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Nelson powder flick makes its debut

Local mountain sports enthusiast Jason Mannings steps behind the lens creating his first independent ski and snowboard film.
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Local snowboarders Jacob Collens and Arlo Mooney during the filming of Rest in Powder.

Rest in Powder �??�?�» Trailer from Rest in Powder on Vimeo.



As a teenager local mountain sports enthusiast Jason Mannings spent a lot of time in front of the camera, but after stepping behind the lens for a second time he’s preparing to unveil his latest film Rest In Powder.

“I would probably rather be in front of the camera,” said Mannings. “I guess it depends what’s going on. Most of the time I would rather be riding than anything and not have cameras involved. It’s usually more fun if we’re not filming.”

Rest In Powder is a Kootenay focused project which was shot last winter in the local mountains.

Mannings and his riding buddies like Jacob Collens, Adraon Buck and Arlo Mooney spent their winter making the film and doing what they’ve grown up loving to do, play in the snow.

“They are mostly people that I grew up skiing with and so they’re riding partners for the most part,” said Mannings. “They’re friends. They are all basically not professional riders but most of them take their winters off to ride or ski.”

Unlike many other mountain sport films, Rest In Powder was filmed independently without corporate sponsorship or advertising.

“It is not powered by energy drinks or corporations, and it is not trying to sell you anything,” reads the project's website.

The independent nature of the film falls with what Mannings calls his manifesnow.

“We believe the majority of people are adulterated by corporate society and disconnected from politics,  and that our souls suffer because of this. Skiing and snowboarding gives us momentary tastes of what it's like to have healthier souls,” he says in his manifesnow.

In some ways, Mannings says the intentions of the film were a bit selfish.

“For Rest in Powder I liked that I really didn’t have to answer to anyone I basically just spent every day of the winter out in the mountains with my good friends all the time,” he said. “That’s what I like to do in the winter anyways, is spend pretty much every hour of daylight out in the snow, touring and riding and playing in the powder. If I was doing it with people that weren’t my friends or if I had to answer to someone and wasn’t such an independent project I think that would start to take the fun away from it.”

Mannings started making films when he rode in a mountain bike film called Local Yokels by Tamas Forde of Freeride Entertainment.

"I did a whole bunch of riding and building for that film and helped him out with production a bit," said Mannings.

Then the two officially joined forces to created another mountain biking film called Stripped.

"I guess it was largely the combination of my friend Tam and growing up doing these sports that are commonly documented with cameras," said Mannings about what led him to stepping behind the camera.

With the world premiere at the Capitol Theatre coming up on Thursday night, Mannings said he's feeling good.

"People seem excited about it," he said. "I'm maybe a little bit nervous that people’s expectations are high or they seem to be relatively anyways, so I hope I don’t disappoint my friends or the people that are excited."

The premier is at 8 p.m. on Thursday night at the Capitol and tickets are $12.