AVSC launches ski movie screenings for youth program fundraising

The Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club will host three movie screenings filled with epic skiing, adventure, and inspiration to fundraise for their youth programs this November. 

“November is made for ski movies — it’s cold, it’s getting darker, and with a bucket of popcorn and a great flick, we can get reacquainted with snow and psyched for this upcoming season,” AVSC Director of Communications Allison Johnson said.

Eric Knight, the AVSC freestyle and freeride program director who has been with the club for about 30 years, also expressed his excitement about the event. 

“When we got the opportunity to bring in these movies, we jumped on it,” Knight said.

‘Night of Stoke’ will screen Nov. 6 in Carbondale, Nov. 21 in Aspen

“Night of Stoke” will be screened at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Crystal Theatre in Carbondale, as well as at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21 at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen. 

Both events will include the premiere of the ski movie “Ornada” by Armada. Local Olympian and former X Games athlete Torin Yater-Wallace will be on stage presenting “Ornada” and will participate in a free gear giveaway.

“Ornada” is a feature-length free ski film that took two years to make. The 2025 film shows Armada’s athletes skiing in places like Alaska, Quebec, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Riksgränsen in Sweden, among others. One of the highlights of filming, at least for Yater-Wallace, took place in Colorado’s neighbor state.

“We had one week specifically, in 2024, in Northern Utah, in the backcountry that was just phenomenal snow, every day,” Yater-Wallace said.

Yater-Wallace is an AVSC alumnus who attended Aspen Country Day and Aspen High School. He said he’s looking forward to appearing at both the November events.

“I’m fortunate to have a part in the film along with legendary professionals that I look up to, who are icons at Armada, like Tanner Hall and Sammy Carlson,” Yater-Wallace said in a press release.

Although now retired from competition, Yater-Wallace was the youngest athlete to medal at the X Games at the time and is a two-time Olympian, having competed in halfpipe skiing at both the 2014 and 2018 Games.

“I have eight X Games medals, my first a silver when I just turned 15,” Yater-Wallace said.

Currently, he is an Armada ambassador and continues to showcase his freeskiing vision through cinema.

The events will also screen “Sugar Bowl,” a short film from Faction Skis, and “Hot Dog Hans,” which is part of a shorts series by Olympic medalist and AVSC alumnus Alex Ferreira.

“Ornada just began premiering in other cities, and it sounds like a dynamite film. And we’re also so excited to bring back TGR’s ‘Pressure Drop’ for those of us who didn’t snag a ticket last time. It’s a bonus that we get to cheer our hometown AVSC athletes in both films this year,” Johnson said.

The “Night of Stoke” events are free for Team AVSC athletes and coaches. Members of the public are encouraged to donate $10 (plus service fees) — all proceeds will go to AVSC. 

The events are sponsored by Hamilton Sports and Two Leaves and a Bud.

Teton Gravity Research’s ‘Pressure Drop’ will screen Nov. 13 in Carbondale

Teton Gravity Research’s 30th anniversary movie, “Pressure Drop,” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Crystal Theatre in Carbondale.

The Aspen premiere sold out, but in honor of that sold-out screening the filmmakers generously offered AVSC an opportunity to screen the film for its fundraiser. The extra screening also gives those snow enthusiasts who missed out on the earlier premiere a chance to see the film in a theater nearby.

Kelly Hilleke — one of the world’s top freeriders, an AVSC alumnus, and AVSC coach — will be in attendance. This is Hilleke’s first time being represented in a ski film, and it’s a chance to see him before he heads out to be part of the Freeride World Tour in 2026.

“I’ve always dreamed about being where I am at right now,” Hilleke said about this stage of his life.

Tickets are $20 for the public and $15 for AVSC team athletes and coaches. A portion of the proceeds will go to AVSC.

To purchase tickets, visit wheeleroperahouse.com/event/avsc-presents-a-night-of-stoke-ornada-film-premier-more/. For more information on AVSC, go to Teamavsc.org.