Photos by Luke Gentry
Have you followed your friends down a park lap, capturing footage on an iPhone? Have you posted up with your camera below a pristine patch of powder waiting for the perfect slash? It’s easy to see what drives us to capture these moments on the mountain—we want others to experience the euphoria we feel while skiing and snowboarding.
“You get to live it over and over again,” says Luke Gentry, who started making his first professional ski film at age 18. “If it’s on video, you get to relive those super intense emotions and absolute joy and then share it with other people.”
Brothers Luke (20) and Wyatt Gentry (17), and Tucker Carr (19), scored the chance of a lifetime two winters ago when Salomon tapped them to make a ski movie. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Wyatt had been sponsored by Salomon for a year, after the company saw a video of him hitting a famous cliff in the Jackson Hole backcountry called Smart Bastard. Luke had interned in the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) marketing department, where he worked on a summer video project. Then, in 2021, he interned with Teton Gravity Research (TGR), creating digital video spots and other online assets.
“Out of the gate, Luke exhibited maturity far beyond his age,” says TGR cofounder Todd Jones. “Watching him work reminded me of the early days when we had one camera, a bunch of friends, little experience, and tons of determination.”
Luke is now TGR’s merchandising content creator. Both Tucker and Wyatt work at Corbet’s Cabin, at the summit of JHMR, in the summer.
“A Little Rogue, a Little Rowdy” premiered in fall 2022, showcasing the creative shredding of the trio and other athletes from Salomon’s Junior MTN Collective (a program that helps foster mentorship between young and legacy athletes and gets junior athletes involved in product development) and their adventures at Mt. Baker, Revelstoke, Whistler, and their home mountain in Jackson Hole, as well as competition footage at Snowbird and Big Sky. Luke went through 47 edits of the film, but the finished version was a hit with audiences around the country, earning a nomination for amateur film of the year at the International Freesports Film Festival (iF3).
“I know how hard it is to make a film, and I was beyond impressed,” Todd says. “It’s been incredible watching Luke learn and grow as a filmmaker.”
This fall, the trio followed it up with a second film. Luke applied everything he learned during his filmmaking debut. Last winter began with a solid storyline and a plan. Then it all went out the window. Originally titled Gap Year, the film centered on the idea of taking a year off between high school and college to pursue your passions. But after Luke suffered a life-threatening head injury that required a backcountry rescue, a helicopter flight to the hospital, and doctor’s orders to take it easy on skis (if he knocked his head again within three months, the likelihood of brain damage was high), the plot needed a rewrite. So did the title. “Head Games” comprises four stories: the traumatic incident; the Freeride World Junior Championships in Kappl, Austria, where Wyatt took third place; Canadian big-mountain skier Claire McPherson, who won Queen of Corbet’s at age 19; and Tucker’s lifelong dream to ski the Grand Teton.
“It’s ten times better,” says Salomon’s North American alpine marketing manager Joe Johnson. “They’ve improved by leaps and bounds with production quality. They cut the edit rounds in half. They shot audio in a studio rather than a basement. At the same time, the whole project is about letting them be kids and tell the stories and show skiing the way they want to.”
Luke’s Tips for Making your own ski Movie
Film. Film. Film some more. The more footage you have, the more flexibility you have.
Figure out your story before you start shooting, and focus on the storyline as you do. This is more important than you might think.
Phone cameras are unbelievable now. Keep in mind what you’re shooting for. If it’s for Instagram, shoot vertical. If it’s for YouTube, shoot horizontal.
If you’re making an edit to get views rather than tell a story, pick your three best shots and keep it under 15 seconds.
The answer to every question you have (and more) about filming and editing is on the internet. Look it up.
My rule of thumb is shoot twice as many tights as wides or mediums. Tight shots improve any movie. It creates intimacy with characters. Brands love it because it shows their logos. And it adds action to the movie.
Start filming 35 seconds before a line and all the way through. You might capture a buddy hug, a fist bump, or a cheer that can add to the sequence.
Don’t get too attached to a piece of footage. You’re telling a story; only use shots that help you accomplish that. For example, our segment from Europe lacked footage because of the 24-inch snowpack—it was brutal—so instead we shot Wyatt and Tucker cruising through a village and jumping off buildings. It was cool footage, but it didn’t add to the story, so we cut it.
I learned this the hard way, but when things happen that are beyond your control, just go with it. You can’t be afraid to adapt and change.
A good story is a real story. Matchstick Productions (MSP) and TGR tell bigger stories because the platform they’re working with is the feature-length films. Most kids should focus on just telling their story well. What’s unique about you?
JHMR Fall Line Camps
Luke, Wyatt, and Tucker will be making their coaching debut at one of Jackson Hole’s three Fall Line Camps this season, where skiers ages 12-17 explore the storied terrain of Jackson Hole in a three-day camp to practice dropping cliffs, jibbing features, skiing steeps, and making good decisions in the mountains. Fall Line camp sessions are offered during the dates below; email [email protected] to get on the wait list.
December 27–29, 2023
February 19–21, 2024
March 11–13, 2024