A short film series exploring the life of the modern backcountry bum.
Meet the people getting out and giving back. From the summits of the San Juans to skintracks around Lake Tahoe, the second season of The New Class explores a fresh cast of mountain town residents. These skiers and snowboarders don’t just make tracks; they vitalize their hometowns as architects and advocates, coffee-roasters and pastors.
Season 2
EPISODE 2.4 | WHITNEY GILLIAM
Crested Butte, Colorado
Whitney Gilliam values people and her experiences with them—a currency that’s not always easy to invest in when the mountain town you call home attracts a transient population. But people need people—and people need community—so Gilliam, the young-adult pastor at Oh Be Joyful Church in Crested Butte, Colorado, has chosen to invest in that. Turns out, the skintrack is a great place to do so.
This episode of The New Class is presented by Backcountry Magazine and Dirtbag Bars with additional support from Haglofs, Scott Sports and the American Alpine Club.
EPISODE 2.3 | TAYLOR LUNEAU
Durango, Colorado
Rife with big peaks and wild spaces, Colorado’s San Juans embody what Taylor Luneau, policy manager for the American Alpine Club, has spent his career protecting—places where the environment can be free from human influence. When Luneau isn’t studying federal land management, he’s poring over topo maps and planning his next foray into the mountains.
This episode of The New Class is presented by Backcountry Magazine and Dirtbag Bars with additional support from the American Alpine Club.
EPISODE 2.2 | RALPH BACKSTROM
Truckee, California
Following a harrowing fall in 2017, Ralph Backstrom, a former Freeride World Tour Champion, walked away from snowboarding. In search of what to do next, he turned to a quieter passion discovered eight years earlier: well-roasted coffee. Today, he runs Pacific Crest Coffee, and, revitalized by a profession and community he loves, has begun to return to the slopes.
This episode of The New Class is presented by Backcountry Magazine and Dirtbag Bars with additional support from Flylow and the American Alpine Club.
EPISODE 2.1 | NOAH GREEN
Seattle, Washington
The built environment generates 40 percent of annual global CO2 emissions. For Noah Green, studying and pursuing a career in architecture is a means to changing this stark reality, to protect the wild spaces he inhabits. At the front doors to the PNW’s most iconic mountain ranges and on the cutting edge of sustainable architecture, he has struck a balance between fulfilling work and epic backcountry days.
This episode of The New Class is presented by Backcountry Magazine and Dirtbag Bars with additional support from Moment Skis.
Season 2 of The New Class film series is possible thanks to the support of:
Season 1
EPISODE 1.1 | RACHEL FORTIER
Victor, Idaho
After a few years on the FWTQ, Rachel decided to give up the professional skier dream and bought a fixer-upper inn in Teton Valley, Idaho (like, an inn that was made with railroad ties and had carpeting for wallpaper). Six years later, the inn has been fully renovated into a beautiful log cabin–style bed and breakfast at the base of the Big Holes, with one of the best Teton views out there. Rachel works as the full-time inn-keeper with help from her parents, a few skids living in the basement and her two dogs, Betty and Lucy. When not slinging delicious and picturesque breakfasts (many of which include ingredients from her raspberry patch and her parent’s hydroponic garden), she’s coaching youth sports in town or exploring the Big Hole range behind her house.
EPISODE 1.2 | CAROLYN HIGHLAND
Lake Tahoe, California
A lifelong skier who grew up carving ice in Maine, Carolyn now lives, works and plays in the Lake Tahoe area. She’s a sucker for sufferfests, thus she can be found getting up early for pre-work dawn patrols, schwacking her way up volcanoes or spending long days in the skintrack. Carolyn is an elementary school teacher and spent last year adjusting to seeing her students’ faces over Zoom instead of in the classroom. When she’s not teaching or skiing, she can be found promoting her new book, Out Here, or coming up with new writing ideas, most of which are derived from her time in the mountains.
EPISODE 1.3 | KORDELL BLACK
Salt Lake City, Utah
Raised by a Mormon bishop in Salt Lake City, Kordell looks like a young splitboarding version of Bob Athey, the Wizard of the Wasatch. For many years, his job working customer service in the airline industry has allowed him to gain standby tickets to fly around the world and ride epic lines. And the manner in which he takes on backcountry lines is professional level. With a larger-than-life personality and a decade of stories to match, Kordell fills the screen and stokes your hopes and dreams of becoming a global ski bum.
EPISODE 1.4 | MARKUS MUELLER
Lake Tahoe, California
Markus Mueller has always lived in ski towns. Now he’s figured out a way to stay in his Lake Tahoe community. As an infrastructure manager for a California utility that specializes in solar and wind, Markus appreciates the work he does in creating climate solutions and his time away from it ski touring. “My work is so different than what I do for recreation,” he says. “It’s kind of like those two opposing things allow me to live a full life.” His mantra, like so many who make sacrifices to live and play in the mountains, is simple: “Figure out what makes you happy and do more of it!”
Season 1 of The New Class film series is possible thanks to the support of:
