FLAHR'S FIRST TIME: Talking to Dana 'aboout' his firsts
Last season was the first time many people had heard of Dana Flahr. If you didn’t hear his name this year, you will next.
In January 2005, Canadian skiers Ryan Oakden and Dana Flahr rolled into Jackson Hole in the middle of the night, pulling a couple snowmobiles, and carrying a 6er of MGD.
“We saw Dana in the back of POWDER and started calling his sponsors to get him to town and give him a test run,” says Josh Nielsen, Supervising Producer at TGR. “He spent a few months in Jackson waiting for good snow. In three days of filming in solid conditions he threw down what people are saying could be the Breakthrough Segment of the year.”
Dana packed his bag for three weeks to make some magic on film with TGR in Jackson. The next thing he knew he was exploring the Alps, tip toeing out of a heli, completing at the Candide invitational and packing his first major film segment. Three months later he returned to Whistler.
It’s high time to talk to Dana about his “first time” and what he has planned for his second.
First time building a full ski segment... Put in a lot of time. It took a lot of time waiting, being patient for those good three days. I was willing to give my whole season to getting some good filming done. It paid off. Last year I did a lot of stills in Whistler and would go sledding on the good days. This year I left Whistler and was on the road until I felt like I had enough footage. Filming with TGR gave me a chance to travel to Europe, to go a few places I’d never been before.
First time in Europe... Super different than what I was expecting. The mountains were immense and scary. I just love going to new places. The skiing in the Alps is pretty amazing. It’s something I’ve been waiting to do for a long time. We skied Courmayeur, Italy, Chamonix and La Clusaz. Micah Black was traveling in our group. Dylan Hood and I skied together a bunch. We stayed in a tiny hut that was snowed in on top of the mountain. No bathroom or shower, but we had a stereo, which was pretty cool. We skied around Chamonix a ton, lived like a tourist for a few weeks—other than having expensive accommodations.
First time on The North Face team... This spring the North Face deal seemed to just fall into my lap. I got some product to wear for filming. Then I just put my head down and skied. And at the end they said, ‘we’re going to put you on the team,’ and I was like, ‘perfect!’
First time spending winter on a sofa... Pretty much spent the whole time living out of my one travel bag for three months. I packed for three weeks and came back about 13 weeks later. Definitely the longest span of travel I’d ever done. At the end I was ready to go home and hibernate for a few weeks.
First long stint in the States... I had spent a little time at Snowbird for the US Nationals. This year it was well over a month in Jackson and three weeks in Utah. It was my first time being based at a US mountain.
First time with American girls... They’re sexy, almost as good as Canadian girls.