Chopping It Up With CHEF
Interview by North Bennett | Photos by Haruki van Veenendaal
With the sold out Vancouver premiere of their latest film, Dessert, taking place tomorrow night at the Hollywood Theatre, we recently sat down with Nick Thucydides and Leif Wilson of the CHEF crew for a chat about their new movie, the ski scene in Vancouver, and what plans they have for the future.
Many people think of Whistler when they think of skiing in British Columbia, but Vancouver is unique in that it has three local mountains: Cypress, Grouse and Seymour. How have these local mountains shaped the Vancouver ski scene?
Nick Thucydides: Being a smaller hill with a fun terrain park, Grouse has always had a small and tight-knit community.
Leif Wilson: Plus people living in the city aren't restricted by the 3 to 4 p.m. closures that Whistler has… we can meet up with friends who work real jobs during the winter and have a blast night skiing, even if it’s just for a few hours.
Does each mountain have a distinct personality or terrain style that you gravitate toward for filming?
Leif Wilson: Grouse has always been known for its fun and creative park, and when they added the handle tow it solidified itself as the go-to place in the city for park riders. And if Grouse is known for its park, Cypress and Seymour are known for their terrain. On a good snow year we’ll film at Seymour due to its lumpy terrain, which is great for hand-built snow features and jumps. I think all of us from the city remember skiing Cypress during our childhood/teenage years, whether it be for formal training or our parents dragging us out for some steeper terrain on a good snow day.
How does the Vancouver ski scene relate to what goes on in Whistler?
Leif Wilson: I would say you could find a large majority of Vancouver or more specifically Grouse locals coming to Whistler on the weekends. It’s a small-ish scene, so it’s always nice to see the Grouse homies up there. Although with the lap being much bigger it's definitely harder to ride with everyone at once.
What about this year’s movie, Dessert, are you most excited to share?
Nick Thucydides: I’m probably most excited for every person who filmed with us to get the chance to show everyone what they accomplished last season. Although I imagine that many of us have feelings like, “I wish I could’ve gotten more clips,” or “I wish this spot or trick had worked out,” at the end of the day everyone knows the amount of effort they put in. Personally, I’m very excited on behalf of Leif and Kai [Martin] since they were injured last season and I think they had a very triumphant return.
Nick Thucydides
Leif Wilson: This video encapsulates many things that we only dreamed of being able to do for many years, like flying for a street trip, and hanging out with our best friends in obscure parts of our country/province. Seeing through the collective effort to make it happen, stuffing 17 bodies in an Airbnb for an unreal Mount Baker trip. Some who were just there to be a part of it not even to get a clip, just to lend us a hand. That last part is something I've always wanted to do with my friends, and I am so glad we finally pulled it off.
Did you face any particular or notable challenges in making this year’s film?
Nick Thucydides: The main challenge was the conditions, probably followed by injuries, which aren’t exactly unique issues to have. It was the first time in 40 something years it hasn't really snowed in Vancouver and we had to go further afield and travel more than we’ve done in previous seasons. I can’t really point to any one calamitous thing that happened while filming. More so that we had to deal with sequences of minor inconveniences and logistical issues.
Leif Wilson: As well with the recent passing of our dear friend Kai [Smart], we all were grieving in our own way. We had a very memorable ski day and Celebration of Life put on by the amazing Smart family. I can’t say it was easy to step out of grief and put that energy into something positive, even though we knew that would be exactly what he would want us to do.
Live Like Kai
Is there a theme or throughline in the film this year? And if so, how did it develop?
Nick Thucydides: I wouldn’t say there's a single easily discernible theme. Our videos seem to develop in rather unpredictable ways as we scramble to get clips, so it’s somewhat difficult to come up with a specific vision ahead of time. You could say the theme is the passion that a group of friends have for skiing. Which is not exactly a unique theme, although any two different groups of skiers would express that differently. But yeah, some of us have been friends for over a decade, and hopefully that comes across in the video.
What do you hope viewers take away from this year’s film?
Nick Thucydides: The primary goal is for viewers to find it entertaining, but beyond that I would hope that it has some longevity. To elaborate, lots of ski videos get released every fall, and it can be difficult to create something that stands out to the point where people will watch it more than once. Ideally some people will still be watching it in a few years time, whether they're watching it to get inspired before a day of skiing or they want to put it on the TV while drinking some beers with friends.
Leif Wilson: I hope it makes people think, “We can do this too.” We aren't anything particularly special, just a group of friends who share the same passion for what we want to do.
What can we expect from CHEF in the future? Do you foresee any changes to the crew or the crew’s approach to filmmaking in the years to come?
Nick Thucydides: More of the same really. Every year we aim to improve from the previous year and film at new locations. I’m quite pleased with how things transpired last season. While I do think that getting better at making videos is one major benchmark for progression, at this point we are thinking about our legacy more. Maybe that’s a grandiose way to phrase it, but I find myself thinking about doing more to create an impact beyond just making videos. More specifically we’d love to get involved with more local events. For example, we’ve hosted two rails jams at Grouse, which have been one of the highlights of the season for us. It’s really a great feeling to be able to give out prizes and reward local skiers who wouldn’t necessarily win anything, or even participate, in more traditional competitions. Currently we’re brainstorming amongst ourselves to find the best ways to create or get involved in more of those events. As far as the crew goes, it tends to change a bit every year, mostly based on who's healthy and is around to film. There’s always a significant overlap with the people involved in any two projects, which is a double-edged sword in the sense that every video is unique but the absence of any rider is always missed.
Speaking of events, last year you co-hosted the Peak Performance Drop-In Rail Jam at Robson Square in the heart of downtown Vancouver. How did that partnership and event come together?
Nick Thucydides: Leif told me about Max [Smillie] at Peak Performance’s vision and then we met up with him and started to put our plan in motion. I was really happy with how the event was received, and I don’t think Vancouver has ever seen something like that before. This was really the point where I became really interested in working with Peak more going forward, since they showed they actually cared about involving the community here—giving skiers cool opportunities and putting on a good show for the people.
Kai Martin
Leif Wilson: I thought Max was joking when he presented me with the idea. The whole thing seemed logistically ludicrous. But, knowing Max, I knew we could pull it off. He’s just so good at organizing and forcing the best out of people. I was fortunate enough to work with him on another event earlier in the year… after seeing the way he worked I just knew it would be dialled. Also shout-out to the UBC Ski and Board Club. They moved a metric shit load of snow from a skate rink to Robson Square in rented U-Hauls—all for volunteer hours and a few Helium Jackets. Another shout-out would have to go to Steve Petrie and his team at Arena Snowparks. Thank you guys for your expertise, knowledge and logistics. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you.
Will Penrose
What else are you and Peak Performance working on for this winter?
Leif Wilson: We’re still in talks at this time, but we want to do bigger and better things in terms of our rail jam at Grouse. I would say that's a huge priority for us. We would love to make a true day out of it and expand on our past success. Expect live music/DJs, way more prizes and side events, creative features, and overall just a really good time for anyone who wants to come. Stay tuned!
Last year CHEF’s film, Third Party, was nominated for Amateur Film of the Year at the iF3 Festival. What is different from last year’s film and how has the project evolved?
Nick Thucydides: One major difference was having more support this year. We had no budget for the first two films we made, which worked out fine, but we do try to be more ambitious every year and so it helps to have some money. Thanks to Peak Performance and Arsenic we were able to spend more time at Mount Baker in the spring, since we felt that we had unfinished business after only filming for three days there for Third Party.
Leif Wilson: We are usually so constrained with time and money, so having the ability to book last-minute plane tickets out east for a storm, when the snow in B.C. was frankly non-existent, totally changed our perspective for what's possible. Not to mention the added confidence that these people and brands truly believed in what we do, gave us an added feeling of purpose on each trip.
Which segment got the most hype/love at your family and friends screening?
Nick Thucydides: It’s hard to say but people really seemed to enjoy Jarl Whist and Stephen Siska’s segment a lot. But that’s also one of my favourites, since I think that both of their approaches to skiing are unique and make for very entertaining footage. But people also really liked Stove’s [aka Stephen Lindsay-Ross] segment a lot. He’s someone else who really stands out in a good way, and always seems to find tricks that the rest of us probably wouldn’t contemplate trying.
Leif Wilson: No spoilers but yeah, both those segments were some of my favourites to put together with Nick. I’m really happy with how they were received amongst our peers, as that's the input we value the most.
For more on CHEF and Dessert, be sure to follow them on Instagram at @chef.llc, and stay tuned for the film’s online release, which we’ll feature right here on forecastski.com.