Sitting dejected on the curb outside of the Taco Shoppe in Government Camp, OR, Andy Parry and Will Wesson bantered about how far $2.50 will go. “The gypsy lifestyle is embracing me,” quipped Parry, buried among a pile of Full Tilt boots. It was summertime and the pair had managed to wrangle a little money and some lift tickets from Line Skis founder Jason Levinthal to visit Mount Hood and Windells Ski Camp. It was the first money Parry had ever seen for his skiing, and, he felt, a small sign that he had made it.

Parry and Wesson had spent all of 2010 filming together, chasing the park rat’s version of Turns All Year—in their case including a backyard wood-and-PVC-pipe setup. They’d skied the frozen-over Pass Lake early season at Loveland Pass, CO, and an indoor rail setup that resembled an airport security luggage roller at the SIA trade show in Vegas. Filming a nascent web series for $100 or $200 an episode (a total they split), they weren’t even close to covering their costs, but Parry and Wesson were kicking off a zeitgeist that two ski bums in search of a good taco wouldn’t fully appreciate until years later… 

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