Hailing from the tiny town of Kimberly, BC, Nick McNutt made the journey to Whistler with no aspirations beyond skiing powder and having a good time. While his quiet, humble demeanor wasn’t the usual makings of a big screen star, his sense of style soon put him squarely in the upper echelon of big mountain freestylers and separated him from the double-corking multitudes. Nothing but fun with Nick McNutt.

Words Colin Wiseman

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“I’ve never done a hurricane,” Nick Mcnutt says.

We’re riding in a snowcat at Island Lake Lodge near Fernie, BC. It’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit outside but the cat’s heater is pumping and steam’s flowing off the top of McNutt’s dirty-brown, past-shoulder-length hair. Although I just got here, he’s been skiing Lizard Range blower for the past few days. The conversation, inevitably, has turned to skiing backwards.

McNutt brought the questions about skiing switch upon himself. Who can forget the outro to his breakout part in Teton Gravity Research’s 2014 feature Almost Ablaze? “I’m going backwards. I’m Nick McNutt, yessir!” Dane Tudor heckles on his helmet-cam as Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” fades out in the background. A full minute-and-a-half intro focuses on McNutt’s prowess while looking over his shoulder. Then four minutes of big pillow lines to booters to buttering around the backcountry. I remember when I first saw it. I walked into Bellingham, WA’s Mount Baker Theatre late last fall to catch the second half of the film after a long day in the office. Six minutes later I was saying, “Who the hell is this kid?” to no one in particular…

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