“Benchetler’s Stepmother” is a 2014 GoPro film in which pro skier Chris Benchetler and his wife, pro snowboarder Kimmy Fasani, build a backcountry jump in British Columbia, and Benchetler then rides it again and again. Shot entirely on GoPro HD HERO3+ cameras, it puts you on Benchetler’s skis for every take-off and landing.
The Stepmother jump in British Columbia
GoPro released the edit on its YouTube channel on 2 May 2014 as GoPro: Benchetler's Stepmother. The couple shaped the kicker, which they named “Stepmother”, in the British Columbia backcountry, and Benchetler wore a GoPro to record a first-person view of each jump. Freeskier called it a “100% GoPro edit”, and Gizmodo shared it with the headline that it would make you wish for winter.
The point-of-view footage is what makes it work. A helmet or body-mounted camera shows a jump the way the rider experiences it, from the speed of the in-run to the moment of take-off and the landing, which a camera on the side of the slope cannot convey. Here every shot was filmed on GoPro cameras.
Who is Chris Benchetler?
Chris Benchetler grew up in Mammoth Lakes, California, and still runs his painting studio there. He is known for a loose, playful freeskiing style that often looks more like snowboarding than skiing. Over his career he has filmed for Warren Miller Entertainment, Teton Gravity Research, MSP Films and Poor Boyz Productions, co-founded the film company Nimbus Independent, and directed Fire on the Mountain, a ski and snowboard film made with the Grateful Dead. His signature ski model, first released in 2008, has grown into a whole line, and his artwork appears on gear from many outdoor brands, according to his Arc’teryx athlete profile.
Who is Kimmy Fasani?
Kimmy Fasani is also from Mammoth Lakes. She skied from the age of two and was snowboarding by nine, and as a teenager she won the USASA National Slopestyle Championship three years in a row. In 2011 she became the first female snowboarder to land a double backflip both in the park and in powder. Her segment in Absinthe Films’ Turbo Dojo earned her women’s Rider of the Year and Video Part of the Year in 2016, as noted by Boarding for Breast Cancer, the charity she represents as an ambassador.
More jumps and point-of-view films
Big backcountry jumps are built and ridden by experienced athletes who know the snowpack; wear a helmet and read about helmet protection and its limits before trying anything bigger on your own skis. For an urban twist on the same idea, watch Dan Brisse’s urban snowboard sequence.
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