For all that skiing has done to document itself through the years, it lags behind other action sports like surfing, and especially skateboarding, when it comes to identifying and honoring its history. There have been documentaries of course, like Tanner Hall’s Like a Lion, and Poor Boyz is always game to throw a retrospective segment into one of their films. Hell, this is a shameless plug, but BroBomb’s “Know Your Roots” series isn’t half bad for offering a slice of skiing nostalgia (just see here). But there isn’t one definitive place to look for a thorough anthology of the sport, which is a damn shame.

or: the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground

I say most of this with the stark contrast of skateboarding and VICE’s Epicly Later’d in mind. I don’t know if Patrick O’Dell is just a genius (he is), or if there’s just a better-established legacy of documenting skateboarding’s legends compared to skiing (there is), but whatever the answer, we’re missing out.

So enter VICE Sports and their new three-part series on Pep Fujas, who remains one of the most stylish and accomplished skiers ever to grace skiing's collective screen. As VICE puts it, "With skiing going the way of dayglo snowsuits and spread eagles, it took a farm boy to bring power and style to the sport."

From the streets to the backcountry, and from Nimbus to Poor Boyz, Pep has done just about everything there is to do in skiing, and he's accomplished it with style and humility. I mean shit, this was one of the segments of the year.

Signature tail, as exhibited by this screen grab.

Now, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the last time VICE tried to get into freeskiing, we were left with an aborted, 40-minute ad for the the North Face and the US Olympic team that no one really answered for. But we have faith. The trailer looks tight, the project is a little more manageable than a catch-all freeskiing documentary, and once again, Pep is the fucking man. There's one hell of a story to be told here, and we can't wait to sit down and listen.

Pyramid Gap