Senior Editor
Staff

The Inertia

There was always something comforting in Warren Miller’s voice. Something inviting. Something that made you say in your own head, “yeah, why am I not out in the mountains right now?” And that, above all else will be Miller’s legacy: a dude who lived his life exactly the way he wanted, and encouraged others to do the same. “Because if you don’t do it this year, you’ll be one year older when you do.”

The formula was nearly always the same, a never ending Tour de Force-like overview of the sport and its different genres. But Miller managed to change with the times, including segments of snowboarders in movies when the sport was still an outlier, or doing entire features on events like the US Open, an early freeskiing event that set the tone for the Olympic version playing in America’s living rooms every four years these days.

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So this autobiographical look from Warren Miller, at 91, is how it should be in the great order of things, I suppose, even though it’s in book form. His story seems made for the screen: legendary filmmaker, World War II vet, lost his first love to cancer, avoided financial ruin and most importantly, was an example of how not to be a slave to the man.

I know his films had influence on me. As a kid, watching the Warren Miller flicks each year ushered in a time of excitement, waiting for the fist snow to fly, when you could escape the mainstream doldrums of school and ball and stick sports. They may have actually played a part in my own shunning of traditions like football and basketball. Because riding snow was about exploration and adventure, where the only measuring stick was finding out exactly how much fun you could have, a theme I end up writing about over and over again now, too. That our athletic pursuits should be singular in focus—a focus on having the time of one’s life.

Thank you Mr. Miller.

Warren Miller Entertainment is releasing its 67th feature film this year, Here, There and Everywhere. You can pre-order a copy of Miller’s autobiography, here.

 
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