brotohonestly i think skiing has something to take away from the bunch. they're pushing skiing in a different direction than most people are used to. i think the fact that they skateboard influences them a lot.
i got into skating a bit when i moved to salt lake city, and i love the culture. its similar to skiing and snowboarding especially in a lot of ways, but in my opinion often times the mentality of skiers and skaters are way different when approaching features or new tricks. skateboarding is cool because you can't really spin/flip a lot on a skateboard. so, in order to be original or do something new you really have to think outside of the box. think of competitions in skiing where they don't let you spin over a certain amount and it's more about style/creativity.
for example, last fall i went to a snowboard movie premiere at a local skate/board shop in SLC. they had some small skate features set up out front and dozens of kids were skating. at one point i looked over and saw a handful of kids having a full on sesh on a rock no bigger than my fist. like literally they were fucking around with that rock for like a half hour. people were getting stoked on other people shredding this rock that i'm sure people drove past everyday without ever even thinking about.
that's why i like the bunch. they take on progression with a non-linear mindset. they do things their own way. where you see a fridge, they see a feature. you might walk past a spot that the bunch hit and not even think of hitting urban there. that's pretty fuckin awesome to me
I see what you're getting at but something that you're forgetting is that this approach isn't exclusive to the bunch. While they exemplify it quite well, so many people in skiing have this mindset. People like to paint the drop video as black and white: the bunch vs competition jocks. It's not. Look at people like Hornbeck, Henrik, B Dog, Ahmet, Vanular, Leigh Powis, the list goes on. They've all pushed the sport in so many creative directions as well which is what the drop video is getting at. The bunch's approach to skiing is really nothing new if you break it down.
That being said, I do agree with the comparison to skateboarding and messing around on a rock. It is fun and its an amazing way to approach skiing. Some of the best times I've had skiing have been messing around on little jibs, trees, cliffs, or park features. I will never discourage anyone from skiing how they choose to. That's they're own form of expression that no one should inhibit it. However, as soon as they decide to film it and present it as a finished project, should one not be able to draw criticisms?
It is also tough to talk about the bunch in a less subjective light when it comes to the members included. Magnus is not the bunch. He is an amazing skier that slays in every way that I think anyone would be hard pressed to criticize. His segment in Less was easily the best in the whole film. However, he is not the bunch. The bunch is the bunch. He represents a piece of the bunch. Just as one can give praise to the bunch for his accomplishments and skiing, they should also be able to discuss the skiing of all of the other members as a true representation of the bunch. Make sense? You're only as strong as your weakest link.
Progression of the sport should always be praise worthy but it can take many different shapes, some that people like and dislike. It's interesting that blatant hate on triples is so widely accepted yet entertaining critical ideas about any other facet of skiing is really quite shunned. Jah feel?
Now I'm gonna go cry because the snow up at Alta probably already all melted :'(
