We don't usually get to posting abstract, non-snowboard related content, but after watching EVAC's latest film, we realized it was more than worth the post. Short for "External Vacancy," this outdoor research crew (which is comprised of some of our favorite snowboarder/creatives) captures a vision that is all too reminiscent of the pages we see in every issue of Torment.
It's always our attempt to marry the art of the everyday world with snowboarding, and Seamus Foster/Diego Meek's latest work draws too many parallels to that. They may not be interacting with nature while strapped in, but their journey to build a rock dome in the form of a mountain utopia isn't far off. K2's Seamus Foster and Sean Pettit tagged along with Mikaela Kautzy + friends into the remoteness of the mountains, and what came it is this 7+ minute montage of exploration.
"About 5+ years ago I dreamt up an idea for a mountain utopia where I fantisized about spending long periods of time isolated in the high alpine of the mountains. Ive always been really drawn to the mountains peaks but also had a certain vulnerabilty towards them when spending periods of time on top of them. I thought if there was a fort like space up there to protect in some way, I would stay longer.
I knew that before i jumped into this with little knowledge of building a structure, I first had to prototype what I wanted to make in the mountains. I was fascinated by domes and round spaces in general so I started there by making a dome in my backyard made of rebar, rocks, and concrete.
After I made the dome I knew I wasnt going to be bringing concrete into the mounatins so I spent more time researching other methods. I gathered lots of inspiration from the ancient Celtic Monks Clochan (beehive huts) and also various ancient structures built by stone especially the ones in the mountains and the locations that were chosen. I liked sketchy. Lots of these stone structures used the dry stack method which only uses stone to build which worked out very well seeing as the only material in the alpine is rocks. Using some existing mountain to incorporate into the space was essential, and these 2 large boulders that had once split from 1 made a great base to work off of, allowing what was natural to dictate what we did with the rest." — Sean Pettit
Filmed and Edited by: Seamus Foster and Diego Meek
