I just was watching a cute but disturbing outdoor sports movie, GNAR. Its in a long line of bro-flicks. GNAR is a rating system for extreme skiing out at Squaw Valley. Its a joke. The rating system has hundreds of categories for goofball stuff, spoofing the mt-dude attitude. Like extra points for phoning your mom while skiing a dangerous cliff drop. (Helps resolve the conflict b/w wanting to be the best skier and a good son.) Theres a premium on people seeing you doing things or saying things to strangers. Stopping to pee in the middle of a rock-strewn cliff drop...points. But the upshot to me is a combination of awe at the skill and the reality that such bro-on-bro action always results in injury and death. Yeah, I see how its a part of the old reptile brain thats hard to shed. Rich kid expression of the old urge for war. But its also sad. Fun and skill are cool, but it stands out like a sore thumb how these dudes all get so injured and killed just showing off to each other. Dude + camera = death. And so, of course, the guy who inspired the GNAR points concept is dead already. Of course, I like to push the enduro stuff -- and could tend to do that to the point of breakdown. So... Well, enduro usually gives us plenty of time to back off. But back to those skills: its boggling. Ive never had any aptitude for upside down body awareness or timing. These guys throw in flips and spins for anything, anywhere. Also, they can track whats happening when theyre falling. When I drop thru the air like when jumping off a quarry wall into water its just a big whoosh -- I cant notice details on the way and wouldnt be able to move this way or that to avoid rocks. Some people just have it, tho. Like they can go on ever-crazier rollercoaster rides. I suppose its an inner-ear thing and mine has always been funky, doc says. I get vertigo just standing up quick. unofficialnetworks/2014/07/g-n-a-r-the-movie-by-unofficial-networks
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:10:44 +0000
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