Rob Heule’s new film,  Left Right Left, is 100% Alberta! The Rocky Mountains are recognizable, the river names familiar, and the vibe is both western and fresh.

All photos are screenshots from Left Right Left

Rob originally described this project to us as, “A short film on skiing and river surfing in Alberta, tying the two things I love to do together with the feeling of turning, and riding the same snow/water twice; once in the mountains, and once again in the river as the snow melts.” 

The mission takes Rob and friends from mountain tops along the Continental Divide, where they find fun turns on wind lips and wave-like cornices, downhill as snow melts into slush and ponds they can skim across, and finally all the way to the valley bottom and the rivers that flow to the prairies producing waves to river surf.

This film is not an attempt to capture the raddest lines of the year or the most futuristic tricks. This is a film that captures the fun of spring skiing and the fun of river surfing while reminding us of the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. It captures the half of the natural water cycle that we get to play on in these parts.

It’s refreshing to see an edit truly based in our local Alberta geography. Heck, the Bow River runs right past Kensington, less than a block away from our shop window.

Perhaps the part of the film that Alberta skiers will relate to the most is the driving inLeft Right Left. To be a skier here is to know the straight roads that climb from the prairies to the mountains. Rob’s trusty rig, The Eagle, is a star of the show. An older-model Toyota truck kitted out with a pop-top camper, The Eagle is modest and perfectly suited to this adventure.

To braid all these strands together, Rob found the ideal twanged-out voice to narrate, Tim Huss, the celebrated cowboy musician from this very province. Huss is described as having “a voice sweeter than a Husqvarna chainsaw and a wit that is sharper than rusty barbed wire.” However you want to describe the cowboy’s voice, it provides the perfect context for Left Right Left. 

Rob’s project was made possible by The North Face. Check out the Freedom Bib:

Want to carve, slash, and surf like Rob? Try the Line Vision:

And check out Rob’s own gear creations at Radpacks.ca

Rob Heule: “Growing up in the foothills of the Rockies is all about making the most of what you have. From skiing high-alpine ice fields to surfing standing river waves fed by the melt of the Rocky Mountains.”