Marcus Caston is quintessential Wasatch. He grew up with the Cottonwoods in his backyard. The Snowbird race team was his platform, but the jagged peaks and powder chutes of Alta and the Bird were his true home. Caston joined Last Chair in the High West Whiskey Library to tell his story – from finding fame on the silver screen with Warren Miller to his passion project, Return of the Turn.
“Growing up at Snowbird and Alta, I haven’t known another life,” said Caston. It’s had a huge impact. I often wonder about whether I was meant to be a surfer or a race car driver and never got that opportunity?”
As fans of skiing, it's fair to say we are happy that Marcus Caston has taken the path he’s on. He made his first Warren Miller appearance in the 2012 Flow State, with a segment from the Chugach with Olympic champion Ted Ligety. It was also Caston’s first heli experience! But his 2018 stint in Face of Winter, skiing with Johan Jonsson in Engelberg, Switzerland, became iconic – so much so that Caston moved to the Swiss village to live and to ski.
As a photographer himself, Caston had a vision of greater things. He wanted to create ski films that were less about tricks and powder porn and more rooted in the fundamentals of the sport, mixed with local culture. From the Dolomites of Italy to tiny Buck Hill in Minnesota, to the bumps on Alf’s High Rustler at Alta, Return of the Turn has taken a different turn – pun intended.
Together with producer Tim Jones, Caston’s Return of the Turn is revolutionizing ski content through digital distribution. Now, let’s settle in to hear the stories of legendary Utah skier Marcus Caston on this episode of Last Chair.
“I am always thinking about doing something, keeping my shoulders a certain way, or hips a certain way, or weight on my outside ski or something. I love, like, always trying to work on something in my, in my skiing. I think nowadays, like, that's kind of what has, what has what set me apart and Return of the Turn apart. It's just trying to celebrate like … celebrating the fundamentals. It sounds super geeky, but yeah, having skiing based in fundamentals is just something that you don't see so often anymore.” - Marcus Caston
LAST CHAIR GUEST
Marcus Caston
Salt Lake City native Marcus Caston grew up in the Wasatch, developing a passion for ski racing. After a stint as an aspiring alpine ski racer with the Snowbird race team, he found his pathway skiing big mountains around the world, becoming a star of Warren Miller films and beyond. Today, Caston is a professional skier and content creator who promotes appreciation for the art of skiing through his creative expression and athletic performance. On a quest to find the perfect turn, Caston looks for the unique coalescence of light, terrain, and snow. The Return of the Turn series, which he produces and stars in follows him on this journey, finding impeccable turns in every corner of the ski world. Today, you can find Marcus skiing around the Wasatch. His skiing is all about rhythm and flow, and if you’re not sure what that looks like, take a few tram laps at Snowbird, and you’ll probably find out.
Transcript:
S7 Ep10 - Marcus Caston - TRANSCRIPT_mixdown.wav
Tom Kelly: Marcus Caston. Welcome to the High West Whiskey Library, and thanks for taking the day off the slopes to come join us.
Marcus Caston: Of course. No thanks for having me.
Tom Kelly: I know that it's been a little bit light on the snow at the start of the season, but things are looking good. You've been getting some good days in.
Marcus Caston: Been trying here and there. Yeah. Um, winter's finally here, so that feels good. But the early seasons, like, always good to get your legs under you.
Tom Kelly: You know, I was back in December a few months ago. I was, I was looking at your post from High Wrestler, and I'd been to Alta a few times and things were a little bit scratchy still that first or second week of, uh, of December. But you really put it down.
Marcus Caston: I, I mean, I think yeah, I know the run you're referring to, and it's like, I think it's one of those that it looked worse than it was, like the skiing was actually really quite good. Um, like pretty wind buff. The way it just sits there, like whatever the aspect, it just like gets wind buffed and it steeps. So people kind of slide it out and it was pretty smooth. And Yeah. I mean, you can go pretty quick and try to make some guess. Turns down it, you know.
Tom Kelly: Come on, Marcus, you make everything look good.
Marcus Caston: Well, no, that's not true. But that's like, you know, early season. Try to get your legs in shape. There's one way to do it. And that's just going top to bottom on the longest run you can find. You know.
Tom Kelly: Marcus, you grew up in the shadow of the cottonwoods. What is, uh what impact have they had on you? The mountains had on you. And just all of this Mother Nature we have here in Utah.
Marcus Caston: I mean, I think that I mean, it probably can't be understated. Like, I mean, I'm a professional skier, and that's what I do, and that's all I know. You know, like living in the. Yeah. Growing up skiing at Snowbird, Alta. Like, I haven't known another life. Really. So, um. Yeah, I mean, I think it's had a huge impact. I, you know, to the extent that it's all I really do now, um, you know, which I like often wonder about, um, you know, was I meant to be a surfer or a race car driver and never got that opportunity? I don't know, you know, but, um. Yeah. I mean, what, like you said, you're from Wisconsin. Are you from Madison or from. From?
Tom Kelly: Yeah, I grew up in Madison, so. And actually, I didn't discover skiing until I was 18.
Marcus Caston: So what? What drove you to skiing?
Tom Kelly: Well, there's an interesting story to that, too. And it goes back to when I was seven years old, 1960. Mom had to go to the grocery store, and she put me in the couch and didn't have a babysitter put me on the couch and said, watch this on TV, and I'm watching. And she turns it on and it's CBS, and they're covering the Olympics from Squaw Valley. And there's this woman, Penny, from New Hampshire, going down to win silver in the downhill. I honestly remember that so distinctly. And something in my mind said, this is what I want to do. So that's how I got started ski racing.
Marcus Caston: Well did you did you start ski racing or did you?
Tom Kelly: No, I didn't, I never ski raced myself other than NASCAR, but I was into sports. I saw skiing, so I started following competitive skiing when I was a kid, and I would look for opportunities. I would go out to the ski jumps in Madison, which were a training site for the US ski jumping team, and I got a job at skier in northern Wisconsin, Telemark, home of the American Birkebeiner, where the US cross-country team trained. So Bill Koch, who won that medal in 1976, he was training at our ski area. So I knew Bill. So that was kind of that's kind of my story. And I think, you know, you talk about like, you know, maybe you were destined to become a Formula One driver or a surfer. You kind of are a product of your surroundings though.
Marcus Caston: Yeah. Yeah. Which is yeah, it's cool. And I certainly lucky to grow up in Salt Lake. Like, I mean, we have amazing mountains and the access is just it's, you know, it's right there. Everything you want is right there. And no matter how good you get at skiing, like these mountains are always going to challenge you. Yeah. But funny story. Sort of. We went to, uh, a Warren Miller in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. And that's such a cool city. Um, but you don't really think of it as a ski town. And we were in Chicago the night before and went up to Milwaukee, and we were there early, just walking around, went to a bar, and maybe like four hours before the show, people started trickling in, um, wearing ski goggles, ski hats, and, you know, they had like, made a day of it. They'd come driven from hours away, come to Milwaukee, you know, do a little pregame at the bar, whatever, and then show up to the Warren Miller show. And it was a packed at the Pabst Theater, and it was packed. And it was like people it was such good energy. People love skiing there.
Tom Kelly: They really do. I love that they were honestly, they had goggles.
Marcus Caston: Goggles, ski hats. People were dressed up in funny ski clothes like, yeah, I mean, you just. Yeah. You You don't see that kind of energy when you go to a Warren Miller show, like in a big city. You know, even it's just. It was cool.
Tom Kelly: Have you been to Mount Bohemia in the Upper Peninsula?
Marcus Caston: I've skied there. Yeah.
Tom Kelly: That's the energy, right?
Marcus Caston: Yeah. Totally. Totally. It's, uh. I mean, skiing is just not easy for them, like it is for us out here. You know, for me to get up to Alta Snowbird. It's ten minute drive. Um, you know, no traffic and, um. Yeah, to get to Bohemia, I feel like people are driving from. Yeah. Wisconsin. Um, you know, or driving 6 or 7 hours to get up there. And it's not. It's not Alta or Snowbird, you know, it's fun. It's skiing, but, um, it's cold. It's right on the.
Tom Kelly: Well, they redefine cold up there.
Marcus Caston: Right on the lake. Yeah, it's gnarly, but people love it. And, uh, drive a long way to do it.
Tom Kelly: You know, I always used to think about it as, okay, you're not going to get 2000ft of vertical, but most of us were skiing a lot less than that when we're making laps. So that was kind of always my rationalization for skiing in the Midwest. Yeah, but it's it's big time out here. How did you get started? Family gets you on skis.
Marcus Caston: Yeah. I mean, I don't exactly remember. Um, but my dad, um, he loves skiing. He's from back east, and he came out here to Salt Lake and worked at the Snow Pine Lodge at Alta, um, after college. And then, yeah, he went to law school back east. And then I think in his mind, he was always coming back. So he came back and, um. Yeah, I was born here, and I was just put on skis, so I don't really even remember learning to ski.
Tom Kelly: How old were you when you kind of got turned loose on the mountain? On your own?
Marcus Caston: I think, you know, I was skiing with my dad a lot, which I loved. And I have pretty fond memories of that. But I remember, um, my mom, my mom's boss at work, had two kids in the ski program at Snowbird, and they kind of turned her on to that. Um, and so I started doing that. Do you remember Nate Vinton?
Tom Kelly: Oh, yeah.
Marcus Caston: Very well. So it was. It was Nate Vinton's father and the Vinton boys. Um, so I started, I think, one day a week at, at Snowbird Ski Team as a devo. Um, and I remember, you know, maybe it was Sundays or something. And I remember on a Saturday, I saw the team, and I was supposed to be skiing with my dad. I was skiing with my dad, and I saw my friends, and I was like, can I go with these guys? And he was like, yeah, yeah, okay. And then from then it was two days a week and then, um, you know, and then three and four.
Tom Kelly: Yeah, I know this is other side of the mountain, but did you know Ted Ligety when you were young?
Marcus Caston: I didn't know he's a bit older than me. Um, no. So I never I never knew him. I always knew. Is he an 84?
Tom Kelly: He's an 84.
Marcus Caston: Yeah. I always said I'm an 88. Um, birth year. And had always heard of those 84 Park City boys. Yes. Pretty good.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. Some great skiers coming out of here. You got into ski films. How did that initiate?
Marcus Caston: So when I was done ski racing, um, kind of half by choice, half by. You know, I'm glad it worked out that way. I was wanted to stay here in Utah, um, and go to school, and the U of U didn't have a spot for someone of my caliber, so I could have been better and maybe gotten a spot.
Tom Kelly: But who was the coach then?
Marcus Caston: Um. Is it. Yeah. What's his name? Sorry, I don't know.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. That's okay.
Marcus Caston: Yeah.
Tom Kelly: He didn't he didn't he didn't put you on the team, so.
Marcus Caston: No. Um, so I and I was not fast enough to race for them. So, um, so then I just started skiing, and I was at Snowbird, and Angel and Johnny Collinson had already kind of started going the competition route, and they were shooting photos with a guy, Mike Schirf, on the tram one day. And I ran into him, and they said, oh, you guys should go out and shoot together. So I started going out with him and then a bunch of other photographers around here and, um, kind of just started that way.
Tom Kelly: What influence did photographers have on you? I mean, I know, I know Mike and and his family, but, uh, those still photographers, did they have a big impact on you at that point in your life?
Marcus Caston: I mean, huge, because that was, um, you know, still, I think an avenue for a lot of pro skiers. You could go out with a still photographer. Um, you didn't need money to do that from a company. You didn't need a store. You could just go out and shoot photos, and then they would submit those photos to magazines. Um, you know, and then you'd, they'd come out the next year. So I mean, unfortunately, magazines have been slowly disappearing. Um, but no, I mean, I love shooting photos myself. Um, and just being able to work with a photographer as a team to find that one perfect moment. I still love.
Tom Kelly: When you when you were, um, just getting into it. Is there a cover or a photo spread that really stands out in your mind like, hey, this is kind of a pivotal point for me.
Marcus Caston: That's a good question. Um. Yeah, I mean, I think the first time I was in Powder Magazine was pretty cool. Um, I remember the day it was with Adam Barker. We. I missed my alarm. Um, and which is just like, I hate being late, and I missed it and was debating even going up, and I caught them. They had pretty much been wrapped shooting, and I went up and we shot three photos, and all three photos got published that day. So and one of them was in powder. So that was pretty cool.
Tom Kelly: Cool. And then slowly you progressed into film.
Marcus Caston: So yeah. So I was still like taking photos myself and was working with shred. Um, and that's kind of how I got to know Ted. And he had a film trip to Alaska with Warren Miller, and they had one spot in the heli, and they needed a photographer and skier. And so he called me up and said, would you like to go to Alaska? Yeah. Of course. Like. And so I was supposed to be like double duty shooting photos and skiing and ended up skiing a lot more. And I don't think I took many photos. And, you know, I'd mentioned that to the DP. Like, I need to probably get some photos here. He says, are you trying to be in the movie or what? I was like, yeah, I guess I am like, okay, so, you know, so that's kind of how it started.
Tom Kelly: Had you done heli before?
Marcus Caston: Nope. No, that was my first, first time in heli. Um, first time not to Alaska. I'd been up there for US nationals, um, once before, but at Alyeska? Yeah, maybe twice before, but yeah.
Tom Kelly: Had Ted been on heli before?
Marcus Caston: I think so. I don't know if he had, you know, been on a heli film trip. Um, but I think it wasn't his first time in a helicopter. But that's a crazy experience, too. I mean, yeah.
Tom Kelly: What was that experience like, all of a sudden? You're in a Warren Miller film?
Marcus Caston: Honestly, it makes my palms sweat. Like, it was so nerve wracking. Um, heli skiing is very cool, and helicopters are the coolest machines ever. Um, but it's a lot like they're loud, you know, and it's intense getting into the helicopter and Then scoping your line on this mountain you've never seen before and getting dropped off somewhere. And it's just like the snow is blowing around. It's so loud. And then it leaves and it's silent. And that's really spooky.
Tom Kelly: Wow. Did you have a local guide? So you had someone giving you the direction?
Marcus Caston: Yeah, we had we had a guide for sure. And you know, where we were there was like filming spots. So, you know, I think as a film crew, you get to kind of go to some runs where maybe they don't take public. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's a lot of just kind of like, hey, let's go look at that one. That looks cool. Let's go ski that. And if there's a landing spot, they'll put you on it.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. How was Ted in the powder?
Marcus Caston: He's such a good skier, man. I mean, that's it's so dumb. He's so good at everything. He's so good. It's like. It's unfair. It's unfair. We, uh. So I work with carve, um, with Ted. So I've got to ski with him. A couple of times over the last few years. And, um, you see him in a groomer and we there was one morning last last winter we had fresh tracks in Mineral Basin skiing groomers. And I remember he went first and then I went and I was trying to like, follow his track. And it's just like, you can't it's so tight and so clean and he's so good at it. And then watched him ski moguls in Crested Butte and it was like shocking. He's so good.
Tom Kelly: Do we see a return of the, uh, turn segment with Ted at some point?
Marcus Caston: I would love that. I would love that. Yeah, we got to get him on. Um, no, I'd like to not be outshined.
Tom Kelly: He's made just his angulation. I, I think about that when I'm out because I love doing groomers. Sorry. Uh, not big in the bumps, but I just think about, you know, what he does with his angulation and how the energy that you can put into the ski.
Marcus Caston: It's unfathomable, really. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. These guys are so good. And, um, I guess, yeah, maybe ten years ago, we did the The Banzai Tour, which is like Daron Rahlves ski cross thing. And, um, he was forerunning this event, and it's like an ungroomed ski cross. And so you're, there's gates through moguls, essentially. And he foreran it. And I remember him making this one turn, like at the very top. I was thinking, okay, I'm going to come in here, hit this mogul. Like maybe, you know, hop over a couple, land here. And, and he had just laid these trenches through these moguls, like blew them up like skis glued to the snow. It was unreal.
Tom Kelly: That's crazy. This was flow state. You're up at Chugach, right? Yeah. So we'll put a link in the show notes so folks can check that out.
Marcus Caston: When the one with hair. You're the one with hair. Yeah, I had hair at one point.
Tom Kelly: I'm with you on that. Uh, the film or the films that really stood out to me is when you went with Warren Miller to Engelberg, Switzerland. And tell us about that experience. Those are big mountains.
Marcus Caston: Yeah. Um, I mean, there's just nothing like the Alps, you know? And, um, there's just trams everywhere. Um, so I'd been going to Engelberg for a few years, um, prior to that, and just kind of, you know, I think I went for a week the first time and then extended it a week and then was there for three weeks the next year, and, um, eventually ended up moving there. Um, yeah. I mean, I just that's such a cool. It's like a, it's just a little snow globe town, you know, it's like little cute Swiss town with mountains coming out of every side of it and trams going to the top.
Tom Kelly: You know, we were talking about this before we started the interview about in the Alps, the ability for you to just get on public transportation and take a train or a bus or a tram to go to the next town and just be able to ski around. I mean, that's a pretty interesting lifestyle for a skier.
Marcus Caston: It's very cool. And like how connected everything is. Um, you know, you're never far from anything. You're out in these huge mountains, but then you're all of a sudden there's a hut, and you can get a panini. Um, you know, or you're on one side and you can take the ski down to a different country, you know, and take the train back up, go have lunch in Italy and pop back over and ski pow in Switzerland.
Tom Kelly: It's pretty cool, huh? Yeah. Well, we have we have our mountains. And I tell you, I look at I think about this, I look at, I look at the cottonwoods. If I'm up little or big Cottonwood Canyon and look at the alpine terrain and, and I'm really reminded of that same feeling that we have in the Alps.
Marcus Caston: So everything is like, yeah, very, very connected and small here in the Wasatch. Once you start to like, get out, it's crazy to see how close all the resorts are and connected by ridgelines and, um, you know, in the summer I love doing hikes from Little to Big Cottonwood and back. But yeah, you definitely have that kind of Alps feeling up in the up there in the alpine.
Tom Kelly: So you spent the better part of a decade doing Warren Miller films. And how did how have you seen ski films evolve over the last decade?
Marcus Caston: It's a good question. I. You know, I don't know, being involved in Warren Miller has always been, like, very special. I grew up watching Warren Miller films and, um, you know, for me, I just kind of like, on these trips, I kind of just focus on what I'm doing, and, um, it's it's always cool to be on a trip with and hear the stories from the photographers and videographers who've been doing it a long, long time. Um, you know, I think they've stayed pretty true to who they are. And, um, I think that's. Yeah, that's pretty cool. I don't I don't know if I can say ski. I mean, the biggest thing I guess is drones, right? Like, drones have evolved ski media, um, and made it easy. Like, you don't get those shaky out of the helicopter shots that you used to see. And it's probably a lot cheaper, um, than just flying a helicopter all the time. But, um, yeah, I mean, people have cameras, have gotten good, skis have gotten good, skiers have gotten, you know, good. So it's, uh, I don't know, it's just all entertaining.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. It, uh, it's it's been fun watching you over the years in those films. And we're going to talk more about return of the tern when we come back from the break here. But just to tease it out a little bit, what was the origin of return of the tern?
Marcus Caston: It was, uh, so I guess it was the whole idea was watching these ski movies, like you see people pillow skiing in Alaska or in Canada and spine skiing in Alaska. And, um, you know, as a professional skier, like, I would get to do that once or twice a winter. But the majority of the time I was skiing at Snowbird and Alta and skiing moguls and groomers. And so the idea of that was just to show kind of everyday skiing. Um, yeah, just show something that everybody can do. Like I, you know, I want we wanted people to say, you know, that's cool. But I have no like, like skiing in Alaska is great, but I have no idea what that's like. And you don't, you know, it's crazy. Um, you know, but at Snowbird, Alta, like, oh, I've skied that run. I know that run, but I didn't ski it like that. That's cool.
Tom Kelly: Well, when we come back from the break, we're going to talk more. Marcus Carson, thank you for joining us. We're going to take a short break, and we'll be right back to talk more about return of the tern. We're back on last year. Our guest today, Marcus Carson. We're talking about return of the tern. You gave us a little bit of a actually. Let's do this one again. Okay. You're still rolling. Yep. Welcome back to.
Tom Kelly: Welcome back to Last Chair the Ski Utah podcast. Our guest today Marcus Carson. We're starting to talk about Return of the Turn. And give us a little bit more on how this evolved. You'd been in films for many, many years and decided to maybe go skiing a little bit of a different light. What was the evolution that got you started on Return of the Turn?
Marcus Caston: So I had done a video where, um, we were just skiing around Snowbird for, um, I guess it was a couple days, but, um, just skiing moguls, powder. I mean, whatever the conditions were like, we were just filming it. And one. It was really fun. Two people seemed to love it and be able to connect with it. And so yeah, return to the turn. Just kind of evolved from that in trying to be something that was relatable and show relatable skiing to people.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. So did you when you started this filming, you didn't necessarily have an idea as this is where it's going to evolve.
Marcus Caston: Not really. We started season one with like we want to ski powder corn, um, moguls, and groomers. Um, we still haven't done a powder episode. Um, it turns out it's hard to come by when you're planning a ski trip. Um, but yeah. And then from then it kind of was like, okay, well, where could we go? Like, you know, there's interesting people and interesting places to ski all over the place. So, um, yeah, we just kind of started going different places and meeting people and telling their stories. And, um, that's the great thing about skiing, right? It doesn't need to be. Alaska. Super steep. You can do it anywhere.
Tom Kelly: Your first episode had Jonny Moseley, Olympic champion. How did you pull that off?
Marcus Caston: We were really lucky. We? Yeah, that was very lucky. We, uh, were going out to Palisades to ski moguls, and we were just doing that. And he happened to be there, um, with the US mogul team who had a training camp at the time. Um, so we were able to link up with some of those guys and, um, yeah, I mean, just ski moguls with Jonny Moseley was pretty cool.
Tom Kelly: Had you skied with him before?
Marcus Caston: No, I had met him at, um, some Warren Millers, and we had talked about it. And, um, you know, I always tried to pick his brain for advice. Like, what would you tell a, you know, racer out of ski moguls? And he, like, loves talking about it. And we'd always just talked about going to duet. So it was I mean, we were lucky that he was there and willing to ski with us for a couple of days.
Tom Kelly: You know what's always fascinated me about Johnny? He won his gold medal in 1998, and I think more so than any other Olympic skier, he has really leveraged that gold medal now for almost three decades.
Marcus Caston: Yeah, I mean, it's really cool. And, you know, in 2002, I'm sure you could tell me who won the gold. Um, but I couldn't tell you who was second or third. But, um, you know, I can tell you who did a Dinner Roll. Um, you know, and, yeah, he, uh, like, I think what he did for that sport is just so badass going, like, okay, I know this run that I need to, like, make a podium, but I'm going to do this trick that isn't scored very high just because it's what he felt like, the direction the sport needed to go. And I mean, when you dedicate your life to something and then give up an Olympic medal essentially to just push the sport in a certain direction. Like that's super badass. And I think, yeah. I mean, do you remember who was first?
Tom Kelly: You know, it's funny because when you mentioned I should know, it was first, but I don't know who was first, but I, I go back to this same story and I'm glad that you, you brought this up because he finished fourth. Yeah. He didn't get a medal. He came close, but he didn't get a medal. He knew going in that he was going to do something the judges weren't going to like. But he changed the sport. They changed the rules the next year.
Marcus Caston: And he said that if the yeah, that trick was scored properly or the way that they had changed it, you know, the next year he would have won gold.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. But how much is uh, you know, this is one of the things that I learned because I came from an alpine ski racing background. And when I got involved with the US ski team and getting involved with freestyle and ultimately with snowboard, I started to understand more about progression of sports like that. Now you can kind of from the same background. How important is is it for you to be a part of the progression of your sport?
Marcus Caston: It's funny, I say I'm part of the progression, but maybe people will say I'm part of the regression. Like for me, you know, as skiing has evolved and skis and boots have gotten just so good, it doesn't take the same amount of skill, you know, to ski a certain way. And coming from, yeah, a race background like I am always thinking about doing something, keeping my shoulders a certain way or hips a certain way or weight on my outside ski or something. And, um, you know, and I love, like, always trying to work on something in my, in my skiing. Um, and so, I mean, I think nowadays, like, that's kind of what has, what has what set me apart and return to the turn apart. It's just trying to celebrate like. Celebrating the fundamentals. It sounds super geeky, but yeah, having skiing based in fundamentals is just something that you don't see so often anymore.
Tom Kelly: Let's let's talk about fundamentals. And my example is going to be Mikaela Shiffrin who was really grounded in fundamentals. And we can see where that's gotten her with, you know over 100 World Cup wins. But do you think that kids today are maybe looking to skip that because it's not cool? And how important is it to be grounded in the fundamentals of your sport?
Marcus Caston: I mean, I think it's critical. Um, you know, I, I think there's a lot of confusion nowadays. But, you know, I let me just say I'm not around a lot of these freestyle kids, you know, so often, like, um, so I don't know exactly what they're teaching them. It's great that all these big mountain programs have popped up, and that's an option for kids that don't want to ski race. They can still be like in an organized version of the sport. Um, but I think there's been a lot of confusion. Like, people will skip fundamentals and call it style. Like, oh, it's my own personal style, but I don't know. To me, it's like, you can't really have style unless you have the fundamentals, and then you can go off from there and have your own.
Tom Kelly: So let's talk about bum skiing. And I consider myself to be a good skier. I can't do bumps. I'm sorry. Okay. But what are the fundamentals like if I and actually recently I found myself on a mogul run, so I had to kind of get down and deal with it. But what are the fundamentals that we should be taking away from a good bump run?
Marcus Caston: Okay, I'm not the right person to ask this because I'm not a great bump skier. I like skiing moguls a lot. Um, but I mean, I from what I've learned in my conversations with Johnny and, um, you know, other people that are good at moguls. Is that the fundamentals are essentially the same as ski racing. You know, hips up, pressure on the outside, ski shins to the front of the boots. Hands up. Good balanced position. You know, it's like skiing. Simple. It's hard, but it's simple. And those fundamentals just. Yeah being balanced um, over your skis and yeah pressure on the outside ski and keep your hands up like that'll get you far.
Tom Kelly: Yeah I'm going to shift gears a little bit and talk about lifestyle. And one of the episodes that that really excited me was going to the Dolomites last year. I know that area. I love that area. They're amazing mountains. Lifestyle is a big part of our sport and that you're blending that in now to return of the tern 100%.
Marcus Caston: And that's maybe a personal liberty. Like I love traveling and you know, when I go on a film trip, like I want to take it all in, I don't want to just be like pounding ski, you know, one turn, two turns for two weeks and then, like, get home and realize, man, I didn't even have a pizza in Italy. I think that's impossible. But, like, you know, like, I don't want to miss out on the whole experience. I think that's super important.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. Um, I want to talk about your director, uh, co-director, actually Tim Jones, who also is directing this episode of Last Chair. When the two of you sit down to plan an episode, what goes into that process, and then how do you take that and execute it on snow?
Marcus Caston: Um, we should just get Tim in here to talk about this, too. Um.
Tom Kelly: Tim's probably going to say no, but we should, um.
Marcus Caston: Yeah, I think, like, we'll sit down. I'll come with an idea. He'll come with an idea, and we kind of just see what we're excited about, um, and go from there and then, you know, some some. Sometimes it's a little more loose than others. Um, like, let's go to Italy and then see what we find, you know? And um, other times it's a little bit more specific, like we went to Buck Hill and we knew we were going to raise the ski challenge and, and, and knew the, the organizers of the event and knew we were going to talk to certain locals and kind of what we were going to find. Um, but yeah, I mean, I think there's something to be said for just going to a place and like immersing yourself in it and seeing what you get.
Tom Kelly: We're a sport that deals with Mother Nature, so you honestly don't know what you're going to get when you get there.
Marcus Caston: Right. The great thing about the Dolomites is, okay if you're not skiing because the weather's bad, like the food's great.
Tom Kelly: There's wine, there's strudel, there's pasta.
Marcus Caston: You can't go wrong. I film there every time. If we could.
Tom Kelly: No, you really can't. What's ahead for Return of the Turn?
Marcus Caston: So we have three more episodes, coming out this year. We've released one, and then we're going to film two more this winter. So we'll be in Austria and in Norway this year.
Tom Kelly: So I want to close it out before we get to our Fresh Tracks section and just kind of explore your passion a little bit. We started out the interview talking about the mountains and the impact that they had on you as a young boy. When you look back now, and you're a father now too, so life is probably a little bit different from then than it was a year ago. So putting it all together, the mountains that we're in, the travel that you can do, the family that you're raising, how does this all come together and create a passion for you? Marcus?
Marcus Caston: I mean, I think the great thing about living here in Salt Lake, because you don't really need to try all that hard to, you know, the mountains are right there. Skiing is what I do. We get up and watch ski racing every day. I imagine my son is going to be into ski racing if he's not fine. But we watch it, you know, and love it, so I imagine he'll be excited about it too. Um, and yeah, I mean, I don't know, we'll we'll get him on skis and see how it goes. But like, for me, yeah, skiing is just what we do. And, you know, I hope to be able to share that passion with him. And if he chooses to go another path, I hope it's golf.
Tom Kelly: Or tennis.
Marcus Caston: Or tennis.
Tom Kelly: But but when you're, when you're on a lift at Alta Snowbird, wherever, and you're meeting people who are out here visiting Utah, how do you share that passion with them? Are they are they out looking for the same kind of thing in the mountains that you.
Marcus Caston: They get it. They get it. Like when you're there, there's just I don't know if you can explain it, but it's, you know, everybody feels it. And, uh, you know, I guess the great thing is people experience the mountains differently and in their own way. Um, you know, and so whether you're love sitting in the lodge and, and, you know, taking a run or two and having lunch like, it's great. And. Yeah, I think when you're on the lift with people like they're excited to be here. And like, honestly, I probably get more excited talking to them, like because it's so, you know, we're a little spoiled and it's sometimes easy to forget.
Tom Kelly: You know, you have a welcoming audience when you're on a chairlift with somebody visiting Utah.
Marcus Caston: That's true.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. Marcus, thanks so much. We're going to move now to our Fresh Tracks section. I have a few final questions for you. Rapid fire and your favorite ski film of all time that you weren't in.
Marcus Caston: Okay. Um, the first one that comes to mind is Tangerine Dream. It's TGR movie. There was a really cool Alta Snowbird segment in that, and I was probably 13 when it came out and I had it on DVD. And, um, yeah, I watched that over and over and over and over again.
Tom Kelly: Sweet. DVDs.
Marcus Caston: DVD.
Tom Kelly: Yeah. Um, most, uh, most scared you've ever been filming.
Marcus Caston: That first Alaska trip? For sure. With, uh, Ted and Warren Miller? I mean, I was sick to my stomach the whole time. I'd wake up and just pray that it was snowing so we didn't have to go ski. It was terrifying.
Tom Kelly: Are you over that now?
Marcus Caston: Yeah. To that extent. Yeah. Over that.
Tom Kelly: Um. The most memorable filmed ski segment you've been involved with that didn't go as planned.
Marcus Caston: Whoa. The most memorable ski segment I've been involved in that didn't go as planned.
Tom Kelly: It might be good or bad.
Marcus Caston: Yeah. Um. Hmm. I'm. That's a good question.
Tom Kelly: Um, this could be getting snowed out in the Dolomites and having to go in and having a nice red wine.
Marcus Caston: Yeah, I'm trying to think back on our return to the turns, because oftentimes those don't go as planned. Um, but I want to say maybe our Inferno murin, um, section, like, you know, I guess it went as planned in that we raced it, but that was just like showing up, not knowing what the race was going to be like. I haven't been on downhill skis in ten, 15 years. And yeah, I mean, that was just like the most unknowns, probably in a trip.
Tom Kelly: You survived though.
Marcus Caston: Yeah.
Tom Kelly: Your favorite ski run in Utah, the place you're most comfortable on a mountain in Utah?
Marcus Caston: Uh mm. Probably south chute at Snowbird. Um, I think I mean, high rustler at Alta. I mean, that's just like such a classic. That's a hard one to beat, but, um. Yeah, maybe. Sal. Shoot. It's it's long. Steep. Get your legs going.
Tom Kelly: Favorite resort town? Anywhere in the world?
Marcus Caston: Ooh. Resort town. Um, probably. Engelberg. Engelberg, Switzerland. Um, we ended up moving there for two years, and it's just. Yeah. It's perfect little town.
Tom Kelly: Speaks to Deutsch.
Marcus Caston: No, no.
Tom Kelly: You survived.
Marcus Caston: Huh? Yeah. It's all it. All. All my German I know comes from watching ski racing on TV.
Tom Kelly: One last thing. In just one word, what is skiing mean to you? Just one word.
Marcus Caston: Ooh, freedom is so cliche. Um, fun.
Tom Kelly: It is fun.
Marcus Caston: Yeah.
Tom Kelly: That's why we're here. And we're going to close it out with a toast. We're here in the High West whiskey library. Do you have a favorite high West.
Marcus Caston: There he is. Tim.
Tom Kelly: Tim.
Marcus Caston: Tim.
Tom Kelly: Stand there for a minute. Tim. Tim is serving as a waiter today. So what? We're going to drink today, and we're going to do the toast off camera. But we'll, uh, tell you a little bit about it. Today we're drinking, uh, High Country from High West. I have not had this one before. It's an American single malt, uh, made with malted barley, 100% distilled right here at the High West Distillery in Wanship. It has notes of honey, cereal, walnut, banana bread and toasted marshmallows. How do they write this stuff?
Marcus Caston: I don't know what kind of cereal.
Tom Kelly: Um, honey. Cereal. We had one, uh, at an earlier episode this year that had a hint of wooden porch swing. I don't know what that is, but it was really good. Marcus Kasten, thank you so much for joining us on Last Chair. Hope you had a good time with us.
Marcus Caston: Cheers. Thank you.
Tom Kelly: Cheers to you.
