Twenty years ago, Denver native Chris Anthony found himself in his first Warren Miller extreme-skiing film. A regular ever since, Anthony basically is a professional ski buma professional skiing guide and representative for ski-related concerns, including serving as ambassador for Colorado Ski Country’s Fifth Grade Passport program that offers 63 days of free skiing to Colorado fifth graders.
Q: How did the Warren Miller people find you?
A:This was back when I had five roommates and one land line, and I was lucky if anyone ever took a message. I got back from class and there was a note sorta tacked to the wall, next to the phone and about a thousand other things. I happened to notice it, and it said “Chris, call Don Brolin,” and there was a California phone number. We didn’t have long distance, so I had to get a calling card, and the person who answered it said, “Warren Miller Film.”
Q: What did you say back?
A: I was like, “Whoa! Wow!”
Q: What did they say?
A: They said, “Oh, good, we’ve been waiting for your call. You need to do” this and this and this. They’d booked me to go on a shoot in France. And it was right before finals week! I didn’t want to tell ’em I was in school, and just said OK when they told me to be at the airport at a certain time. Then I ran to campus and went to all my professors to see if I could get an extension on my tests and finals.
Q: And then you got on a plane?
A: I jumped on a flight with two of my idols, world-class athletes, and we flew to Munich, picked up two cars from the Audi factory — Audi was our sponsor at the time — and drove down to France, stopping at a few places on the way to do a couple crazy things.
Q: Like what?
A: We stopped in Chamonix and jumped off the Aiguille du Midi tram in paragliders.
Q: For the movie?
A: No, that one we did just for fun. It was kind of a nutty thing.
