Simmer | Manu Barnard’s 2024 season in Europe

The result is “Simmer,” a season edit that showcases Manu doing his thing, in classically Kiwi form, in every type of terrain imaginable, from park to sidecountry to big mountain lines to sketchy street rails.

Manu also sent us a few words to help explain the thought process behind “Simmer.” Here’s what the man himself has to say.

“SIMMER” insight, some words about the words.

I commonly hear “It’s just skiing, don’t overthink it.” I agree that skiing is often fun, light-hearted, and it will always be a huge source of joy for me. But I get the feeling that this phrase is a cop-out, especially in the ski community. Can we really spend so much time doing something and not question it? Questions are key to finding the path that is right for us. I often feel like I am the only one thinking in this way, I feel alone. But I know I can’t be.

The text in “Simmer” is a time capsule of how my brain was working at the time. I’m constantly changing, as we all are, but I’m still able to stand by my words because they were such an important part of my recent learning curves. It feels more fulfilling to share my genuine experience, to go deeper than just the visual sharing of skiing. Going hard in the world of snowsports can be intense and traumatic, and I think it’s very normal for young riders to crash hard, put our bodies and brains through so much, and just keep going. The series of concussions I incurred over the last two years is a classic example of pushing until your system shuts down. I learned, the hard way, by spending months of downtime with my head spinning, that we have to take care.

It’s important to me to spread this message and open up about what we’re going through, especially in the “high performance” and often egotistical worlds of both competitive and video skiing. We already have enough mental and emotional challenges to face as young people today. We have bigger problems in our world. The trauma of tumbling down mountains or splatting onto ice from high in the air should be taken seriously and minimised as much as possible. We need to try to make good decisions and stay true to ourselves, creating a healthy relationship with risk and injury, avoiding the ‘tunnel vision’ that has punished me in the past. Making sure that we are skiing for the love of it, and not to perform for other people, is also super important. This headspace I am seeking, of taking care and choosing the right moments to take risks, doesn’t stop me from skiing how I wanted to ski – to the contrary, it allows me to enjoy all types of skiing in a more sustainable way. Undoubtedly, I will continue to have ups and downs, mistakes, and periods of questioning. This is the human experience, and it feels right to acknowledge that.

Thanks for watching and reading. I hope you enjoyed the skiing and could also take something away from my words. All I want in creating this piece is to get people stoked to go skiing, and to contribute something to the communities that have given me so much.

I wish you all the best in the mountains but also in every aspect of life.

– Manu

Filmed and edited by Felix Raffaelli

Written & Produced by Manu Barnard

Skiing, drawings & animation by Manu Barnard

Additional Filming: Gavin Rudy Ashley Wiggins Felix Klein Jasper Klein Manu Barnard Hannah Prout

Aerial Footage: Mario Kaepelli Richard Buchner

Color: Tim Wreyford

Sound design: Valérian Augereau

In cooperation with https://www.level1.ski/