The Art of Flight – Travis Rice

Rating: *****

An awesome video!

The Art of Flight is a snowboarding documentary by iconic snowboarder, Travis Rice. He and his team of snowboarders, film crew and helicopter pilots set out around the world to snowboard from the top of some of the world’s tallest snow-covered mountains. Filming mostly from back-country mountain tops in Alaska, but also some in Chile, Travis and his team set out to snowboard where no one has gone before. He and his team were dropped off on mountain tops by helicopter, attach their boards to their feet, pause briefly to check snow conditions and then set off down the mountain.

Over the Christmas break, i-Tunes was offering free downloads and “The Art of Flight” was an 81 minute video rental download. This was an amazing video. Not only was there amazing snowboarding feats, but there was also some awesome scenery. Travis and his team took on some of the world’s deadliest mountains, sometimes having to avoid dangerous rock formations where the wind had blown away the snow. In the video, I watched them narrowly avoid avalanches, sometimes being able to board faster than the snow and other times watching how they have the helicopter camera keep a close eye on a boarder caught in an avalanche.

Travis Rice is certainly an extreme sport athlete, ready to take on the world of out-back snowboarding. Although he was cautious about the conditions of some of the mountains, what was interesting to note about the video was that none of the snowboarders were wearing helmets. In today’s safety-conscious society, I did find that a bit disappointing to see. I think this can send the wrong message to today’s young boarders. However, the movie was sponsored by Red Bull, so maybe we should take the safety aspect with a grain of salt. Still a great video.

The Art of Flight. Curt Morgan Film. Red Bull Media House. September 2011. i-Tunes.