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Q&A with the Makers of ‘In Plain Sight’

We sat down with skiers Max Martin and Jim Ryan and filmmaker Stephen Shelesky about their new film In Plain Sight. This new film is an ode to skiing in bounds and a shout out to the skiers who make the most of our beloved Jackson Hole, getting all they can from what it has to offer. Jackson local Max Martin moved back to be close to his family, and found a reborn love for what the mountain had to offer. Jim Ryan realized that this was the best place for him to achieve his dream of being a pro skier, and hasn’t looked back since. Stephen Shelesky wound up in this particular mountain town by chance, but if you ask him now, wouldn’t have it any other way. Their film has us all stoked for winter, and how these guys talk about their love for this mountain would have anyone packing their bags and heading to Jackson. A huge thank you to these guys for giving us a closer look at how this project came to be.

How long have you all lived in Jackson?

Max Martin: I grew up here. Intermittently. I went to a ski academy in Salt Lake and college in New Hampshire and then found my way back this way.

Jim Ryan: Five years.

Stephen Shelesky: Just over three years.

What made you all move here?

JR: I straight up moved here to do the ski media thing. I was totally lost in life after college, I was doing a lot of really dumb, really dangerous stuff. I was in an airplane hanger at a drop zone in the midwest, just like blowing all my money skydiving, and doing reckless behavior when I got a text message from my childhood friend, Kris Hopkins, and he was like ‘Yo dude, real life sucks, let’s go be pro skiers,’ and I was like uhh okay? And we just frickin did it! We moved to Jackson because it was like where do you go to be a pro skier, and TGR was like, Jackson is where you go. If you’re a country singer, you go to Nashville, if you’re an actor you go to Hollywood, if you’re a pro skier, or you want to be one, you go to Jackson Hole. So, here I am.

SS: For me, I’d graduated college at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was working in corporate skiing- I worked for Vail resorts for a number of years, then I worked for Alterra, and Ikon pass and I was always doing photography on the side quite extensively and I just knew that, I always had it in my mind that I wanted to move to a mountain town and I kind of just thought that a mountain town would be the right place for what I wanted to do, and I more or less just got an opportunity for like a free living situation my first year. Jackson wasn’t even on my radar, I was more thinking Aspen or Telluride just being a Colorado guy, but the next day I quit my job, and I just drove up here and then I got stuck. I kinda quickly realized that if I want to be the best at what I do, in action sports and outdoor photography, then this is absolutely the best place to do it. More or less, these last three years have shaped my life pretty entirely and I think a lot of that is thanks to the community I’ve met here.

Do you guys ski mostly in bounds or out of bounds?

JR: If you looked at it in percentage of time, it’s definitely mostly in bounds for me. I think for a lot of people in media, it feels like everyone is out of bounds all the time, but for skiers, they’ve gotta cut their teeth in-bounds. Even the best, they’ve gotta get that volume.

SS: Yeah and I largely ski like a dad off the Teton chair, so that’s definitely my home.

MM: I would definitely say, same to Jim. Probably like 93 and a half percent of the time, I’m skiing in bounds. It is easy volume, and aside just the skiing portion, it is such a social scene at the village. To be able to be like ‘alright, we’re gonna get down and to it and do some filming in the morning,’ and then immediately after, you know that your entire friend group is right there at the bottom, or you get a cat call from the chair lift and you look up and it’s one of your friends. It’s as social as it is just for fun.

Sending big at JHMR. Stephen Shelesky photo.

Where did your inspiration for the film come from?

SS: I think there’s something to be said for how this connection was set up, because it’s kind of ridiculous.

I was on a project in Japan with Max, and Susie, who is the other filmmaker and a number of other people and that was our first introduction to Jim Ryan, and that was strictly because he was poaching breakfast at our hostel in Niseko, which is how we met him. It worked out because Max and him share this very complimentary ski style. When him and Max ski together, it just works great. When we came back we just sort of started shooting, together a little bit, separately for sure, and that connection grew. It was really a convergence that summer that these two guys had the same idea independently and were like let’s go at this together.

MM: Jimmy and I had raced together out East, in college. I don’t think we ever actually spoke a word, in that time, but I definitely knew Jim, as a skier. I definitely saw him rip down the course and was like ‘that guy rips, absolutely rips.’ Like Stephen said, we all linked together in Japan and it was refreshing getting outside of the racing world where it was all pretty serious. We had a good time, it seemed organic, it seemed right, and so the summer after that trip, I mentioned to Stephen that I really wanted to do an in-bounds project with Jackson, and recall talking to Jimmy in Japan about how he wanted to do something similar.

SS: And as a camera person, you’re kinda like, f*ck yeah. In-bounds, I can ride chairlifts, I can be like I’m carrying all this weight but not that far, that’s allowing for this different level of creativity that’s just so fun cause it’s things we see on a daily basis and, I think it just brings a whole new life to it.

JR: I’d been wanting to do an inbounds project for a couple years, cause I consume, like, everything in ski media. I watch everything. I’m obsessed with it, and yet at the same time, I was seeing a shortage of people who were doing really sick awesome stuff in-bounds, compared to people who were doing really sick, awesome stuff, out of bounds. But so many people were shredding so hard, and having so much fun in bounds, and I wasn’t seeing it, and I was like this is rad and people are having a good time, and this is what I wanted to show and I had this idea. So, I was like who else is really skiing fast, in bounds, and it was Max and I texted these two, and was like ‘hey guys I have an idea,’ and they’re like ‘cool, we have an idea too,’ so we met up and we had the same idea, and it was so sick! It was the most exciting lunch of my life.

Have you always been in filming sports or did you start off in some other realm of media?

SS: I was really a landscape photographer, to be honest, and shot skiing a little bit, but this past winter is really when I went all in winter sports, and then this past summer is when I went into outdoor recreation too.

Ahh powder days. Stephen Shelesky Photo.

If you had to choose one, what are each of your favorite sections to ski at JHMR?

MM: For me, it’s definitely skiing the Altas. Beyond even just the film, that’s just where I feel like I kinda learned how to ski big mountain riding. You’ve got these hot shot steep couloirs where you can make them as steep or as narrow as you want, as slow or fast, big or small, like whatever you want to do. It’s all right there in such a small section of mountain, and so it’s just special in there for me. Having seen so many people come through Jackson, and light it up in there, and make it look so good, you have this precedent standard for what skiing the Altas looks like. For me it’s always like I wanna do more in there, how many more ways can we ski this thing?

JR: I’m a big Thunder Bumps guy. I don’t know, when I first moved here, I had that dream and I didn’t know how to go about it, so I just skied really fast under thunder lift all day long. I had this mentality, like a Disney Channel Original, if I just show up and ski fast, somebody will notice me. It was ridiculous. I had like an eight dollar army surplus rubber coat, and women’s Oakley pants, and I just frickin skied as fast as I could under thunder lift, so it’s just pretty special to me, that area.

SS: I think the Crags are really special. I think that as in-bounds terrain is pretty remarkable. There are times where you’re up there, and you truly do feel alone, and it’s just like, that’s where the biggest hits were. The Crags are just so visually appealing, it’s one of those places that’s like sensory overload.

Was the project impacted by COVID at all?

SS: Yeah, it got cut short. We were planning to have a rowdy top to bottom in there, and that’s essentially what got cut short, cause that was gonna be a spring thing, like slush off the tram. But ultimately, making it into one piece made it pretty strong. Also, Justin Dersham, was the editor that took things home, and put the final touches on it, from JHMR, and he did an excellent job. We were so appreciative to have his support this fall.

MM: Thanks, Dersh.

What do you think skiers can gain skiing at Jackson that you couldn't do somewhere else?

JR: Jackson’s straight up, the gnarliest resort, in-bounds, or out of bounds, anywhere in the United States.

SS: It’s unmatched. It’s fully world class, on a different level. Trust me, like I love JHMR. I’ve always been a ski resort nerd, but it really feels like what you get here is not attainable at other places in North America. It checks all the boxes. I think what sets it to the next level is what you can access from the top of the tram.

MM: Even on a different note, besides just the mountain, I think the people that are here, I feel like it's a standard to be like we’re gonna shred. You just look around, like, Jimmy has a line in the movie that’s ‘you are the audience, and the entertainer.’ It’s so true. You’re out there watching the next person, and you’re stoking on that person, and you’re like, what’s next, and what else you can do, and that’s such in a flux here. People are so inspiring, whether you know it or not, that’s why this is really cool.

JR: It all goes hand in hand. The mountain? Yes. The scene? Hell yes.

SS: There’s a lot to be said about the community and what the mountain does for that. Like just the other day, Jimmy said ‘the village brings people together,’ like I think in the winter, all these other things fall by the wayside, and you realize there’s this mutual interest. Even for me personally, I just came out as gay last fall, and I think a large part, it’s unbelievable how inclusive and accepting this communities been and I think a lot of it, I mean, these two guys have had a huge role in it, but also, because no one gives a f*ck. When you’re out there, it’s about skiing. For me, it’s about creating, and there’s a mutual respect for those things regardless.

JR: You never stop geeking here.

SS: I just wanna say something about Susie too. She was a critical part of the project. One, she’s just so unbelievably talented, and I think for me, she’s single handedly been the biggest creative mentor of my life, and something I’ve learned at this point in my career, it’s really important to have a true mentor that you look up to and admire and learn from, and she’s that person for me. She doesn’t live here, but is very much a best friend and was a glue in this project and it was wonderful to have her here.

Face shots at JHMR. Stephen Shelesky photo.

What are you working on now?

SS: I'm working on pitching a short film with Susie and photographer Sofia Jaramillo, it’s essentially a profile piece documenting my coming out story, in Jackson. I want to have a greater impact and if I can do that by living authentically and sharing that story, then I want to do that.

JR: I was in Warren Miller last year, and that comes out this weekend, so...that’s exciting. Hopefully just more big flicks. I just like filming.

MM: Just hopefully skiing with Jim. We’ve got some straight skis coming out here soon too.

Editor’s Note: *Jim Ryan also has big plans to take his party speaker back into Corbet’s. 

RELATED: Stephen Shelesky on Coming Out as a Journey

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