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Celebrating the Ski Bum in everyone

10 years later, John Zaritsky returns to WFF to share Ski Bums with the masses
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What: Screening of Ski Bums

When: Thursday, Dec. 2, 11:15 p.m.

Where: Whistler Conference Centre

Cost: Free

There are people in Whistler who live and breathe for skiing; they'd rather count the number of days they've clocked on the hill than the number of dollars they have in the bank, they live by a "centimetre-rule" to decide if they're going to work in the morning, and the sound of avalanche control bombs sets their hearts aflutter. These people are ski bums.

Whistler residents are undoubtedly familiar with these characters, but to people who live outside of the "bubble" they're a fascinating little segment of society. So fascinating, in fact, that 10 years ago a well-known Canadian documentarian decided to delve into their world.

John Zaritsky spent seven years working as a newspaper reporter before venturing into the film business.

"I was offered two and a half times the money I was making at The Globe & Mail , so basically consider me a sell-out," Zaritsky admitted with a laugh. "They made me an offer I literally couldn't refuse!"

Through his documentaries, Zaritsky has remained dedicated to telling true stories about others. Today, he has amassed almost 37 years of experience in the film industry, earning an impressive list of accolades along the way (more than 30 awards, including an Academy Award in 1982 for his documentary Just Another Missing Kid , a Cable Ace Award in 1987 for Rapists: Can They be Stopped , a Robert F. Kennedy Foundation Award for Born in Africa , and an Alfred Dupont Award from Columbia University's School of Journalism in 1994 for Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo .) His films have been featured at a wide range of prestigious American festivals like the New York Film Festival, American Film Festival and Houston International Film Festival. ­­And one of his projects was the first film ever screened at the first Whistler Film Festival, 10 years ago.

While the bulk of his films focus on very serious subject matter, earning him the nickname the "Dr. Death" of documentary filmmaking, Zaritsky decided to take a very different tack and make Ski Bums , which saw the veteran filmmaker trailing 10 self-proclaimed ski bums as they lived for a season in Whistler.

"Among a lot of other reasons why I made Ski Bums was, nobody died in Ski Bums ," he chuckled. "I wanted to do something quite different: really something that would be highly visual, very funny, very entertaining. I wanted to lighten up, myself, after years of doing very serious films."

This Whistler-specific project saw Zaritsky trailing 10 self-proclaimed ski bums as they lived for a season in Whistler.

"Let's face it: it's the free spirit, the fact that everybody in that community lives for the day and they're tremendous risk-takers. They'll do anything for their day on the mountain," he reflected. "Also, the sex, drugs and rock and roll were awesome!"

Just one man, it seems, inspired the film: the infamous Johnny Thrash.

"He just changed my life completely! I ran into him at a wrap party for a television series here in Vancouver. I'd never, ever encountered such a free spirit in my entire life. I was totally intrigued by him and the subculture that he was a member of - a ski bum. Yeah, he and I got really drunk that night and he told me his life story."

Zaritsky found himself on his way up to Whistler to meet with Thrash and a crew of his fellow free-spirited friends. He soon called himself a Whistler resident. Zaritsky put an end to his 25-year skiing hiatus that year and ended up buying a condo in Whistler (which he still owns today). He called the community "home" for almost 10 years, splitting his time between the ski town and the city.

"The next thing I knew, I was a ski bum myself!" he laughed. "That first year I did 73 days while I was 'researching' and 'casting' the film. That took a long time."

Thrash introduced him to his "cast" of ski bums: Mike Jefferies (Crucial Mike), Sherry Newstead (Punchy), John Hunt (Johnny Thrash), Mark Ludbrook (Luddy), Chris Kettles (Cupcake), Troy Jungen (Stray Doggy), John Chilton (Johnny Foon), Christian Bégin (Napoleon), Lisa Korthals (Red Eye Lisa) and Paula Robertson (Legs).

While there were lots of highs to the ski bum lifestyle (literally and figuratively speaking), Zaritsky also witnessed some of the lows.

"People barely survived just in order to get out on the hill, and there were some sad stories attached to some of the ski bums, in terms of their lives. Luddy, for instance, lost a leg in a snow blower and was determined to learn how to ski as a teenager and became a top skier in the Paralympics. Also, the ski bum, Troy, he lost his parents in a fire when he was 10 years of age, and was taken out by an uncle to learn how to ski. That was his escape!"

The film was intended to be an exploration of a subculture that Zaritsky found simply fascinating.

"There are certainly lots of fun and games in the film, and lots of beautiful skiing and colourful characters and everything you would expect. But there are also some quite moving stories, as well."

While Zaritsky found that ski bums had a different set of values and priorities than most, he also noticed that they seemed to have more happiness and satisfaction with their lives.

"It's a total misnomer, too, 'ski bum,' because there are really no ski 'bums' - they all work and they all support themselves, but they live to ski," he pointed out.

So, the big question seems to be, Is the ski bum spirit still alive and well here in Whistler?

"There are certainly fewer ski bums who live in Whistler, nowadays," Zaritsky said. "Things have gotten so much more expensive and so much more difficult, so there's no question; there are fewer ski bums who still live in Whistler. But there are still hardcore people and young ones that are coming in and moving to Whistler!"

Zaritsky debuted Ski Bums at the first-ever WFF, during two sold-out screenings that drew "every ski bum in captivity."

"They couldn't have picked a better film to start with than Ski Bums because it had so much resonance for so many people, and so many people knew the stars in the film, so everybody felt connected to it in a very special way."

"People went nuts! The town just rocked that night, as it does on special occasions. So it's a night I still remember, 10 years later."

This year, there are almost 60 films being screened at WFF, including a free screening of Zaritsky's beloved Ski Bums .

"I've had occasion, for other reasons, to look at Ski Bums recently, and I'm quite pleased to discover that its not out of date one bit - the cars may look a little older and certainly the ski bums look a hell of a lot older - but it's not a film that really dates itself."

Zaritsky's newest film, Leave Them Laughing , is also screening at WFF on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1:30 p.m. With a much heavier subject matter at its core, this film tells the story of a performer, Carla Zilbersmith, who has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and is given only a year or two to live.

"Again, as I did with Ski Bums , I wanted to do something totally different, something completely stylistically different from anything I had done before, which was basically, I wanted to do a musical comedy about dying," Zaritsky explained. "So when I phoned up Carla and told her what I had in mind, she laughed - we were both on the same wavelength - and off we went!"

For more information on Zaritsky's films, or any others being screened at the 10 th annual WFF, visit www.whistlerfilmfestival.ca.