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Becoming a True ‘Free Rider’: Sam Anthamatten and Victor De Le Rue Shred Alaska

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Follow Sam Anthamatten and Victor De Le Rue to a remote part of Alaska, where the free-rider pros assault spiny mountain walls from an unexplored glacier.

When you want to ski dense, deep snow on some of the steepest mountains, with the largest vertical descents, there’s only one place to go: Alaska.

That’s what drew Sam Anthamatten and Victor De Le Rue out to an unexplored glacier, in a remote part of the Last Frontier. They hired a badass bush pilot, with a Cessna specifically designed to access glaciers. They packed their ski equipment, brought their camera crew, and took to the backcountry, seeking “The Spines.”

“Skiing powder is really just the basic stuff,” said Jérôme Tanon, the narrator of Free Rider. “In order to finally know what you’re worth, to become the real deal, the true free rider, you’ve got to ride The Spines.”

And that is exactly what Anthamatten and De Le Rue aim to do.

In The North Face’s new film, Free Rider, these athletes turn up to 12. The terrain they ski is steep enough to make your palms sweat just watching. The thrill is absolutely palpable.

Runtime: 35 minutes

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