Logic suggests it would not be the first place a professional skier and his mate would select when looking for a skifield. But former Cromwell College pupil Sam Smoothy is just back from a trip to North Korea.
Reporter Jeff Cheshire talks to Smoothy and director Will Lascelles about the trip to the secretive republic.
What is the weirdest place you can think of to shoot a ski video?
That was the question former Cromwell College freeskiier Sam Smoothy, now of Wanaka, and director Will Lascelles asked themselves before they undertook their adventure to North Korea.
The duo recently released their latest film, featuring Smoothy in his trip to ski in the country. Despite having been all around the world, it was a place unlike any either man had visited before.
''[It was] confusing and really interesting,'' Smoothy (30) said.
''Obviously, there's so many issues with human rights and things like that in North Korea; you just never really understood what was true. We could only go where the guides would allow us to go, so they'd only show us what they wanted us to see and nothing else.
''You never got a look at the whole country, so you sort of felt that they weren't telling the whole truth, but the Western media wasn't either.''
Getting consent to shoot the film proved a long task, especially for Lascelles, who had to show he was not a journalist with a political agenda. He estimated it was a six-month process.
''There was a lot of back and forth in trying to understand who we were and why we were coming,'' Lascelle said.
''There is a misconception that it's hard to go to the country. It's not hard to go there as a tourist; they'll get you on a bus and you'll get herded around like sheep 15 to 20 people at a time.
''But in our case, we were a two-man group and because we had the camera, it definitely raised a lot of eyebrows.''
The film follows Smoothy as the duo goes first to China, then to North Korea for nine days. Rain on the second day made for less than ideal skiing conditions, although the pair were pleased with the finished product.
There were plenty of unique challenges of filming in the country too, with restrictions on where they could go and needing to get consent before shooting anything.
''We weren't allowed to shoot everything, but we shot what we could and we've got the video up there now and people can watch that online for free,'' Smoothy said.
''We would have liked to have shot other stuff but were weren't allowed, pretty much.
''We wanted to see more of the countryside and go to a farm, but they didn't want to take us there and we weren't allowed to film any soldiers. There were just all these little restrictions. But they were more open that we thought they would be.''
Despite that, he was pleased to have made a video that showed the world a glimpse of the country.
''I don't know if you say you're glad you went, but I think it was a good move to go. It was a really interesting look at a totally different country from what I've seen before. I think to be able to show that to the world was an interesting experience and something I'll never forget.''
Lascelle agreed, calling it a memorable trip. He made it clear the duo had no political agenda in making the film, abiding to the restrictions, which included not showing any military figures.
''Some people will ask 'you got out of the country, why don't you show it?'' he said of the footage they got that they were asked not to include in the film.
''I don't think that showing the military would have made that film any different than it is. So it was kind of a respectful way of showing we're not here for an agenda, we're not trying to show this in any other way than how we felt we travelled the country.
''It was more like, if you come to North Korea with skis in your hand, this is what you can expect.''
While Lascelle said the duo did not get to interact with too many people in the country, they found them more open on the skifield, which was something he took away from the trip.
The skifield and its facilities had been opened by the Government and compared well to any field in the west.
''When it [interaction] really came in was on the skifield. I think there's something metaphorical in that. When you're enjoying a sport, you're one, there's not much difference between you. So that was pretty cool to come away with.''
Straight after finishing in North Korea, Smoothy moved on to Japan, as he continued his globe-trotting lifestyle. A professional on the free ride skiing world tour for six years, he competes in various countries, his most well-known win coming in Andorra in 2015.
He also works with production companies in Europe and North America to make ski films, along with doing some smaller ones by himself and his team in Wanaka.
Six months ago, he ruptured his pectoral major, pulling it off the shoulder bone, requiring nine months rehabilitation. While he was looking forward to getting back skiing, Smoothy had kept himself busy doing promotional work in Europe and North America.
-By Jeff Cheshire
