This Film on Indigenous Skier Connor Ryan is a Must-See
"Skiing can be a space for Indigenous people to connect with the land and experience the joy with these elements that have always been a part of our cultures”
Spirit of the Peaks is a 42-minute documentary that premiered to a sold out audience of over 2,000 online viewers on Jan. 10. Directed by Tim Kressin and Indigenous skier, Connor Ryan, this film creates cultural awareness of an equitable future for Indigenous people and skiers.
“Skiing can be a space for Indigenous people to connect with the land and experience the joy with these elements that have always been a part of our cultures,” Ryan said in a press release about the film.
Spirit of the Peaks follows Ryan’s journey to understand the history of the Ute people who once inhabited the Colorado mountains he now calls home. Meanwhile, the audience begins to understand how the Utes’ culture and traditional knowledge can benefit efforts to preserve the land and snowpack. As one of the first and only ski films told through an Indigenous lens, Spirit of the Peaks features a variety of characters, including Ute Mountain Ute elder Roland McCook, professional skier Cody Townsend, and the comedic relief of Bird Red, a Southern Ute musician learning to ski for the first time.
“We all cherish the mountains, but [Connor] is a guy whose entire life is focused on skiing and trying to protect the places he skis, because it’s important to who he is as a human,” said Townsend. “Having people like Connor, who may not be the next Seth Morrison in performance but could be the next Shane McConkey in inspiration, is crucially important to the future of the industry.”
REI Co-Op Studios joined from an early stage and became the primary funder. Additional sponsors of the film are Salomon, Peak Design, and Protect our Winters. A proud Hunkpapa Lakota and passionate skier, Ryan was born and raised on the Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute homelands at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He considers these places among his biggest inspirations and closest relatives. In the last two years, Ryan has joined with teams on Patagonia, Salomon, Smith, IKON Pass, and Hestra Gloves. His articles have been featured in Powder Magazine, Protect Our Winters, and REI. Ryan seeks to decolonize, reconnect and learn to better honor all his relations through adventure and activism. Skiing is his dance and prayer, a ceremony of its own. Lakota traditional ecological knowledge helps Ryan understand the true value of the sacred land and water we ski on in deeper and more tangible ways.
“The people who took this land from Native people, they wanted us dead. They wanted us gone. They didn’t think we had anything to contribute here,” Ryan said. “That’s just not true.” Follow him on Instagram below.
Spirit of the Peaks
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