The Best Skier You've Never Heard Of

Production by: Stellar Equipment

Directed by: Marus Ahlström

Produced by: Mattias Frediksson

Skier: Adrien Grabinski

Location: Shames Mountain and Terrarace, BC

Artwork by: Minoo Crawford-Currie

Mattias Frediksson on The Best Skier You've Never Heard Of:

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you first learn about Adrien Grabinski?

I learned about Adrien during his first winter working at Shames Mountain in 2020. There was a rumor that this young kid from Alberta was skiing many hairy lines around Shames and Terrace, many of which were first descents. I eventually met him briefly when a friend introduced him to me. He was the most humble person, and I immediately became interested in learning more about him and his passion for skiing.

What inspired you and Marcus Ahlström to create a film about him?

The more I learned about Adrien, the more I felt like there was a deeper story to tell. He grew up as an alpine racer in the Bow Valley. Via the Alberta team, he eventually reached the Canadian National Alpine team as a junior and even appeared as a forerunner in the World Cup races in Lake Louise.

Someone said he was one of the most talented Canadian ski racers since the Crazy Canucks (Ken Read, Steve Podborski, Dave Irwin and Dave Murray) back in the 70s and the 80s. Then, one day, he decided to quit. Boom! Just like that. He packed his little car, drove west and en route to board a fishing vessel off the coast of Prince Rupert (near Terrace), and passed by the sign for Shames. That’s where the film takes off.

(Answer Continued):

But to give some more insight into why we were intrigued by Adrien's story, let me say this: Adrien Grabinski personifies an authentic grassroots ski culture. He loves skiing and snowboarding and works tirelessly at Shames to create opportunities for everyone in our community (here in Terrace) to enjoy sliding on snow. Adrien is a young man in an old man's soul with a heart of gold. Besides working two or three jobs at Shames (depending on the season), he also volunteers a lot.

Adrien wants to give back to the sport that has given him so much over the years. I think he sees his calling in passing on the passion for sliding on snow to as many others as possible.

Most other 20-something-year-olds with exceptional talent like his would try to self-promote themselves via social media and do everything they can to be sponsored. Not Adrien; he could not care less about fame and glory. He’s the real deal, and these days, that is rare to see.

To add more context, some years ago, Murray at MSP called me, asking if there were any pro skiers in Terrace as they looked for a local to add in the roaster for a segment they were about to film here.

I told him this town is filled with retired, rad ski bums, and then we have Adrien. He got interested, and eventually, Adrien went filming with Abma and a few of the girls in the Blondes. That segment became the crowd-pleaser for MSPs 2021 release, The Stomping Grounds. When MSP asked Adrien to join the tour, he was uninterested.

It was a fun, one-time thing during a week off work, but as he told his friends, “It was a lot of standing around, doing nothing when I would rather be skiing.” That says a lot about Adrien. You can find the segment on YouTube to see how Abma and the Blondes have to ski their ass off to keep up with Adrien.

What was your favorite behind-the-scenes moment in creating the film?

We worked in a tiny team, just Marcus Ahlström and myself as the creatives and Adrien, his partner Maia, their dog Sky and Mitchell Suliak, who helped us with safety and forecasting.

We shot everything in five days, including the interview we set up in the maintenance shack at the hill during the last day of production. It was a grassroots production about a grassroots guy and celebrates a grassroots ski place! Besides a few lift rides, we ski toured in the Shames backcountry for every line in the film.

The human-powered approach gave us time to dig deeper into the story and develop a sense of pride in working hard as a team. Our movie proves it does not have to be all ritzy and expensive productions with helicopters and fancy equipment to reach farther.

How would you describe Shames mountain to a skier that's never heard of it?

Shames Mountain is located in the Coast Range, near Terrace, in the northwest part of British Columbia. It’s Canada’s first non-profit cooperative ski hill. With two lifts (one old retired chair from Whistler), a T-bar, and a new convenient lift for kids and beginners, this is a community ski place, not a ski resort.

We typically get 12-15 meters of snow each season, with many solid powder days. About 2500 members own the ski hill together and hold onto this gem with their bare hands. So much passion goes into this place. The lodge is old and scrappy; people ski in old gear, and the lifts barely hold on. Shames is the most authentic place I have ever skied in B.C. I love being a local at this rad hill.