this movie had massive potential and they did some good things with it but just couldn't pull it all together.basically these five riders go up to ski back country peaks in Alaska. the riders are of 3 veteran riders around 40 years old each and two youngsters, a male and a female who have both been highly successful. the premise is good to document their trip along with accounting for the history of snowboarding and of each rider.what goes wrong is this: they spend way too much time discussing the history of snowboarding. basically if they would compile the history better and shorten it up they would have an excellent movie. i understand their want to illustrate the many aspects of the history of the sport and it is hard to sum things up on an entire subculture but it just needed to be done.the movie was 2 solid hours and probably an hour of it was talking about the history and really just repeating where it came from (skating and surfing) and the fact that skiers and the rest of the world didn't want to acknowledge snowboarders. which, most people know these two facts anyways, so i just didn't feel it needed to be talked about at such length. just shorten up that and make it into a 1:15 to 1:30 minute movie and we would be sweet.it was really a good concept and i like how they paid many respect to roots instead of just trying to market to the cool, young, more daring snowboarders and fans.its just too long. really is still an important flick, though. i would say wait until video but unless you've got a great, big TV, you might want to shell out the 8 bucks to see it in theaters. or if you've got a dollar theater around that the movies go to after they are done at the reg. theater then go see it there.

The entire movie was breath taking as well as informative about the sport. The scenery was amazing and the stunts were a first time viewing experience for me and kept me on the edge of my seat. It's unbelievable what the human mind and body can endure in this sport. I congratulate the snow boarders in this film and the entire crew that put this film together. This was a movie I would like to see over and over again and bring other people to see it. Unfortunately, I had to drive 1-1/2 hours to see it. It is not shown in any of my local theaters. The trip was well worth while. This is the type of movie that doesn't end when the film is over, you keep talking about it to anyone who will listen.

From skate board to snowboard, the evolution of the latter into Olympic contender has been inspiring. The documentary about the history of snowboarding called "First Descent" is at times as breathtaking as the long Alaskan runs five of the world's best take in the film, which cuts in historical footage of the sport with modern helicopter shots that both magnify and reduce the colossal feats these young and not so young boarders perform.With only the limited vocabulary of voice overs of the snowboarders, repeating "gnarly" enough to make me forget arthritic joints, the film misses opportunities to describe technicals like acrobatics and boards in informative ways. I am not asking for inane commentary readily available for televised college and professional football; I just would like a deeper look at the details of the sport rather than repetitious exclamations of awe accompanied by sequences that begin to look alike from a birds-eye perspective.The film does capture the natural rhythms of descent and diction endemic to an uncomplicated sport—for that I am gratified and forever respect the brave souls who traverse Alaskan peaks rather than leisurely hike the lowlands as I did a few years ago. The feats of the very young Shaun White and very seasoned Terje Haakonsen give both a visual feast and a verifiable history of the sport embodied in the two famous boarders.In no way, however, could I see the pure white mountains as the helicopter does so many times giving an IMAX experience without IMAX. The cinematography is the major reason to see this slight documentary, unless, of course, you are a boardhead.

WOW, i just saw the previews for this movie, i would have loved to have a chance to film it. Its my dream to film snowboarding and i believe this will be a great film. I'm starting out to film locals for a small time production company. This will give me great ideas how to take it to the next level. I think its a sweet idea to get 5 Generations together and have them talk about how life is with snowboarding. It will be very interesting to see how the sport came to be as it is these days. There are many stories told on how snowboarding became what it is. Cast in point, in the movie Out Cold. "Did i ever tell you that i invented snowboarding, I didn't want any credit but they kept giving it to me. I believe that this movie wont be a big hit to the Major public, but to the people that have snowboard as a passion it will be AMAZING.