Jess Hotter won Standout Female Skier of the Year at the International Freesports Film Festival in Whistler, Canada. Photo / Oisin McHugh
Jess Hotter won Standout Female Skier of the Year at the International Freesports Film Festival in Whistler, Canada. Photo / Oisin McHugh
New Zealand skier Jess Hotter’s awe-inspiring skills in a fast-paced ski movie have received accolades at the International Freesports Film Festival in Canada.
Hotter, who is from Ohakune and won the 2022 Freeride World Tour Women’s Ski Champion title, has been recognised as the Standout Female Skier of the Year at the film ceremony in Whistler.
The freeskiing movie Beyond involved filming of HEAD Freeskiing team athletes throughout the northern hemisphere in places such as Whitecap Lodge, Mt Baker, Sugar Bowl Resort and Whistler Blackcomb. Crews also travelled to ski spots across Japan and Europe to collect footage.
Hotter said filming the movie involved ski touring over crazy, big cliffs that “scared the s*** out of you”.
“There’s always an element of risk to it, but it’s calculated risk, and you’ve got to take into account avalanche conditions and how you’re feeling on the day.
“We were really trying to get the shots but we were also having quite bad snow conditions this season, so we got to the end of the year wondering if we even got enough footage.”
Jess Hotter carves a beautiful line in a still from the HEAD Freeskiing team movie Beyond. Photo / Guy Fattal
Before seeing the movie during the festival screening, Hotter had not watched many parts of her segment.
“As a skier, you’re very much focused on skiing the line. It’s quite funny sometimes - you get these blinders on when you’re skiing and you’re just very focused on what’s in front of you.
“You just have no idea what it’s going to look like on a camera until you see it in the movie itself.
“When you see it, it’s just like ‘damn, that’s so sick’.”
The end result may have been an effortless, high-adrenaline production with freeriding skiers carving smooth lines through the snow and leaping over cliffs, but to get that footage involved some gruelling camerawork.
“There’s a lot of really backbreaking work for the filmers and photographers,” Hotter said.
“One of our main directors and editors for the movie, Jeff Thomas, was carrying around a 50-pound (22.6kg) backpack in the backcountry ... just slogging through deep-ass snow.”
Hotter said she was “really, really stoked” to have won the award and to follow in the footsteps of other high-performing skiers.
“It was definitely a shock, I didn’t expect to get it.
“You obviously never know what other people’s segments look like, and you haven’t watched every movie, so I didn’t know how I would stack up.”
Hotter is training in Wanaka and maintaining her strength for the season ahead. She is also planning to pick up additional camera skills to help her film other skiers next season.
“There’s been so much love and help from so many people, my friends and family, and the whole Ohakune, Ruapehu and Wanaka community.
