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People Who Rize | A love for the Mountains

Four mountain lovers let us in on their accidents, recoveries and unconditional love for the mountains

Most of us have probably at some point been asked why we snowboard. Sometimes people are stoked to listen to us go on about our passion for snowboarding, whilst other times we’re faced with a slightly less enthusiastic response towards the topic. ‘You’re just going down a hill, what makes it so special?’ or ‘But isn’t it dangerous? Is it really worth the risk?’ aren’t  uncommon questions. And in all fairness, we do understand where people are coming from.

“People Who Rize is a 20-minute-clip that focuses on how to overcome different types of traumas”

‘People Who Rize’ is a 20-minute movie that focuses on how to overcome different types of traumas. Manuela Mandl suffered a severe concussion a couple of years back and lets us in on how the injury and the process of dealing with it helped her to overcome her fear. After a long recovery, she’s stoked to finally be back on her board, doing what she loves. (If you’re keen to find out more on how Manuela overcame her trauma, we had a chat with her on concussions and snowboarding a while back.)

Setting off an avalanche is many of our worst nightmares, let alone being caught in one. Daniel Vonach lets us in on his encounter with one, and how he’s been coping with the aftermath of it. We’re also let in on Darren Swift’s story – from losing his both legs to a bomb back in 1991 to finding snowboarding.

To answer the two questions at the beginning – yes, snowboarding can be dangerous, but we as snowboarders are fully aware of the risks that come with the sport. We aren’t reckless (well, not when it comes to hitting the backcountry) and we acknowledge the risks we take while being fully aware of that sometimes, accidents do happen. Is it worth it? 100%. We aren’t just going down a hill, we are doing something that gives us a feeling of euphoria that nothing else can, hence, why we keep on riding down that hill – over and over again.

Riders: Manuela Mandl, Daniel Vonach, Simon Winkler, Darren Swift.
Producer, Director, Editor, Screenplay & Music: Ashley Wiggins.
Story & Concept: Daniela Hochmuth.
Cinematography: Ashley Wiggins, Daniel Coffey, Thomas Stanglechner, Paul Challis, Paul Kuhn, Christa Vogel, Adam Graf, Manuela Mandl, Daniel Vonach, Simon Winkler, Darren Swift.
Co-starring: Ellie Challis, Justin Deisenroth, Daniela Hochmuth, Ashley Wiggins, Ferdi Toy, Petar Lonca, Rudi Gschwandtner.

Theme song lyrics written by Daniela Hochmuth and sang by Maria Posch. Music recorded and produced by Ashley Wiggins. Filmed mostly in the Austrian Alps.

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