The Teton Gravity Research ski and snowboard film comes to Lees-McRae for fourth year as part of High Country Adventure Film and Speaker Series
The 2022 Teton Gravity Research film “Magic Hour,” the next event in the Lees-McRae High Country Adventure Film and Speaker Series, will be shown at Beech Mountain Resort on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. Held in the resort’s Taproom and Grill, the film screening will finish off a day of fun and fundraising to benefit the college’s skiing and snowboarding team and Ski Industry Business and Instruction academic program.
This year’s screening will continue a four-year relationship between Lees-McRae and Teton Gravity Research (TGR), an independent film production company that seeks to create and screen high-quality ski, snowboard, and surf films throughout the country.
“Magic Hour” is one of a handful of films TGR has produced for their 2022 season, and tells a story about the magic that can happen when you have the right crew, in the right place, at the right time. According to the TGR website, “Magic Hour is not so much a particular time of day as a culmination of powerful moments in some of the most beautiful, wild places on the planet.”
In collaboration with Beech Mountain Resort and Red Bull, Head Skiing and Snowboarding Coach Aaron Maas has put together a day celebrating all things winter sports to help raise financial support for the continued development of the academic program, and to raise the funds needed for the team to compete in high-level competitions throughout the United States.
“Even though we do this event every single year, and it’s our largest fundraiser of the year, I wanted to grow this event because this year is going to be the most expensive year for the skiing and snowboarding team in the history of the program,” Maas said.
Nationals this season will be held in California, and it is vital that the team attends in order for them to defend their current reign as national champions. This fundraiser will ensure that the team has the financial support necessary to make the trip.
Prior to the screening of the film that evening, Maas has organized a ski and snowboard rail jam competition, Southern Rails. The competition is open to athletes ages eight and older and will begin at 2 p.m. Awards totaling $3,000 will be handed out at 5:30 p.m. in the Taproom and Grill.
Lees-McRae students, faculty, staff, and members of the Banner Elk and regional community are invited to come out to Beech Mountain Resort on Saturday, Nov. 26 for a fun-filled day celebrating all things skiing and snowboarding and supporting the sport at Lees-McRae.
Watch the trailer for “Magic Hour”
