An Excerpt from Minor Extremes

EXT. MOUNTAIN RIDGE - MORNING
   A lone skier skier, RUDY CRAGNOKER, (late 20s) skins up a ridge-line on a powdery winter morning. The terrain is rugged and desolate, but the skier is in the back country alone, with no pack, shovel or helmet, just skis, skins and poles.
   Then Rudy is at the top without the skins. He looks around at vast, unspoiled terrain. He whacks away at the cornice that hangs out over a steep bowl. The cornice gives way, sending chunks of snow sliding down the slope, over rocks and cliffs. Rudy watches from above.
   Rudy jumps into the melee and makes slow hop turns, cutting across the slope. Then he makes quick, smoother turns. He is an expert, skiing fast and in control.
   Rudy approaches a small cliff and launches over it with fluid grace, incorporating the rocks into part of the turns. He skis down steeps, through chutes and by trees. He is in a frozen heaven. No emotion. No stopping, looking back to admire tracks. No smiles. Rudy simply goes on, making beautiful turns through knee deep powder, over cliff bands and past trees. The run seems to go on forever.

EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - CHAMONIX, FRANCE - MORNING
   Another skier, BERTRAND INARD, (30s)drops into the extreme steeps at Chamonix. He skis aggressively through very dangerous terrain, over open crevasses, over cliffs and through chutes, and over fields of powder with a view of majestic and jagged peaks.

EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - MT. COOK, NEW ZEALAND - MORNING
   Twin sisters, CHRISTINA and MARY DAY, (22) make beautiful powder turns in a wide open slope. The girls ski very close to one another, linking powder eights with precision, as if they are one person in two bodies. They continue down-slope through thick trees, down ice bands and over cliffs with grace and style.

EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - LAKE LOUISE, CANADA - MORNING
   Snowboarder, JAIME GRINDSTAFF, (20s)begins his decent. He lets his speed go making large, fast, arching turns down the gigantic run. He comes to a band of cliffs and checks his speed. He looks out at the drop before him, points his board and aims in, laying out a beautiful back flip. He lands perfectly.

EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - MT. MINOR, USA - MORNING
   Snowboarder, AMBER SIMMONS, (18)makes technical turns through a thick band of rocks and cliffs. She rides slowly, yet with precision, navigating a seemingly unrideable area. Once past the cliffs, she arches her back in style and makes long, flowing turns.

INT. TOM’S ROOM - MORNING
   6am: The alarm goes off. TOM CAMPELL (late 20’s) wakes up suddenly, as if he is still skiing, preparing for a big landing. SHELLY BIRE(early 30s), Tom’s girlfriend, wakes up more from his jolt in bed than the clock.

SHELLY
Skiing again?
TOM
How’d you guess?

EXT. SKATEBOARD PARK - DAY
A competition of skate-boarding in a terrain park goes on. The event is sponsored and shot by XTV, the extreme television sports channel. Tom and Shelly run the control booth with co-worker, BILL EVANS, (30), over-looking the event. A participant, TIMMY lands the last trick of his run.

TOM
Okay, Chuck, stay with him. Prepare to go to break.
ANNOUNCER
Nice run, Timmy! Ending with a misty seven and two lincoln logs! Gonna score high, when we come back.
TOM
Go to break.
A commercial for bubble gum begins. Those in the booth relax.
TOM (CONT’D)
Chuck, when we come back let’s get a close-up on Jim Anderson.
CHUCK (V.O.)
Got it.
SHELLY
(to Tom)
That’s four times in two weeks. Just counting when I’ve been there.
TOM
So?
SHELLY
It’s called a recurring dream, Tom. It’s obviously trying to tell you something.
TOM
Like what? Time to go skiing?
SHELLY
But you just got back from a trip.
TOM
Toss out that theory.
SHELLY
So then, what’s going on?
TOM
You’re the psychology major, Shelly.
BILL
That what you studied?
SHELLY
Fat lot of good it’s doing me here. Tom, I really think there’s more to it...
TOM
Coming back in three, two, one...
ANNOUNCER
Welcome back, everyone. Jim Anderson in the starting blocks. Needs to impress the judges....

EXT. SKATEBOARD PARK - LATER
Tom and Shelly help the crew pack up the equipment and put it in vans. Bill drinks a beer and offers bottles to the others.
TOM
Nice one, Bill.
BILL
Style points. All about style points.
SHELLY
A metaphor for something else maybe. The mountain is your job, or your life, and you feel like you’re constantly pushing the envelope, never ending something.
TOM
Okay, Sigmund Freud. I don’t even know it’s me in the dream, alright?
SHELLY
You never mentioned that.
TOM
I just know... everything’s perfect. The terrain, the day, the turns... It’s all perfect.
BILL
I’ve had dreams like that. No a mountain, though. Usually it’s with Debbie Williams. Man!
TOM
Thing is, my dream is like the ultimate extreme moment. Beautiful, natural, scary, yet not. Zenful.
SHELLY
Sounds like a desire.
TOM
Here we are, shooting kids, catching ten feet of air in this concrete park. What I’d really like to do is bring my dream to the audience.
SHELLY
Now we’re getting somewhere.

INT. TOM’S ROOM - MORNING
6:10am: the sound of ocean waves and soft flutes permeate the room. Tom does a series of Tai Chi movements in front of a window that overlooks a highway coming to life. Shelly, lying in bed, looks at him with one eye, then rolls over back to sleep. An automatic espresso machine begins making coffee.
6:30am Shelly sips coffee and reads the paper. Tom holds a yoga pose, arms above his head, one leg balancing with one foot on inside of thigh. A pager buzzes. Tom breathes in deeply, exhales, then opens his eyes and releases his pose. He picks up the pager and reads the text message.

TOM
Great.

EXT. LA STREETS - MORNING
Tom and Shelly walk hurriedly from a parking lot to work at XTV studios.
SHELLY
They lost it?! How do you lose four hours of footage?
TOM
Friggin’ idiots. Probably in the back of Fillinger’s van under his dirty laundry.

INT. XTV STAFF ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
LARRY FILLIGER, one of Tom’s associates, holds his hands up.
LARRY
Don’t shoot.
TOM
How can it be gone, Larry?!
LARRY
Somehow between the event and the studio... We can’t find the tapes.
BILL
We think maybe one of those skate rats took ‘em.
LARRY
Pieces of shit! Maybe a ransom thing.
TOM
This isn’t happening. That was my best work yet!
SHELLY
We’ll find it. They’ll turn up.
TOM
If we have to fill that spot with tape...!
BILL
We’ll find them. Relax.

INT. TOM’S ROOM - NIGHT
Tom rehearses his pitch to Shelly, who sits on the couch, eating popcorn, watching Tom and the TV at the same time.
TOM
Sir, here is what I think we should do.
SHELLY
More to the point.
TOM
We need to promote extreme skiing.
SHELLY
Better. Back it up with something.
TOM
Promoting extreme skiing is a gold mine waiting to be discovered.
SHELLY
Yes! Now, pitch how.
TOM
Free skiing is the Grandaddy of extreme. Now, we can bring it to the average person’s home. Give them the experience!
SHELLY
(talking like the boss)
Camera crew’s freeze. Equipment fails - a storm comes in and blocks the view. It won’t work.
TOM
It will. I’ll make it work!

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