Julian Carr Shares “Test Run” Footage For 60 Foot Cliff
Professional skier Julian Carr — known for his impressive cliff jumps — isn’t afraid of a little air time.
Yesterday, the huck master shared footage of a “test run” for lining up a 60-foot cliff. The angle of the video is POV, providing insight into the sheer enormity of the cliffs Carr tees up.
Carr’s on-snow antics, to the average skier, are essentially magic — try as you might, it’s difficult to comprehend what you’re seeing when watching him do his thing. Via his craft, Carr operates on a different plane of reality.
See, I understand that Carr’s hit 60, 80, and 200+ foot cliffs, but I can’t fathom what that really means because, simply put, I’m only mortal. The largest cliff I’ve ever hit might’ve been 30ish feet, and even that felt like flying — before the impact, of course.
Therefore, I have a lot of questions for Carr, and I bet you do, too.
While I’d love to pick the guy’s brain for hours, the non-stop pace of the skiing news cycle wouldn’t facilitate me waltzing off for the better half of an afternoon. So, in lieu of a meatier chat, here’s a quick email exchange between Carr and POWDER. Thanks, Julian.
POWDER: I’m wondering — given how much time you spend in the air on these cliffs, I imagine your skis could probably catch the wind and muck things up — do you use shorter or longer skis? And any preference between wider or shorter?
Julian Carr: Really doesn’t matter how big your skis are, it’s the height of the cliff that matters. I’ve hit dozens of pretty large cliffs with 125cm underfoot, 185cm. What’s also important is choice of trick – I tend to gravitate towards a front flip because you’re essentially swan-diving with your skis slicing through the air, I lead with my hips, so I can choose when to tuck my flip over as I see the ground approaching. If you do a straight-air off a big cliff you leave your skis open to catching the wind no matter what size, it’s basically impossible to completely control your body position doing a straight air off a cliff higher than 120 ft. or so. Back in the day, I did a straight air off a 175 ft. cliff, the last 30 ft. the wind did grab my skis, I landed just fine & skied away, but I made a mental note that a front flip was the wisest choice going forward. A backflip, you’re at the mercy of how you set your rotation right off the bat. I did a backflip off a 140 ft. cliff once, I did some powerful visualizing until I gained clarity & 100% confidence, it was one of the most radical feelings of setting a backflip that slow, being that patient waiting for the landing to come around hanging out in space like that haha, it worked out great, but that backflip was a one-time thing. So I’ve made exceptions but a front flip is the safest way to avoid wind grabbing your skis off a big cliff.
P: How are your knees and back feeling these days? Do you do anything — specific exercises or otherwise — to prevent injuries?
JC: Feel great, full speed attack. If it hurt to hit big cliffs, I wouldn’t do it haha. Biggest tool for big cliffs is your mind.
P: What specific factors are you scoping out in the video? What are you looking for?
JC: As you can see in the video I was able to manicure the take-off & in-run, this cliff is very user-friendly. It also has a huge wide-open landing that isn’t too steep or too flat, landing is a sweet spot, plus, cliffs loom over the entire zone, & it’s backcountry, so no one is skiing through your landing, very few people ski in this zone. The views are incredible, it’s a quiet zone, you can really take your time & feel out the equation.
P: What conditions (snow quality, wind, lighting, etc.) need to align for you to send such a large cliff?
JC: Four things: Landing: snow depth, quality of snow, angle of landing zone. Take-off: void of obstacles, rocks, trees, slough, slabs. Sheerness of cliff: can I reach the landing easily given where the landing is & take-off logistics. Cosmos: how am I feeling spiritually at that given moment.
P: Why has jumping large cliffs been a particular focus of your skiing career?
JC: It’s just been a gradual expansion of my comfort zone, from when I started skiing at 13 years old, hitting my first 10 ft. cliff into super deep snow at Solitude, UT. I was hooked & saw the potential in a never-ending playground. I slowly became comfortable with 10 ft. cliffs, increased to 15 ft. until I was comfortable. It’s crazy to say, but I’m comfortable with 200 ft.+ cliffs. But the conditions are so rare to hit a 200 ft. cliff. People can cliff dive into water whenever they feel like it, there are thousands of waterfalls, bridges, etc in a static environment. Snow on the other hand has so many variables that have to come together to present the perfect conditions. When everything does come together you have to be ready, because it’s always super scary to stand on top of a 100 ft. cliff, that’s where the mental part comes in to think past the fear, purely focus on the path to success, a magical thing starts to happen, all that fear was used as critical thinking fuel, you’re able to dissect the cliff from a physical level, not as a is it scary level, of course it’s scary, but you breathe through it, the correct path becomes illuminated & that genuine fear you once had transforms into genuine confidence. 100% confidence. If even one hair on my body wasn’t sure, I’ll walk away every time, which I’ve done. But when it’s 100% clarity, it’s absolute presence, nothing exists except right now. I see big cliffs as an act of artistry, an act of love, a way to interact with nature at a very intimate level. Mother Nature has let me in one some of her secrets.
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