Talking About Turning with Marcus Caston
A chat with the skier behind "Return of the Turn," a fan-favorite web series
I haven’t watched a ski film from beginning to end in years. They stopped mattering to me, which is weird because I used to love ski movies. The Meeting used to be a big deal. TGR premieres and MSP films used to signal the build up to winter. Sweetgrass told impactful stories in an artsy way that resonated. But, that's in my rearview mirror. I do watch snowboard films every now and then, surf films have been a major part of my life since I was 14 and I often waste late-night hours on YouTube watching unfamiliar Euros ski spicy lines in the Alps. But, I’m not part of feature-length ski films’ audience anymore.
However, there are two real-time ski web series that I actively seek out. I anticipate upcoming drops from Marcus Caston and Cody Townsend. I regularly watch each of their web series episodes within 24 hours of going live. They’re good. They fill a void. They’re a direct hit.
Marcus makes “Return of the Turn.”
Here’s a conversation with Marcus…
Greg Fitz (GF): We will get to your episodes soon enough. To start, talk us through the “Caston turn.” Where’d it come from?
Marcus Caston (MC): I didn’t know I was doing that. 15 years ago I saw a video of myself freeskiing for the first time and I was jumping through powder. I was like, “Why am I doing that? That’s weird.” But, my dad skis that way. And, I followed him as a kid and learned how to ski that way. I think it’s just super late pressure. It’s the reason I wasn’t a fast ski racer. I couldn’t break that habit. In ski racing you want to have super early pressure at the top of the turn and release through the turn. I am different. I am super heavy through the turn. And, that’s pretty much all it is. You just load the ski all at once and slide through the transition.
GF: Is “Return of the Turn” returning?
MC: We’re coming back. This will be the fourth season.
GF: What’s coming up?
MC: We’ve already done two “Return of the Turns” this year. And, we have to shoot one more. So, we’ll have three next year. This “Town Hill” thing is something we’re really excited about. It’s for next year’s Warren Miller film. We have so many ideas for next year, but we’ll see. It comes down to conditions and timing. We were joking that this year we’re going to random locations for the “Town Hill” segment; so, next year we’re going to St. Moritz.
GF: What are some nuggets from filming “Return of the Turn” that stand out?
MC: The first person who comes to mind is Jonny Moseley. We showed up to Squaw Valley with little plan, but we knew he was there. We were a scramble. We were past Reno when we were talking to Squaw and they were like, “Yeah, I think we can get you tickets.” That was hours into a six-and-a-half hour drive to Squaw. Then, Squaw let us know that they had the US Mogul team at the mountain that week. Yeah, going up there and seeing Jonny down to help was really cool. Hearing the US Mogul guys ask us, “What are you doing? Are you making a movie about moguls?” After their training they came and found us, and we went skiing. They wanted to be part of it, too. That was really sick.
GF: Are other people as psyched on “Return of the Turn” as I am?
MC: I think people are really nice. And, no one has said, “Hey, your web series sucks.” I know those people are out there, but they don’t tell me that; you know? Actually, that’s not true. We like some of the comments; they’re pretty funny. I think we have a small cult following and the people who do watch it really like it. Maybe it’s not that small, but it is pretty “culty.”
GF: Why?
MC: It speaks to a part of the ski industry who, I think, feels left out. They don’t see themselves in ski movies. Everybody can watch “Return of the Turn” and be like, "Oh yeah, I’ve skied there.”
GF: Was that the idea? Did you guys set out to talk with that audience? Or did it rise to the top as people started watching “Return of the Turn?”
MC: That was definitely one of the things we set out to do. It was important to me. That was how I felt, I never felt represented in ski movies because of the type of skier I am. What I mean is: the type of skier that I am never felt represented in ski movies. That’s what we tried to go do. I like skiing groomers, so we went and filmed on groomers. Let’s go ski moguls. The reason you don’t see moguls in movies is because they’re hard. It’s easy to make powder look good. But, skiing isn’t always… You don’t always have to be watching something unattainable that makes you drool. That should certainly always be part of ski movies, but it shouldn’t be the only the thing. There’s that, and we also don’t have a heli budget.
GF: So, instead you go to Minnesota?
MC: Exactly.
GF: That’s really cool.
MC: Yeah. Every episode I’ve met awesome people. The Beer League one in Minnesota is another one of my favorites. Those people are hilarious. They love ski racing. They’re nerds about it. They are into it! We met so many people at the Beer League that are super fun. I’d go skiing with any of them any day.
GF: Talk about working with Tim. Why does it work? What’s the creative process look like? [For context, Tim Jones is Marcus’ partner on “Return of the Turn.” Freeskier called him the “videographer.”]
MC: We work really well together. I’m a shit show. He likes to have things organized. He’s a really good storyteller. He comes from a perspective of what he’s going to have to edit. And, I’m kind of just a dreamer. I’m always like, “What about this? How about that?” And, he’s like, “This makes sense, this doesn’t.” We work well together that way. “Return of the Turn” is equal parts him and me, if not more him. He’s hilarious. He’s funny. I like going on trips with him. And, I think that shines through. He’s a good dude. He’s super fun and we have a good time together. I do the skiing, but he’s really the one. He’s funny.
GF: Do you guys storyboard episodes? How does that work?
MC: There are times he comes up with the idea and other times that I do. Sometimes we’ve gone into trips thinking we’re doing one thing and we end up with another thing. I believe you can’t have too much of a plan. If you go into a trip with too much of a plan it takes the fun out of it. You’re going to blind yourself. You have to show up and experience something; otherwise, you’re just working.
GF: A couple weeks ago I was talking to Rahlves and we chatted about you for a few minutes. Daron remembers the first time he met you and saw you ski at the Banzai Tour.
MC: Wow. That’s way cool to hear… I still get sweaty palms when I think about Banzai Tour. That was a cool race, but it was too burly for me. We’d go out there and have fun, but it was scarier than it was fun. I’d be standing at the top thinking, “Somebody is going to bomb this and somebody is going to make it; so, you have to bomb it and you have to make it.” It was pretty loose.
GF: That’s pretty cool. The mindset of a competitor standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people on top of a Banzai race…
MC: I was transitioning out of ski racing at the time. I don’t think I was… I should just be done with competition. I’m just not good at competing anymore. It’s not healthy for me.
GF: Did competing tarnish skiing for you?
MC: I was definitely burnt out and had a bitter taste in my mouth about it. Maybe I’m just not the best competitor. I think that’s definitely true: I’m not the best competitor. It doesn’t bring out the best in me. I don’t know. A lot of people come out of ski racing with weird stories…
GF: Alright, three more. Who do you like watching ski?
MC: Hmm… That’s a tough one. I really like Todd Ligare. He’s super fun to watch. I like watching Hoji ski. I like watching Sam Cohen. Jimmy Ryan; that kid is killing it. You know Connery, I like skiing with Connery. But then, you know, watching Pat Sewell ski moguls or Tatsuno ski anything. It’s crazy cool. There are a lot of kids around here that I like skiing with, too.
GF: A bit ago you said, “the type of skier I am.” What type of skier are you?
MC: Umm… I don’t know. I guess just a skier. But, maybe that’s not fair. I’d say, “I’m just a skier,” but there are park skiers and urban skiers and big-mountain comp skiers. Maybe that’s not fair because they’re just skiers, too. But, I’m just a skier. I ski what like 90% of other people ski.
GF: Last one about the type of skiing you like to do and the “type of skier” you are. I know a lot of people in mountain towns walk deeper during lulls between storms to find soft snow. People are always trying to find soft snow. I’m pretty adamant that steep chalky bumps or Highland Bowl with grippy snow is almost more fun. I think that if you have the right ski and right mindset you can have fun. Do you agree?
MC: You don’t need the right ski. Just go ski that stuff. What’s happened is fat-ski technology has allowed people to become “expert skiers” after a couple of years. I’ve never skied Highland Bowl, but for example, I bet someone who has only been skiing for three or four years goes and skis “the bowl” now. There are kids around here who have only been skiing a few years and are now professional skiers. You know? Powder is easy. Powder is the easiest thing in the world to ski. It feels cool, which is why—I think—people don’t like skiing bumps or chalk. They can’t ski it and they don’t get a good feeling on it. The ski world does need more variety, but it’s just because people don’t know how to ski anymore. Back in the day on 210s you had to learn how to ski. That’s why shit gets tracked up now, too. People are going back to where they otherwise couldn’t have been. There are good things and bad things to that. More people are getting out, more people are skiing, more people are experiencing it. But, they’re skipping steps. If you can’t enjoy skiing moguls, it’s not the moguls that suck.
We ended the conversation laughing. That’s how Marcus dropped the mic.