Friday ski film premiere & party: Revelstoke pro skier Chris Rubens featured in Conquering the Useless

Revelstoke pro skier Chris Rubens has organized a local premiere of Conquering the Useless at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre on Friday, Oct. 9.

Rubens is featured alongside freeskiing superstar Cody Townsend, who emerged from a career-high season (including a YouTube-super-famous line of the year in 2014). Townsend explores what’s next when you’re at the top of the game.

Townsend, Rubens, Elyse Saugstad and Dave Treadway teamed up with filmmakers Matt Sheridan (Team Thirteen) and Athan Merrick to get into backcountry on sleds. The mission challenges Townsend beyond the safety net of lodges, guides, helicopters, perfect lighting and instant rescues.

Filmed in Revelstoke, Bella Coola and focusing on a snowmobile trip in the Boundary Mountain ranges on the Alaska/B.C. border region near Stewart, B.C., the film features, in part, the experience of making your own way and living with sometimes life and death decisions.

The veteran pro skier dropped by the Revelstoke Mountaineer to promote the Friday screening. The low-key Salomon rider is known for his affable, fun attitude. But if you follow him on Instagram or on the See Revelstoke blog, you know he’s a seriously driven person who spends all year adventuring in the mountains.

More caving excitement from a couple of days ago. @joeyvosburgh @brunolongphotography @greg_hill_ski @_seancochrane @seerevelstoke #TheRealStoke #nakimucaves #rogerspass #ExpandYourPlayground

A video posted by chrisrubens (@chrisrubens) on Oct 3, 2015 at 9:20am PDT

Chris has a warm smile, which is contrasted by fingernails are torn down to the stumps from a summer of scrambling and climbing.

@greg_hill_ski and Lydia soloing up the NorthWest ridge of Sir Donald. Check out @seerevelstoke for a couple of quick clips of it. #TheRealStoke #exploreBC #sirdonald #climbing #rogerpass #ExpandYourPlayground A photo posted by chrisrubens (@chrisrubens) on Aug 5, 2015 at 12:59pm PDT

“It’s always different when you’re totally by yourself,” Rubens said of the ideas they captured in Conquering the Useless.

“It’s not a ski porn. There’s a lot of big mountain skiing,” Rubens said. “It’s really kind of a story just of skiers, really.”

The majority of the film takes place around Stewart, B.C., and they tried to do more near Revelstoke, but the bad snow season of 2014/2015 put a damper on that.

They filmed in Revelstoke for about 10 days, but got rained on for most of them.

Chris Rubens. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer

The poor snow season also affected the mood of the film. Originally conceived by Townsend as a fun, snowmobile-based adventure into the backcountry, the poor conditions meant challenges. They faced difficult travel over glaciers, for example, and scary snow conditions, creating a grittier, more stressful mood.

Rubens is a backcountry ski veteran and brought experience to the complex and sometimes dangerous ski missions.

“I think what this move does really well is tells some insightful stories within each person, and what each person is doing,” Rubens said. “I thought they did a good job of showing how we move through the mountains. We’re not just jumping out of a helicopter and killing it,” Rubens said.

“What I got out of it was the achievement of moving through the mountains safely with a group of people”

The movie starts at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9. Tickets are available at Skookum Cycle & Ski or at the door. $10.

Part of the proceeds will go to support a brand-new community charity called The Capow! Fund, a new charity that helps youth further their avalanche education.

“If there is a kid who is super stoked we will try to help him out with a course,” Rubens said of the fledgling charity.

There’s an after party for the Conquering the Useless screening Friday night at the Village Idiot. Hold on to your ticket stub for a freebie at the Village Idiot.

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Rubens also has an upcoming part in film spinoff from Solomon Freeski TV that will likely be shown at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. The film was shot on Svalbard Island, a Norwegian Satellite Island in the Arctic Ocean. It’s no stranger as an exotic location for ski filming, but most missions head there in the springtime to avoid the harshest times of year. Cody Townsend, Rubens and crew travelled there during winter to catch a rare northern eclipse, and filmed ski scenes to capture it.