Flare - A Ski Trip

Freestyle began as an exuberant reaction to the constraints of conventional skiing. Now it has stretched the limits of what's possible on skis...

– Early narration from short promotional film Flare

‘The Bumps’- the third freestyle form. Again, it's not altogether how fast you do it, but how much you can do, when you do it. And again, madness helps.

– The narrator describes an edgy freestyle skiing style

Wish I could do that again!

– A freestyle skier on completing a run down active volcano Mt Ngauruhoe

For New Zealanders, we were at the forefront of what was happening in freestyle. But Gary and Randy added class…

– Freestyle skier Arthur Klap on making Flare with American skiers Randy Wieman and Gary Bigham, Mountain Culture Aotearoa, July 2019

As well as reflecting a moment in time to perfection (the shot of someone coming down the moguls in jeans will trigger PTSD in anyone who grew up skiing in the seventies), it’s a beautiful wee film, and, at moments, quite edgy. The thing starts off with an arthouse / Ingmar Bergman vibe, all distorted angles and closeups, before it erupts into an old-school mogul party train complete with sequential spread eagles and bongo drums. There are extreme closeups and clever cuts – a skier crashes, and there’s a crack, which serves as a transition to wood being broken up for an après ski fire.

– Writer Laura Williamson on 1977 promotional short Flare, Mountain Culture Aotearoa, July 2019

We were paid on a daily rate…those were the days.

– Arthur Klap on skiing for 21 days on the shoot of Flare, Mountain Culture Aotearoa, July 2019