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Ptor Spricenieks Interview
Ptor Spricenieks is a legend in the Canadian big mountain ski community. And it’s a reputation that is well-deserved. From bagging a first descent of Mount Robson, to conquering the 12,000ers in the Rockies, Ptor is endlessly dreaming up new ways to ski big mountains throughout the world. Keeping up with where he is and what he’s planning isn’t easy, so we sent a few e-questions via the interweb to see what’s up.
Where are you now?
I’m all cozy in the Hotel La Chaumine in a tiny villiage above La Grave with my girlfriend Karin watching the peaks get plastered.
What is your schedule looking like this winter/what are you doing, where are you going?
Just joined Team Black Diamond. Gonna shred the alps early season. Missioning here in LA Grave and in Austria and Switzerland. If Iran doesn’t get bombed, I’ll be heading to Nepal for a paragliding session for a few weeks before heading back to Gulmarg mid Jan where I have a bunch of guiding work. Should be back in La Grave early March to shred a bunch here on the new BD Megawatts and do some speed riding. April I have a TBA expedition somewhere in Canada so I’ll be heading back through G-town.
You had a bit of a disastrous trip in Pakistan last year... Any plans to revisit?
Well, I wouldn’t call it disastrous and it wasn’t in Pakistan, it was in a district of Indian Kashmir called Zanskar. I would love to go back because it’s a magical place and the skiing in the right circumstances and conditions would be off the dial. Haven’t made a plan yet, although I never had a plan about going there in the first place. It just happened.
Any revelations about your chopper ride out looking back?
I really am ensconced by the mystical AND human nature of it all. Rescued by the entity I generally despise (the army) and almost killed by the environment I love. Met a buddy afterwards in Delhi that was at a Ladakhi monastary called Hemis (incidentally where there’s supposedly evidence of Jesus’ sojurn there) at the hardcore oracle possesion ceremonies at the same time I was sick and saw the pictures. We have a long way to go here in the west!
What is your Zanskar film?
My Zanskar film is a documentary about this very adventure. I shot three-and-a-half hours of footy along the way, each section a whole adventure in itself. Challenging my amateur filmmaking skills on this one!
When will that be finished?
Should be finished by Dec.
Any big expeditions planned this winter?
No real expeditions this winter but I’m gonna do something this spring and I’m working up towards a big one in September ’08.
How's the paragliding going? You're really going native over there in France, huh?
Man, I’m really torn between passions now. I love flying soooooo much! I call it 3-D sky surfing chess. It’s a whole new dimension to life and to skiing. Scoping out lines from the air is a blast and I’m finally skilled enough to thermal with skis and transport myself between ski-descents come springtime. Speed-riding is all the rage and it’s definitely not cheese like the recent SBC Skier blurb trying to call a sincere effort to create another ski-flying format cheesy. What’s cheesy or rather pure stupidity is senseless hucking off massive cliffs that will irrefutably lead to a shorter skiing career and old age pain. A device to cushion airtime and even augment it really makes complete sense and inherently necessitates a profound connection with and developed skill-set of skiing. Conceptually, one could argue that by hucking huge airs, one is diverting themselves from “’good old’ what’s the matter with skiing on snow,” as well. Using the same logic, riding rails would be just as cheesy.
Personally, if I want huge air, I fly for hours in my paraglider. I’ve done a flight of 100km. If I want big air on my skis, I use my own personal ski flying device that I’ve developed called the Phawked UHP (ultra-highspeed-paraglider) with which I can soar and use my skiing skills (not for beginner skiers!). It’s mind-blowing that there has been not a single article in a North American mag about Speed-riding. But then again, avoiding stagnation is part of the reason I love to spend time here in France.
Also, it’s, “You’re really going native over there in France EH?”!!!
Anything else to add?
Yeah,check out...
Rise of the Conscious Skier
