Trailer Release: Innsbruck. Powder. People.

Neil Williman has been part of the Snowmads crew since we started to rebuild the Snowmads truck or maybe even before the Snowmads had actually found their name. Back then we were just a bunch of snow-mad freeriders who loved skiing, snowboarding and adventuring in the mountains together. A few crazy trips and filming missions later Neil took on the producer role and made „Working Volks Freeride“. This time he welcomed director Timm Schroeder to the Snowmads family, and together with NINE&ONE produced our new short film „Innsbruck. Powder. People.“

The storyline of „Innsbruck. Powder. People.“ goes like this: After many winter seasons and competitions in North America, France and Sweden, a professional freeride skier from New Zealand named Neil Williman ends up in Innsbruck. There he meets many talented locals like the Snowmads crew, who show him just how great the mountains around Innsbruck are. Deeply impressed by the seemingly endless possibilities in this paradise, they discover together what is skiable during a global pandemic, and what is not, while trying to only use public transport and campers.

There’s no question that it was an unusual season last year, travelling was difficult or impossible … a perfect winter to spend at home. So, when Neil invited the Innsbruck locals to join him in his movie project a great crew of friends and Snowmads quickly gathered. When good friends come together usually good things happen, and it was no different in this movie.

Make sure to check the trailer on our YouTube Channel and keep your eyes out at our instagram channels @snowmads and @ibkpowderpeople to find news on where and when to watch the full movie!

We’re proud of your producer debuts, Neil! And congrats to Timmy Schroeder, who directed, shot and edited this award-decorated short film. Congrats also to second camera man Daniel Bear and the whole crew who was part of this inspiring short film!

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Riders ⛷🏂
Neil Williman
Leo Rauch
Manuela Mandl
Sam Good
Christoph Schoefegger
Núria Castán-Barón
Erika Vikander
Fabian Lentsch
Markus Ascher
Julian Zenzmaier
Konsti Ottner
Dominique Heinrich
Dodo Konrad

Film/Photo 📽📷
Timm Schroeder
Daniel Bear
Alex Fuchs
Markus Tonak

Production 🎬
Neil Williman
Karin Lechner / NINE&ONE

© Chris Bezamat
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Fabian Lentsch Skis Big Mountain Dream Lines

Fabi and TGR (Teton Gravity Research) – a strong team, a bunch of creative minds and the common instinct for aesthetic lines. They teamed up for several weeks over the past three years, hit the roads across Austria with the Snowmads Truck, explored in Albania and captured fine big mountain skiing.

Fabi stands for high class skiing, TGR for the production of high class outdoor sports movies – the perfect combo! 
Austria got hit by massive snow falls and all time skiing conditions were on the menu. The Snowmads Truck was right there when the snow was fluffy and stable. Fabi was able to finally ski some lines he’s had an eye on for several years already, while the TGR crew was on the right place at the right time – like always! 

Austria is widely known for skiing, big winters and big mountain lines. But have you ever heard of skiing and big mountain lines in Albania? A fairly unknown country whose borders opened up for foreigners quite recently in 1990, a country with huge, mostly undiscovered mountains and decent amounts of snow when the Adriatic storms hit the country. 

big mountain dream lines
Fabi working his way down a dream line in Albania © Chris Bezamat

Fabi, describe your feelings when you see yourself skiing big lines in a Teton Gravity Research production! 

As a kid those big TGR productions have been super inspiring for me. Their films have definitely been a huge part of my process of becoming a professional skier.

How did you get in touch with TGR? 

One day I got an invitation for a film trip with them in Albania. To be honest, I was super surprised and super stoked as well. Apparently my reputation wasn’t too bad in the States and so they got in touch with me. It’s not everyday a European rider gets the chance to be part of a TGR movie.

Fabian Lentsch relaxes after skiing big mountain dream lines
© Chris Bezamat

The mountains and especially skiable lines are mostly undiscovered in Albania. How did you check out possible faces and lines to ski? 

Around two months before the shoot I had the chance to hop on a small plane and do some scouting flights. Well this almost makes it sound too easy. We couldn’t find any airplane in Albania and had to fly into the mountains from North Macedonia which required a special hard to get permission to cross into the Albanian airspace. Luckily I got connected with a great crew in the Balkans who helped us with all the logistics and whom I now can call some of my best friends. That was an important step for our adventure down there. 

© Fabi Lentsch – Analog

How did you like the mountains and the skiing in Albania? 

The Albanian mountains are super impressive and wild – such is the weather down there. We didn’t have many good days with the right conditions but those days we’ve had were mind-blowing.

One year later you and TGR teamed up again, this time in Austria. How did that go?

Austria has seen one of the best winters ever, so the time was right to ski some big lines in my backyard. It was a special feeling to welcome the whole crew in Austria, travel around in our Snowmads Truck and discover my home mountains during a very special winter. We’ve had a really good time but on the other hand I also felt the pressure of a big production, the pressure of having to deliver somehow. In the end we’ve had all time conditions and found some really good lines, lines that probably wouldn’t have been possible in any other winter. We were lucky but also hard working, that’s a good combo I guess.

Fabi Lentsch Skiing Big Mountain Dream Lines
© Chris Bezamat

„I’d like to thank the whole TGR crew! Thanks for the fun times in Albania and Austria. Long days, big lines and short, cozy nights with rather limited space in our truck – great memories!“
Fabian Lentsch