Film Review: Slednez – MOMENTUM
Slednez – MOMENTUM
Pursuing a passion for mountain snowmobiling isn’t at all easy for the Slednez crew—a hardcore group of riders from Northern Sweden and Norway. Scandinavia just isn’t setup for mountain sledding like Canada and the USA. They don’t have the availability of sleds and heavy-duty trucks for hauling them, nor the widespread access to gear and proliferation of easily accessible places to ride that we North Americans enjoy. It takes a really passionate person to pursue a dream of big mountain sledding across the Atlantic, and this crew has that in spades. Despite the odds, the Slednez crew has just released their latest feature-length film entitled MOMENTUM, proving that they have never let the limitations to which they are subject hold them back.
Film Review: Slednez – MOMENTUM
MOMENTUM, which runs 43 minutes long, is directed by Simon Selberg and produced by Epic Media. The film is collaboratively shot by the group of riders themselves, although clearly the direction of Selberg has played a key role in producing quality footage across the board. Twenty-six riders are featured throughout the film, with more renowned riders—such as Johan Forsberg—having a more prominent role than others.
The film is shot largely in Northern Sweden, with footage from Norway, Finland and a short segment from the Continental USA as well. There is a good variety of riding styles featured in the film, with boondocking and alpine freeriding taking center stage. Big chute slaying is noticeably absent in the film, but given the primary filming locations and the terrain available there it should come as no surprise.
Trandem backflips?! Momentum’s got it!
MOMENTUM opens with a quick-cut intro segment that will get you pumped up straight away. It’s got a heavy track, fast action, and thankfully doesn’t drag out the brand support unnecessarily. Beyond the intro, the segments are divided largely by location and crew, giving an individual take on each part.
The film features a combination of English language narration and some Scandi dialogue with English subtitles. Mostly it’s just sweet riding though, so don’t worry about putting on your reading glasses for this one.
The soundtrack consists of a healthy mix of heavy rock and electronica with a little drum and bass thrown in for good measure. It’s all high-energy and will keep you amped for the duration of the film.
Riding
The film is action packed with solid riding throughout. The cast of riders are all quite talented, and even a handful of Americans get in on the fun with some impressive action in the Alpine Assassins segment.
The Slednez crew clearly loves freeriding. And although there is plenty of boondocking in MOMENTUM, the strength of the film lies in the open alpine freeriding segments. These guys love throwing down big re-entry whips on natural windlips and launching cheese wedge booters into space.
The Slednez fellas love getting inverted in the backcountry.
A side bonus of the film is the Euro-feel to it. You might think that alpine terrain is alpine terrain, no matter where you are in the world, but this is entirely untrue. Watching the film, you can’t help but get the feeling that it’s a whole other world over there in Scandinavia. It would be pretty neat to check out the riding there firsthand.
The film also features a pretty entertaining bails segment. It’s pretty funny listening to the guys curse in Swedish (and some English)!
Vehicles
Another oddity is, of course, the types of vehicles they have available over there. In the film you’ll see a Volkswagen utility pickup and plenty of van-type-things hauling trailers. One F-450 rig in particular—owned by one of the Linsell crew of riders and featured in the film’s second main segment—is capable of hauling 4 sleds with a custom overcab deck. Super badass! At another point in the film you’ll catch a glimpse of an 8-place open trailer. Not something you see everyday over here!
All kinds of vehicles are used to haul sleds in Scandinavia, but this F-450 definitely takes the cake.
Production
Overall, there are some features that make MOMENTUM stand out from the crowd of sled flicks. The post-production and editing are tight; Selberg and crew know what they’re doing. The film looks damn good, and you can tell that a lot of effort has gone into making it that way.
MOMENTUM boats a wide variety of quality shots. There is drone, steadicam and enough GoPro (but not too much) footage for a good mix of angles and shots that keeps things interesting.
The Verdict
This year’s film, MOMENTUM, proves once again that just because a group of riders are geographically removed from the nucleus of mountain sledding doesn’t mean that they don’t belong close to the heart of the mountain freeriding community. These guys live and breathe mountain sledding, and that translates on screen. It just goes to show that deep passion for this sport transcends languages and borders.
Slednez – MOMENTUM is definitely worth a watch. It’s a great looking film. There is some pretty awesome riding from a talented crew of riders both Scandinavian and from the USA. And it’s just plain neat to see how mountain sledding enthusiasts live out their passion in another land.
Slednez – MOMENTUM can be rented or purchased on Vimeo here.
Stay tuned in the future for the rebranding of Slednez as Radical Lines.
— MS
