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The Co-Lab’s open-to-the-skiing-public status has sent an unknown number of pro and amateur athletes to spend their season creating the best edit possible. Only ten weeks are left before submissions are due, and the $100,000 prize purse has many athletes hungry. We caught up with Max Hammer, a Jackson Hole-based pro skier, to see what his edit is all about, and how he’s creating a zero budget attempt at a very large prize purse.
How did you hear about the contest in the first place, and what do you think about the format?
I read about it on the Internet, and I saw there was a huge cash prize. So I thought, shoot, I like making videos. Right now, a lot of ski movies are pretty patterned, so I think letting people do what they want and be creative is awesome.
What’s the process of putting an edit together like?
I spent some time trying to figure out the best approach, and trying to get help from people I know. I thought a one run edit [at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort] would be different, just about why I like to ski there so much. I had to figure out what run I wanted to do. It was surprisingly easy to get JHMR on board to let me film the line, and then I had to find people to lend equipment, and help film.
It’s been pretty cool, actually. I had eight people helping me film: four friends from growing up here in Jackson, and my old race coach [photographer Jonathan Selkowitz], who was one of my first influences in skiing, and a few other filmers helped me out as well. The editing is a group effort between a few of us.
How do you feel about putting together something on no budget?
I’m not that worried about it. It’d be really cool to win, but I also like that I’ll still have something out there that a lot of people will see. I don’t know how it will live up to other edits. We did my segment so far in like, an hour. My ski footage is just from one morning at JHMR.
There probably are pros with budgets making stuff for this, but there are a lot of people who are really good, using okay equipment too.
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What does this new realm of video contests mean for to you, and for skiers?
It’s a really cool opportunity. It’s a platform to put your stuff out there. You can do YouTube, and try to push your edit, but a contest like this can really maximize what the internet can do for you now. I did one freeski comp, and it just didn’t seem like my scene at all. I like making videos, I like the concept, I’ve no issues with it.
What else do you have going on this winter?
I’ve been filming a lot with TGR; so hopefully I’ll have a more normal segment next year. I had two airs into Corbets in last year’s movie, but this time we’ve had the whole season to work on it. One of my main goals would be to go Alaska with TGR , but I have to go back to school [at Dartmouth College] on April 10th. I just have to finish my senior fellowship, which is an animation project.
