14330172:GeorgeWBush said:That is a great idea, I hadn't thought about fundraising with the public! I am going to get on making a GoFundMe tomorrow morning after MCAT prep?
14330663:louisdevos said:Great idea that finally someone wants to showcase the B side of being and living in the ski industry and the mental health problems it can cause since ski movies always highlight the goods about it.
I highly recommend interviewing people who live in ski towns and discuss the so called "PARADISE PARADOX"
Some great articles about it:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...s-suicides-happening-at-such-an-alarming-rate
https://www.outtherecolorado.com/fe...cle_8dea1fc3-c41d-575a-bc63-5d981041ffd7.html
https://www.aspenpublicradio.org/ar...-and-what-it-means-for-ski-town-mental-health
I landed on the idea of creating a unique ski film, and pitched this idea to a couple friends who operate a production company in town here in Bozeman. The idea is basically to create a film with a bunch of testimonials from big name skiers, resort employees, park skiers, comp skiers, big mountain skiers, backcountry skiers, and street skiers to form a collage of mental health experiences. Their stories, told in their own words, will be intertwined into ski footage we plan to film all around the West in a creative form.
14330681:WoFlowz said:I love the response from this whole amazing community and brands about stuff like this. Reminds me that NSers are the shit
14330690:r00kie said:Drop the link to the GoFundMe if you got it. I'd love to help out.
topic:GeorgeWBush said:A little backstory first: I lost my little brother to suicide in February of 2019. Since then, I've advocated for teen suicide prevention and destigmatizing mental illness. Part of that work included founding a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, called Jackstrong17 in honor of my brother, Jack. I raised over $46,000 and have been using that money to help craft legislation, stage school walk-outs, host events, and provide scholarships. Recently, we passed "Jack and Cait's Law," in the Colorado legislature which basically provides a legal foundation for how we can better manage bullying incidents and requires therapy for all parties involved.
I have worked on countless campaigns nationwide, including helping film, direct, and storytell for some viral public service announcements which were played at movie theatres and appear in ads all over the US. I also interviewed a group of teenagers in the viral movie, Childhood 2.0 (Which can be found for free here:) Additionally, I sit on the National Mental Health Advisory Board and recently received a $5,000 grant from a large, national organization in order to perform an access to mental health care study in Montana. I am in my final semester of studying Neuroscience at Bridger Bowl University --errr-- Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. I also recently received University endorsement for the Rhodes Scholarship to study Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience at Oxford University in the UK.
My point being, essentially, that I am incredibly passionate about mental health and preventing teen suicide; and, I intend to devote the remainder of my days to tackling the latter.
Okay, so now you're probably wondering, bro why are you saying all this on NS? As many of you likely know, mountain west states like Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada (and Alaska) lead the country in suicide rates per capita. And if you hone in further on ski communities, you will unfortunately discover that these communities are affected by suicide rates that are nearly triple the national average.
This summer I found myself wondering: how is this the case and what can I do to bring attention to a crisis that is disproportionately affecting members of my beloved ski community?
I landed on the idea of creating a unique ski film, and pitched this idea to a couple friends who operate a production company in town here in Bozeman. The idea is basically to create a film with a bunch of testimonials from big name skiers, resort employees, park skiers, comp skiers, big mountain skiers, backcountry skiers, and street skiers to form a collage of mental health experiences. Their stories, told in their own words, will be intertwined into ski footage we plan to film all around the West in a creative form.
My hope is that just by hearing and seeing that mental illness affects almost everyone in one way or another, that we can begin the arduous task of destigmatizing mental illness and seeking treatment in the ski industry. Or at the bare minimum, I hope to at least inspire some of us to have a conversation about mental health that we otherwise wouldn't have had.
So now you're probably really thinking, okay dude cool, but again why are you saying this here? I'll get straight to it: we need support from the industry to make the project happen at all and to push the final product out as far and wide as possible.
But first, I need your help, NS!
Are any of you aware of any ski industry companies who actively support destigmatizing mental health or have in the past? If so, who? If not, which companies should I reach out to first for support? And if you are an owner or work in industry, are you interested in supporting this project? All donations, gear or otherwise, will be completely tax-deductible through my non-profit. I have only reached out to Phunkshun Wear so far, as they previously produced some facemasks for my non-profit (with [tag=226667]@Liam_j10[/tag] 's artwork). The friendly folk at Phunkshun expressed great interest right away and wanted to know how they could help.
More than anything I just want as many people in our community as possible to see that they aren't alone in their struggles and that seeking treatment is totally normal (and awesome, in my opinion).
If any of you are interested in providing a short video testimonial in a couple months regarding your mental health experiences, please shoot me a PM!
Thank you for reading this essay of a post and thank you in advance for any suggestions and for all the giggles this week in the forums
Cheers,
John View attachment 1013347
14331052:403Finn said:Should try to get a hold of schlopy, he’s got some crazy stories about his mental health. He already spoke about it on dumounts podcast but I’d love to see him in this aswell
14330378:johnoble said:Could be a niche connection, but I don't know if theres anything worth exploring around brain damage and mental health is skiing, both pro and amatures. On my brain since I just picked up concussion #6 this morning, and know that without the mental coping strategies that I learned getting out of a pretty dark place, they would have the capacity to absolutely destroy me.
14331165:libertyskis said:GeorgeWBush Please hit us up. We would love to help out and donate some products to help out. Please email Colin@libertyskis.com. Thanks for being a legend!!
14331162:safarisam said:Just a small FYI, but in the medical groups I'm in we try to call it brain injury rather than damage. There's totally a correlation between TBIs (or other injuries) and mental health. I know lots of people like myself who have had their shit severely rocked while skiing and still come back to it because it's familiar and a zen thing.
Anyway, please take care of your head. The more concussions you get the worse off you are.
also, this isn't an attack or trying to be woke, it's just a small observation.
14331162:safarisam said:Just a small FYI, but in the medical groups I'm in we try to call it brain injury rather than damage. There's totally a correlation between TBIs (or other injuries) and mental health. I know lots of people like myself who have had their shit severely rocked while skiing and still come back to it because it's familiar and a zen thing.
Anyway, please take care of your head. The more concussions you get the worse off you are.
also, this isn't an attack or trying to be woke, it's just a small observation.
14331052:403Finn said:Should try to get a hold of schlopy, he’s got some crazy stories about his mental health. He already spoke about it on dumounts podcast but I’d love to see him in this aswell
14330168:GeorgeWBush said:[tag=243746]@SegoSkiCo[/tag] [tag=209275]@J_skis[/tag] [tag=30985]@Line_Skis[/tag] [tag=23396]@Level1[/tag] [tag=55432]@-Dan[/tag] [tag=17763]@JLev[/tag] [tag=150651]@ARMADA[/tag] [tag=17939]@Smith Optics[/tag] [tag=145266]@.nasty[/tag] [tag=128185]@Icelantic_Skis[/tag] [tag=225826]@VISHNU[/tag] [tag=127396]@FullTiltBoots[/tag] [tag=132847]@K2[/tag] [tag=104013]@ON3P[/tag] [tag=40642]@Faction[/tag] [tag=267217]@GilsonSkis[/tag] [tag=110688]@RMU[/tag] [tag=21244]@4FRNT[/tag] [tag=103988]@Moment[/tag] [tag=27737]@686[/tag] [tag=192644]@MeierSkis[/tag] [tag=39176]@libertyskis[/tag] [tag=214685]@DakineGear[/tag] [tag=208597]@outdoortech[/tag] [tag=261399]@OutofBoundsPod[/tag] [tag=211944]@LowPressureSki[/tag] [tag=135071]@GoPro[/tag] [tag=277025]@PICTURE_ORGANIC[/tag] [tag=159916]@TheNorthFace[/tag] [tag=249557]@black_crows[/tag] [tag=103005]@Spyder[/tag] [tag=216819]@SPY[/tag] [tag=17094]@SpyOptic[/tag] [tag=125452]@WoodwardCopper[/tag] [tag=277647]@ZipFit_Liners[/tag] [tag=258370]@SurfaceSkis[/tag] [tag=42218]@*SURFACE[/tag] [tag=74728]@dylansiggers[/tag] [tag=80659]@Cast[/tag] [tag=127861]@LaurentDeMartin[/tag] [tag=186220]@TheBunch[/tag] [tag=275298]@season_eqpt[/tag] [tag=9020]@Ahmets_Brother[/tag] [tag=219615]@Jiberish[/tag] [tag=169106]@Mayrandpodcast[/tag]
14331490:ARMADA said:John GeorgeWBush ,
We hear you! The Team at ARMADA is moved by your passion for this project, and we are honored you invited us to be a part of it. Thanks for tagging us here. A member of the Armada Family has contacted you back directly via email to talk details, but we wanted to ensure you knew on this forum that you're dedication and drive is recognized. Thank you for attacking this issue head on as our industry needs this tipping point. Stoked on you leading the charge and we look forward to see all you accomplish!
**This post was edited on Oct 13th 2021 at 1:04:56pm
14331498:.squirrely. said:Lets fuckin go. This is one of the best threads ive seen in a while, community’s still alive.
George Bush I’m not a ski company but if you need assistance from the general NS members for whatever on this let me know, love to see this
14416099:r00kie said:I don't mind this bot bump, hows the project coming?


14416246:GeorgeWBush said:super well!! been lacking on socials this season, trying to save content for the fallbut so for we’ve filmed all over montana, utah, idaho, washington, and BC and plan to get back up to BC one more time, out to colorado for some cat skiing, and maybe washington again and then out to Hood in may before finishing filming in the beartooths in june. here’s some crappy iphone pics, one from BC yesterday and MT today haha
View attachment 1037126View attachment 1037127
14331498:.squirrely. said:Lets fuckin go. This is one of the best threads ive seen in a while, community’s still alive.
George Bush I’m not a ski company but if you need assistance from the general NS members for whatever on this let me know, love to see this
14487174:MountainInMyMind said:Full film is now playing! Here is the link: https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1057136/The-Mountain-in-My-Mind---A-Ski-Film-about-Mental-Health
14544742:MountainInMyMind said:Howdy! We made another film this year with more athletes, more stories, and more skiing!
Trailer drops in late August.
USA, CAN, and NZ tour starting with Bozeman, MT in mid September for Suicide Prevention Month. Premiere schedule will be posted here and on our gram and is expected to run until Late October.
Hit our PMs to help set up a screening in your town.
As always, the film will be available on NS for FREE after the premiere tour!
14544777:freestyler540 said:Get ahold of admin and put it front page. Sadly Im out of service for the next month and intermitant until november. I really wanna catch it. Can you pm me in november? Or bump this thread then?