Brick buildings, narrow streets and an extraordinary amount of snow: Boston supplied a memorable backdrop for Clayton Vila and Cam Riley’s urban skiing film. The pair looked at the buried city and saw possibilities most commuters were understandably too busy shovelling to consider.
The Boston winter behind the film
Teton Gravity Research published the video on 11 February 2016, using footage from the winter of 2015. The skiers are Clayton Vila and Cam Riley; Vila’s surname was misspelled in the earlier version of this story.
The weather context was remarkable. A National Weather Service presentation on the 2015 snow season records 110.6 inches of seasonal snowfall in Boston, about 2.81 metres, and identifies February as the city’s snowiest month on record at that time.
Those figures describe accumulated snowfall over a period, not a uniform depth on every street. Snow was also ploughed and piled, creating a cityscape of banks, cleared strips and awkward gaps. The same presentation documents the disruption to transport and daily life, giving the film’s playful perspective a fuller setting.
There was a production behind the playground
TGR’s account describes a stabilised camera system used from a helicopter and a car, with co-founder Todd Jones involved in the shoot. It also mentions winch-assisted skiing, which helps explain how a skier can gather speed where an ordinary downhill approach is unavailable.
Knowing that makes the footage more rewarding. A finished sequence brings together the athlete’s movement, the camera’s position and the work required to prepare a shot. It is worth watching how much of the city remains in the frame: walls, street edges and buildings give each movement a recognisable scale.
Why street skiing looks so different
On a broad white mountainside, your eye reads the skier against an open landscape. In the image here, the brick façades and close-set buildings make the route feel tightly framed. Snow softens the view, while the familiar architecture keeps reminding you that this is a working city.
For another film that plays with an unexpected line through the scenery, try Candide Thovex’s One of those days 3. Comparing the two is a fun way to notice how much an action film’s personality comes from its location.
Urban stunt footage is not an invitation to ski on active roads, railway property or public structures. Snow can conceal hard surfaces, and the film does not establish permission or safe conditions for anyone copying a shot. Keep the inspiration focused on the filmmaking.
If the weather itself caught your attention, our Amtrak snow-wave story offers a different view of what happens when heavy snow meets everyday transport.
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