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Warren Miller and Palisades Tahoe celebrate “75” together

Connery Lundin during the filming of 75 at Palisades Tahoe.
Provided / Warren Miller Entertainment

STATELINE, Nev. – This year marks a milestone for two well known ski icons, Warren Miller and Palisades Tahoe.

“It’s a big year for both of us,” Josh Haskins says, executive producer for Warren Miller Entertainment.

The pioneer of snow sports filmmaking, Warren Miller, created his first film, Deep and Light, in 1949. That’s the same year Palisades Tahoe’s opened, formerly called Squaw Valley, which is where Miller filmed this legacy igniting picture.



It wasn’t enough that the two snow brands would celebrate a 75th anniversary together. Fate would bring them together again for a film released during their 75th year, a film that also happens to be Warren Miller Entertainment’s 75th film. There could only be one name for the film—”75.”

The film is the second installment of a two-year celebration of this anniversary. While the first installment, called ALL TIME, relived the hills, ski trends, icons, and innovators that defined winter sports for over seven decades, 75 looks forward to rising talent and the future of snow sports.



Palisades Tahoe is featured in a segment of the film and for every famous pitch—the cliffs of the fingers, the chutes of the Palisades, the bumps of Red Dog—viewers get to ride with multiple generations and see it through both seasoned and fresh eyes.

“It was important for us to feature different generations of skiers and riders in the Palisades Tahoe segment,” Haskins says, “to reinforce the storyline of generations throughout the film.”

Professional skier Connery Lundin made up the generation bridging both the old and new generations of skiers. Born in 1989, the Freeskiing World Tour Champion considers Palisades Tahoe his home mountain.

Before moving to Olympic Valley in high school, Lundin frequented the mountains on the weekends. It was this drive from the Oakland hills to the mountains that paved the way for a professional career.

“As a kid, driving up to the mountains every weekend, I would watch Warren Miller movies,” he remembers, “and they were sort of the original inspiration for becoming a professional skier, which [was] a goal of mine since I was a little, little kid.”

Lundin has now been involved in Warren Miller films for six years. While filming 75, Lundin skied with athletes from the up and coming generation, showing them some of his favorite lines and how to navigate jumping off cliffs safely, as well as the tips and tricks he has picked up over the years.

But of all the lessons he taught, he hopes one sticks. “The mark that I hope to leave is just showing these kids [that] skiing is still about having fun, and it’s not that serious. You know, anything that’s your passion you’re going to take it seriously, but at the end of the day,” he says, “we’re just sliding on snow.”

Lundin describes the experience as passing the torch to the younger generation of skiers, many in their teens. “That’s not to say I’m done at all,” he adds.

Other Tahoe skiers featured in the Palisades Tahoe segment include Daron Rahlves, Zach and Gael Williams, Ryan Ladd, as well as snowboarders Jeremy Jones, Cass Jones and Mia Jones.

Not only did Miller’s 1949 film ignite a new genre of filmmaking, it started a tradition of gathering audiences each fall to celebrate the start of the season.

“It’s a tradition for families to come out to both the theater and the mountain and enjoy their time together,” Haskins says, “sharing the stoke for winter and sliding on snow.”

The 75th Warren Miller Film Tour kicked off mid-October in Boulder, Colo. The tour makes a nostalgic stop at Palisades Tahoe at the Olympic Village Event Center on Nov. 1, before making its way to the Pioneer Center in Reno on Nov. 2, followed by Bally’s Lake Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe Nov. 3. The tour continues on its way to the bay area thereafter.

The 90 minute film captures powder filled scenes from stashes and chutes around the world, including Canada, Colorado, Utah, Finland, Japan, Austria, and New Jersey.

Lundin says the movie is worth seeing not just for the home segment at Palisades, but also for its depth that pulls those in who may not even be skiers themselves. “I think this movie is really diverse in the segments and the way it profiles athletes and shows a little more than just three seconds of air time from the top of a cliff to the bottom.”

For tickets to the film tour visit warrenmiller.com/film-tour.


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