.
And then there's
Robin. Robin Van Gyn.
Kind of like the female version
of Jean Claude Van Damme.
She takes the meaning of
all-natural to a level
only countered by the
original hunter-gatherers.
While her female
counterparts elsewhere
bragged about how
much green juice
they bought from
the farmer's market,
well, Robin was out
here making her own.
Robin's the kind of girl
that folks in Los Angeles
name their boutique shops after,
like yarn and cider,
or lace and log.
And, yet, she absolutely
cuts her own logs.
You ever heard of a
guy named Travis Rice?
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
A fella whose stories are
that of fable and lore.
Fire in his eyes and
dragon stone for balls.
Myth has it he surfed
a flaming asteroid
across the Milky Way just
to land on this planet.
And, yeah, he's stomping.
Howdy.
NARRATOR: But, what about
the sensitive side of Travis?
Do you ever think about that?
Sure he has one.
Even the toughest
dragons have soft spots
on their tender,
little underbellies.
Never before has man
lived so entranced
by the microscopic
details of life.
A long, slow stretch
with no pants on.
Soft, luxurious feel of an
exquisitely tailored house coat.
I mean, kimono.
The subtle perfection
of a simple meal
shares in harmonious
silence with loved ones.
It's the little things in
life that fill his soul,
like watching a glorious
sunset while a warm breeze
blows through his
fabulous flowing hair
like a playful kitten.
Hell, his reverence for the
mysteries of nature run so deep
even animals are
tamed in his presence.
Ernie, you're the only
one that understands me.
(CHIPMUNK CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: Our friends here
were embarking on a journey
into the thralls of winter.
And what a winter
it was becoming.
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
It's deep.
I'm only five foot three, but,
shit, it's three and a
half feet, bottomless.
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna go back?
Finishing my
calculus equations,
I think the formula is
gonna prove correct.
I still know the
places where they're from
I still find all
answers in the trees
I still feel the
gum under my shoe
How about hauling a
bong full of miracles?
How about building
a house on the moon?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna go back?
I still care
about you being well
I still wonder how
we conquered hell
I still love this
nonsense team we make
How about hauling a
bong full of miracles?
How about building
a house on the moon?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really
wanna, really wanna?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
Do you really
wanna, really wanna?
Do you really wanna
go back in time?
(ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
See these snowflakes?
Beautiful little things.
But, where do you
think they come from?
I bet your answer is clouds.
Hah. Clouds.
Now, I'm not gonna lecture you,
but it's a bit more
than just clouds.
You see, there is a thin
vale air stiring above us
like the vast currents
of the Pacific.
The great aerial ocean.
And Galena is situated
quite perfectly beneath it.
(OPERA MUSIC)
This season, the great ocean
delivered the perfect mixture
to provide months of snowfall
of the highest consistency.
(OPERA MUSIC)
This constant
sprinkling happens to be
the perfect ingredient
for one of nature's
rare snow formations:
fluted spine.
When the sun finally
does come out
they're quite the
sight to look at.
(STRINGS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
BUFF: Hey, Travis, I
think we have storm coming.
TRAVIS: Well, hallelujah.
(STRINGS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
NARRATOR: Nestled amongst the
great forest
and handcrafted from a
few fallen cedar trees,
lay the tiniest of tiny cabins.
Here, Austen, Robin and their
not-so-tiny Labrador, Stella,
had decided to hunker down
and wait out the storm.
ROBIN: Austen, I think
we need some more wood.
AUSTEN: More wood?
I got some tiny logs.
ROBIN: Great!
NARRATOR: Bein' it
was such a tiny cabin
the two became accustomed
to tiny things.
Too big.
NARRATOR: Each piece
of tiny kindling could be
no longer than two inches,
but this story takes
place in Canada,
so that is precisely
5.08 tiny centimeters.
And once the room
was nice and hot,
well, they played
tiny little jams.
Tiny house man in
a tiny house land
That played his amplifier
in a tiny house band
I was playing my
guitar but it was too big
So I got a tiny
one, that's how I live
NARRATOR: Every morning
Austen would prepare coffee
in the tiny cabin.
This daily regimen
required the following:
two miniature silver spoons,
two mugs with the gross
capacity of two ounces,
and a tiny jar of
milk that was sourced
from dwarf cows in Nova Scotia.
And, of course, the
beans, tiny beans of joy.
And Austen was
incredibly particular
about these little beans.
(MAGICAL MUSIC)
NARRATOR: When the
coffee was finally done
the two toasted to good tiding,
for they knew that,
eventually, storm would clear.
(BURP)
(BURP)
And outside that
cabin was a world
that was anything but tiny.
Come on, sun!
Shine!
We need you!
We want you!
Damn, you! Don't raise down!
Hallelujah!
(ACTIVE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
(ACTIVE ELECTRO-POP MUSIC)
Fucking big tank.
Big tank!
(ACTIVE ELECTRO-POP MUSIC)
NARRATOR: The unique
terrain draws people here.
There's no doubt about that.
But it's the timber that's
attracted most of the attention,
'cause these aren't your
regular strands of trees.
Nothing better than
a walk in nature.
These trees are over
1,000 years old.
And that's school,
politic and counted.
They counted the rings.
The beauty of that.
How can you just
not fucking love it?
Look at that cedar
tree. A monster.
God's country.
Nothing better, nothing bigger.
NARRATOR: God's
country, perhaps.
Undisturbed by
glacier, wildfire or man,
these forests stand
as time capsules.
The old grove.
But, you see, there's old
and then there's ancient.
Up the head waters of
the Incomappleux River
lies a particular growth
I'd like to tell you about.
I'll take you there
Down from the alpine to
the bio-geo-climatic zones
of the vertically
integrated ecosystem
lay one of the last ancient
forests in all of Galena.
Better said, one of the best
tree runs of these riders' lives.
(SOFT ELECTRO MUSIC)
I'll take you there
(SOFT ELECTRO MUSIC)
It's hard not to love a forest,
but a forest as grand as this,
well, that's a whole
other kind of love story.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Western red cedars,
that's what makes up most
of this ancient forest.
Some grow as old as 2,000 years
and measure 35 feet round.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Some big fucking trees.
NARRATOR: Beneath
these antiquated canopies
thrives a metropolis.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Everyone knows
there's a root system
that anchors these
trees in place.
What if I told you there's
communication here?
I'd even go as far to
call it intelligence.
The oldest of these giants
passing on what they
know to their young.
Save garden knowledge and
wisdom to keep a forest alive.
Yes, these trees talk.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Behold, the nervous
system of the valley.
Oh!
Whoa! Yeah!
Watch out for the
dead spike in there.
Oh, gosh!
Oh, my goodness. It's crazy.
Oh!
Crazy people.
Nobody has any respect for
their body. It's a temple.
Your body is a temple.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
So, it's very nice.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
As long as I could see 10
feet from me, victory.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
Travis Rice.
Probably doing
something questionable.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
A-grade high-quality
H2O powder.
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
Ha!
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
(SCREAMS)
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
Whooo!
Yeah!
(ACTIVE MUSIC)
NARRATOR: Every
once in a while,
man comes along as well
just a little bit different.
I'm talking about the
kind of difference
that makes a man hike
alone to the woods
with a 183-centimeter pink
snowboard on his back.
Bryan fondly named his
companion "Big Pink",
on the account of her
sheer girth and prowess.
It towers above the rest of
Bryan's well-manicured quiver
like a champion Clydesdale among
its tall opponents.
And with a trusty
see like "Big Pink"
Bryan felt compelled to explore
the mysteries of Galena.
Seems he had an unquenchable
desire to seek out
only the finest
geothermal heated waters,
hot springs, for the lay man.
Temperature of these
springs must be
exactly 101 degrees Fahrenheit,
with the Ph balance of 7.55,
and at least 1,000 parts per
million of dissolved minerals
such as calcium,
iron and lithium.
(EASY FUNNY MUSIC)
But Bryan infatuation
with hot springs
is nothing compared
to his real obsession.
Over his lifetime Bryan claims
he's successfully summited
over 400 mountains
peaks around the world.
421 to be exact.
Most of non-notable status.
(ACTIVE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
That was...
Whoa.
Can you see it?
That was a lot deeper
than I thought.
It's a long way
down from that top.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Some humans
seem like they are born
with a deep desire
to understand the
natural world around 'em.
And, in a place like this,
there's a lot going on that
needs to be understood.
Hi, my name is John Buffery.
You can call me "Buff".
And I'm snowboard guide.
NARRATOR: Actually,
he's much more
than just the snowboard guide.
When it comes to the
art of snow evaluation
and risk assessment, he's
a verified snow Yoda.
Over the past three decades
he's lead guiding missions
all over the planet.
He's even been shot at.
One time on a bad country trip
near the Shah's mountain palace
the Iranian Royal Guard
mistook him for a spy.
What are you looking
for there, Buff?
Instability in the layers?
Yep. That's
absolutely correct.
NARRATOR: Behold what a
master carries in his pack.
Part of the job
of the snow jedis
is to assess the
safety of the snowpack,
and he's got quite
the magic touch.
TRAVIS: Hey, Buff, it's
Travis.
Go ahead, this is Buff,
Travis.
I'm in a really
good spot response,
and I like what I'm seeing.
NARRATOR: When
Buff's not guiding
he's in his office at
the Ministry of Transport
using his snow sensei
brain to mitigate
avalanche dangers on the
Trans-Canada Highway.
And, yes, he still has his
first avalanche beacon.
Buff has over 200
notebooks of field notes.
Decades of detailed observations
about weather conditions,
base camp logistics,
temperature,
and snowpacks ability
fill their pages.
"Why is all this
important", you ask?
Well, you see, only
with time and experience
does one learn how
to read the mountains
the way John Buffery does.
And everyone can
use a good shepherd,
especially around these parts.
(OPERA MUSIC)
These are cornices.
By wind-driven snow they
form into school bus-sized
doomsday devices that
can be hair triggered.
(OMINOUS OPERA MUSIC)
Surprisingly, cornices
and avalanches
aren't the deadliest
hazards out here.
In fact, it's the tree wells
you should be most
concerned about.
Usually one can't get out alone,
and that's why the buddy system
is always in place out here.
Take a look at these buddies,
sword fighting down the
mountain like a bunch of idiots.
Complete disregard
of their own safety.
However, if you find
yourself trapped
in the mountains for the night.
(OPERA MUSIC)
The tree well can become
a life saving shelter.
Tea?
Oh, yeah.
I think around the wide is
probably the hottest spot.
The top slope is gonna
be gone into the chutes,
so you're not gonna
have to worry about it.
If you have to stop let
the snow go through it,
don't go fast.
Do you think that's 3,000
T to V, top to valley?
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
It's all quite within
your realms of management.
Alright, man. Feels
like you're best in here,
- and look at it any longer.
- Yeah.
Oh, in the desert we tried to
Love like they do in movies
Face to face, end of story
RADIO: Get ready.
We are ready.
As twins we created an era
Two souls in prime Sahara
Swallowed by sand
and time we play
What began as an epic
Ended a parched pathetic
Arid and vapid
like our attachments
TRAVIS: And I feel
pretty good to continue.
RADIO: Be on ridge, just
watch the transitioning.
Oh, in the desert
you sucked my finger
It wasn't meant to be, it
was like water from leather
Oh, my God, what
can I pay you to stop?
So in my desert
What was the nature of
your visit to my domain
Business or pleasure?
Oh, my God, you just
don't care if I drop
Oh, in the desert
you sucked my finger
Oh, in the desert
you sucked my finger
(ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
NARRATOR: I've always had
a fondness for these giants.
I'm talking about
the land, of course.
By land I mean all this.
Galena holds quite the
collection, I'd say.
Not many things you can
fear and be in reverence of,
all at the same time.
It took quite some years for
this place to look this way.
It's all being washed
over by Mother's
great saline quilt
at one point.
Still changing, too,
right before your eyes.
You can't see it,
this is just a
snapshot of a painting
that's a work in progress, if
you will.
Because the perception
of time is different
for everything on this planet,
I'm trying to explain to
you the concept of time.
Hell, that's a rabbit hole,
if I've ever seen one.
One thing is for certain,
current state of this
painting, this land,
is about as full of
abstracts and oddities
as one could imagine.
And our friends sure do
love those oddities.
Take this arch, for example.
Right conditions of wind, rain
and soft-pocketed limestone
and these guys just
about lost their shit.
They were so excited it'd
never been ridden before
they rode it together
like brothers.
Let's have some fun, buddy.
(EASY CHANTING MUSIC)
NARRATOR: They
named it "Tunnel buddy",
whatever the hell that means.
It's said that every
line has it's day.
TRAVIS: Hey, guys.
Dropping ahead, 10 seconds.
NARRATOR: The thing is,
when you speak about the
truly bizarre, the rarities,
that day can be a
decade apart sometimes.
It comes down to right
time, right place, I'll say.
TRAVIS: Okay. Dropping.
(EASY ALTERNATIVE MUSIC)
Holy shit!
RADIO: Alright. That was fun.
TRAVIS: Whoa!
That was so savage.
(EASY MUSIC)
NARRATOR: I've lived
here my entire life,
and I've seen everything.
And, see, we all
talk to each other.
That's what makes
you so different
than any other plant or
animal on this planet.
We know our purpose here.
You probably wouldn't
believe me if I said
I had everything to do with you.
Since I've got your attention,
I might as well tell you
how I came to be in
this part of the world.
I was born in the
time of King Arthur.
Fought for life as a seedling
while the Roman Empire fell.
I grew from a
sapling into a tree
as men sailed west in the
searched of the undiscovered.
Irony is, there are
already people here.
Had been for many millennia.
It was different then.
They had a deep
connection to this land.
I had a family around
me that protected me
from avalanches
and tumbling rocks.
I was all that was left of them.
Here I stood while man built
cities and great things.
Oh, what wondrous things
you people create.
As men step down on the moon
I looked upward from here
and smiled of being
a part of it all.
Which brings me to
this moment here,
where my world
and yours collide.
What a chance encounter.
It's not often enough that
one of you take the time
to talk to one of us trees.
The day will come when
I return to the soil
and start all over again.
It was my honor to give
you all a little window
into what I've
seen in this life.
(ACTIVE SYNTH-POP MUSIC)
I give you all the 900.
(ACTIVE SYNTH-POP MUSIC)
NARRATOR: And I said that
this story was an endless road,
and still assure you it is,
but before you leave this place
I'll share with you a secret.
Fascination,
world of fascination
Funny thing is.
Feel the trembling
You probably already know it.
Of creation
You see, there is magic
that exists all around you.
Stand still and take it
in, like a child would.
Never ending
Try to see past what
you've been taught.
For I'm not really a tree.
See the heavens
Even though that's
what you call me.
Alteration
I just am.
That's closer to how we see it.
And if you search long enough
you might just find
one of those fairies.
(GROWL)
Ah!
Curious world of fascination
(MELODIC VOCALIZATION)
(COUNTRY MUSIC)
When your life starts
tearing apart at the seams
And you're looking for
answers to what this should be
Tiny House, Tiny Jam, take 1.
(LAUGHING)
Action.
Do you want me to talk?
I have come to the forest to experience
the world while I experience myself.
Thirty-one feet,
one and a half inches.
(LAUGHING)
(RADIO CHATTER)
Mr. Fox, what can I
do for you?
- Let's do one two shoot.
- I like it.
Usually winner goes
first, right?
(PLAYING ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS)
(YELLING)
Travis Rice ladies and
gentlemen, dropping first.
Just ride it all out
Thanks for watching!
That's a wrap!
(SLOW-MOTION YELLING)
Someday you'll see
(YELLING)
Here's the pillows.
(BEEP NOISES)
Man, if I could shoot this from
anywhere, I would be... (ROLLS TONGUE)
Just got the city boy out here.
Is this a fisheye lens?
(SQUEAKING)
God's country.
Nothing better, nothing bigger.
That's why we love it!
That's why we live here!
Yeah Niall.
(CLAPS HANDS) Let's do this dude.
(WIND BLOWING)
Well if you fall down
Don't blame it on me
Just take a good look
And someday you'll see
None of this matters
(MUMBLING)
None of this matters
It's all just a dream
Don't take it so hard
It ain't supposed to be
Just ride it all out
Someday you'll see
(PLAYING KAZOO)