IF3 Vancouver

Words: Jeff Schmuck
Photos: Felix Rioux

Following the always legendary IF3 in Montreal and inaugural events in Europe and Toronto, the last stop of the IF3 'On The Road' world tour made its way to Vancouver this past weekend to close down premiere season in style.

Held at the historic Vogue Theatre in the heart of Vancouver, IF3 Vancouver was the final set of ski movie premieres of the year to take place in the Olympic city and for virtually everyone in attendance before making their way to the mountains for the long and glorious ski season ahead.

And speaking of going skiing, despite the fact that Whistler's lifts began turning the day before IF3 rolled into town, a legion of athletes and filmmakers from all over BC decided to skip opening weekend and make the trek to Vancouver to show their support for an event that has already done so much for the sport of freeskiing.

Josh Bibby, Reed Speedman, Jeff Schmuck, Riley Leboe, Ian 'Chug' Cosco, Charlie 'Chunk' Grinnell and Sean Pettit.

Sean Pettit, Ian 'Chug' Cosco, Riley Leboe, Josh Bibby, Matt Margetts, Joe Schuster, Mike Riddle, Corey Vanular, Mack Jones and Colston Beatson along with PBP's Charlie 'Chunk' Grinnell, Voleurz' Darren Rayner, 4bi9's Andrew Napier, Dendrite's Athan Merrick and the always entertaining Reed Speedman were all on hand to stoke up the crowd, who came out to enjoy nine ski movies to help fuel some last second fire now that the ski season has officially arrived in BC.

The organizing team of IF3 President Felix Rioux, Orage's Cody Lynge and yours truly threw down biggest ski movie premiere festival Vancouver has ever seen, with Stept Productions' NetWork, ESK Media's Stadaconé, Dendite Studios' Out of the Shadows, b4apres Media's Azadi:Freedom, Inspired Media Concepts' Like A Lion, 4bi9 Media's Gunnie Season, Level 1 Productions' Eye Trip, Field Productions' Side By Side and Poor Boyz Productions' Revolver.

The diversity of this year's films, ranging from balls to the wall ski porn from 4bi9, Level 1 and PBP, to unforgettable and passionate story telling from b4apres Media and Inspired Media Concepts kept the crowd entertained and salivating throughout the day, as truck loads of swag and numerous contests were bestowed on those that made the noble effort of waiting a day to go skiing in favor of attending an event that the Vancouver ski community has been wanting to happen for years.

Following the premieres, the Vogue quickly emptied as the riled up fans, athletes and industry types used their energy to take over a 70's/80's rock-themed club right across the street called Joe's Apartment for an afterparty put on by SBC Skier that even IF3 Montreal would smile upon. Here's some of the more photogenic highlights...

Chug and Riddle

Leboe and Pettit

Matt Margetts

Voleurz' Harvey Li and Darren Rayner with Joe Schuster.

Robin Douglas Macdonald and Reed Speedman.

SonReal and Josh Bibby taking advantage of the open bar.

Special thanks to IF3 President and co-founder Felix Rioux, Cody Lynge from Orage, Tyler Gigg, Chris Center and Ryan Weese from Salomon, Christina Raymond from SBC Skier, the good people at North Face, Nike 6.0 and Comor Sports and the staff at the Vogue Theatre, along with all of the athletes and die-hard fans for resisting the temptation of opening weekend and coming out to support the first event of its kind in Vancouver. We really, really appreciate it.

IF3 President Felix Rioux and Orage's Cody Lynge.

IF3 2011 in Montreal, the 5th anniversary of the iconic festival, is going down on September 15th - 19th, and as always, you can expect it to be bigger and better than ever. So mark it on your calendars now, and till then, have a great winter!