First Descent

The documentary is about the beginning of snowboarding in the eighties and the twenty years that followed. Three generations of riders appear together: Shawn Farmer, Nick Perata, Terje Haakonsen, Hannah Teter and Shaun White. Travis Rice appears as a guest. Most of it was shot in Alaska, and the mountain itself holds a place of its own in the account. The film tells how the sport grew in the words of the riders. The difference between the generations shows in the technique and in the idea of what the sport is. Being first down a slope is the idea at the centre, and the title comes from it. The hundred and ten minute American documentary by Kevin Harrison and Kemp Curly was completed in 2005.