Sunday, December 04, 2005
REVIEW: FIRST DESCENT
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the snow, here comes FIRST DESCENT, which examines the history of snowboarding and its rise from obscure subculture to multimillion dollar phenomenon. This documentary takes a nontraditional route, assembling a group of boarders from all generations for a breathtaking and highly dangerous trip to the mountains of Alaska. There they start on the small mountains and eventually attempt to conquer the 7601 (named for its height). The freestyle boarders (including the highly popular Shaun White) struggle with the terrain, while the older boarders take hard falls from several gnarly jumps. As documentaries go, this one was pretty good, but seemed short with regards to the history of the sport. GRADE: B
