Draft:Mike Douglas - Skier Film Maker

Mike Douglas (born November 15, 1969) is a Canadian skier and Filmmaker from Whistler, Canada. He is known as the ‘Godfather of ‘Freeskiing’, thanks to his involvement in creating the first high-performance twin-tip ski, the Salomon Teneighty (2), and for his pioneering feats on snow in the sports of freestyle skiing and freeskiing. He has appeared in more than 30 ski films and has a signature trick named after him, the D-Spin (3). In 2003, Mike won Powder Magazines’ ‘Male Performance of the Year’ (4) and has been called one of the most influential freeskiers of all time (5). He was a TV commentator for the skiing events at ESPN’s X Games between 2001-2014. (6)

Ski Filmography Smart Mogul Skiing (1994) - Momentum Bump2Bump with Jean-Luc Brassard (1995) - C3 Productions State of Mind (1997) - Poor Boyz Productions Fistful of Moguls (1998) - Greg Stump Degenerates (1998) - Poor Boyz Productions Skiing’s Last Stand - Mike Hilb Fifity (1999) - Warren Miller Global Storming (1999) - Matchstick Productions 13 (1999) - Poor Boyz Productions Area 51 (1999) - Teton Gravity Research Supershow (1999) - Mike Hilb Ski Movie (2000) - Matchstick Productions The Game (2000) - Poor Boyz Productions Ski Movie 2: High Society (2001) - Matchstick Productions Propaganda (2002) - Poor Boyz Productions Ski Movie 3: The Front Line (2003) - Matchstick Productions Happy Dayz (2003) - Poor Boyz Productions Focused (2004) - Matchstick Productions Ready, Fire, Aim (2004) - Poor Boyz Productions Yearbook (2004) - Matchstick Productions X=10 (2005) - Poor Boyz Productions The Hit List (2005) - Matchstick Productions War (2006) - Poor Boyz Productions Focused (2006) - Matchstick Productions Seven Sunny Days (2007) - Matchstick Productions Reasons (2008) - Poor Boyz Productions Wave Skiing in Hawaii (2010) - Salomon Freeski TV Glacier Express (2012) - Salomon Freeski TV McConkey (2013) - Matchstick Productions Snowman (2014) - Switchback Entertainment Ruapehu (2015) - Salomon Freeski TV The Skier’s Haute Route (2016) - Salomon Freeski TV 50 Years of Going Beyond (2015) - Switchback Entertainment Fountain of Youth (2017) - Switchback Entertainment Sam and Me (2022) - Switchback Entertainment

Mike is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.(7) In 2004, Mike founded Switchback Entertainment, a small production company also based in Whistler, Canada. Switchback Entertainment produces documentary and adventure films, as well as commercials for brands like Salomon, Whistler Blackcomb, Destination BC, Arc’ Teryx, Google, CNN and Red Bull. Mike and Switchback Entertainment produce the award-winning web series, Salomon TV, between 2007-2023.(8)

Award winning and notable films include: The Freedom Chair - 2011 Best Mountain Sports film - Banff Mountain Film Festival, Most Inspiring Story - 5 Point Film Festival Tempting Fear - 2012 Best Action Film - Adventure Film Festival, Best Story X-Dance Film Festival Snowman - 2014 Best Mountain Culture film - Whistler Film Festival, Best Script - Bilbao Mendi Film Festival Whistler Blackcomb: Fifty Years of Going Beyond - Skade Award - International Skiing History Association Eclipse - 2016 Best Snow film - Banff Mountain Film Festival, Best Mountain Culture Film - Whistler Film Festival, Best Adventure Film - New York Wild Film Festival Live Along the Way - Grand Prize - NZ Mountain Film Festival Fountain of Youth - unawarded Sam and Me - Best BC Film - BC Environmental Film Festival

Mike Douglas is an environmental advocate and helped found the environmental non-profit organization, Protect Our Winter Canada, and was the Board Chair between 2018 - 2023.(9) He currently still sits on the board for the organization. He is also on the board of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation.(10) A role he has held since 2013. Mike has been voted ‘Favorite Whistlerite’ 7 times by the readers of Pique News Magazine. (11)

https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Salomon_Group https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/ESPN https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/X_Games https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Whistler,_British_Columbia

Citations Godfather of Freeskiing https://ecoski.co.uk/stories/interview-with-mike-douglas-godfather-of-freeskiing-filmmaker-founder-of-pow/ https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/snow-sports/friday-interview-mike-douglas/

Salomon Teneighty https://www.salomon.com/en-gb/mike-douglas https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/snow-sports/friday-interview-mike-douglas/ https://www.skimag.com/videos/salomon-tv-becoming-history/

D Spin https://gearjunkie.com/winter/skiing/mike-douglas-d-spin-japan-skiing

Powder Magazine award https://www.powder.com/powder-awards/pvas-2008

Most influential skiers https://snowbrains.com/top-10-male-freeskiers-time https://www.espn.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/8692333/image/34/mike-douglas-50-most-influential-people-action-sports https://www.powder.com/stories/influential-skiers

X Games commentator https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2014/01/espn-x-games-names-new-hosts-2014/ https://www.espn.com/action/news/story?page=EXPN.040119_slopestyle101_01

Award winning filmmaker https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/snowman-godfather-of-free-skiing-behind-the-camera-for-directorial-debut/article21964749/ https://www.banffcentre.ca/articles/2011-banff-mountain-film-competition-grand-prize-winner-visceral-image-world-8000m https://www.whistlerfilmfestival.com/film-festival/previous-winners

Salomon TV series https://www.powder.com/stories/talking-the-creative-process-with-mike-douglas https://www.youtube.com/@SalomonTV https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/award-winners-at-freeski-festival-if3-2015-in-montreal https://freeskier.com/stories/2014-if3-movie-awards

POW Canada https://www.protectourwinters.ca/mike_douglas https://www.fall-line.co.uk/15-minutes-with-mike-douglas/

WB Foundation https://whistlerblackcombfoundation.com/pages/what-we-do#directors

Favourite Whistlerite https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/cover-stories/best-of-whistler-2020-3224164 https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/opinion/mike-douglas-ndash-a-most-favourite-whistlerite-2492700