AdamX's guest this week is Tristan Martin-Preney. Tristan was born and raised in Nelson, BC and while might not be a household name, he is definitely carving out his own niche, his own way in freestyle skiing.
Adam and Tristan talk about the art of skiing, and how the gymnastics like ratings in competition might be missing the point. Doing a 1440 is insane but its not necessarily aesthetically pleasing. A Zero Spin still pretty sick. It's all in the paradox of progression.
Tristan is a dope skier at a professional level riding for Faction, but he found his way in the industry, not by doing comps and demanding sponsors & gear, but by reaching out to shops and brands and offering them more. He used his background in digital arts and started filming. Filming himself, filming others, even working with Tom Wallisch in Sherpa Cinema's Imagination project. There he quickly learned its not just skiing and filming. Sometimes you gotta dig and pile snow, there's just so much behind the scenes that goes into these big productions. The conversation also shifts to knowing your worth in this industry and how people will take advantage of you if you don't stand up for yourself. A lesson he learned first hand being stiffed working on an MSP film, due to a "miscommunication".
Maybe one of the coolest things Tristan does is running something called CamCamps where he teaches kids how to film and be filmed skiing. In a world that can be dark sometimes, kids willingness to learn with no ego is a bright spot for Tristan, and heck for all of us for that matter. Maybe if we all just spread a little skiing and love with someone, it can make a small corner of this planet brighter as the world burns. Follow Tristan on Instagram and keep an eye out for a new untitled film project in the works. Listen to the full episode of The Pursuit now for the full interview!
