Renowned daredevil, Peter “Peru” Chrzanowski, is inviting locals old and new to a night of all things ski culture.
The Whistler legend will be signing copies of his book, I Survived Myself, at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre on April 13, followed by a screening of the documentary classic Ski Bums. Doors open at 6pm with activities planned until midnight.
The book illustrates the life of a rebel, a ski bum and a vagabond. Chrzanowski was always determined to do life his way, whether that meant wrangling a racoon into a classroom for show-and-tell, throwing chestnuts at a priest or simply posing as a journalist to gain a press pass. Chrzanowski’s life in the wild has been far from smooth sailing, leaving him with more insight on what it means to be alive than most.
Released late last year, Chrzanowski is now concentrating on getting I Survived Myself into locals’ hands.
“I’ve just hired another marketing firm to see how they help me with it,” he said. “I want to concentrate on more local shows, and they are going to push them. I’ll have books there and people can bring their own to get signed.”
Chrzanowski is aiming to get the very most out of the time slot, with a screening of John Zaritsky’s Ski Bums also scheduled.
The 2002 film followed 10 self-proclaimed Whistler ski bums who chose to pursue their unconventional lifestyles around the resort.
The flick’s cast and crew will reunite at the event after more than 20 years, but the message behind Ski Bums echoes as clearly around Whistler as it did two decades ago. It is heard loud and clear by those crashing on friends’ sofas, sleeping in their vans, and by those scheming ways of nabbing a free pass to the mountain. As described by one of its subjects, it is a movie about “being able to participate in a rich man’s sport without the financial means to do it.” The tale of resourcefulness stresses the importance of living for the moment and not dwelling on what the future may bring.
However, Zaritsky’s film was labelled as “controversial” doc at the time it was released. Chrzanowski said it was “vaulted,” and those involved have been trying to get it back on the big screen ever since.
“It’s a bit of a controversial film. It was a lot of politics and I don’t think they liked John Zaritsky too much,” he said. “They vaulted the film for 20 years. It had the potential to be the most distributed ski film ever. There’s a bit of pot smoking in it. Twenty years ago, that’s what kept it shut before pot was legal and everything.”
The gang sent the film’s producer and star Johnny Thrash (born John Hunt) to promote Ski Bums in Poland last year. “We sent Johnny Trash to Poland to three festivals with the film in December,” said Chrzanowski. “They were so fascinated, because ski-bumming is so new in Eastern Europe. The whole concept of not having to go to the army or study or work is so foreign to them. It was really received well over there. “
The people behind Chrzanowski’s first film, Search for the Ultimate Run, will also be present at the event next week. Chrzanowski said everyone is welcome to join in on the fun and lap up the atmosphere.
“We have a nice window for six hours. There will be food and art and music,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of old locals as well as new people.”
Aside from promoting his book, Chrzanowski is also turning his focus to getting more Indigenous people involved in activities in nearby towns.
“We formed a non-profit society called Falcon Cultural Explorations,” he said. “The aim is to start doing direct cross promotion of events and activities with mountain communities in Canada and Poland. There are Indigenous groups in these places. This will be separated from politics and everything else, just a town dealing directly with another town.”
The Pemberton resident is looking at opening up the idea to people in nearby First Nations, and is also working with a Polish mountain tribe.
“It will centre around cultural exchanges, sporting events. I am doing this aerothon event and I would really like to get it going again in Canada,” he said. “I also wanted to get the First Nations involved, and Pemberton was always difficult. Now, we have the event in more than seven countries. It would be really nice to bring it back here.”
Chrzanowski hopes Falcon Cultural Explorations can bring money to remote communities.
“I just see such potential for a different type of tourism in Pemberton. I always wanted to work with First Nations,” he said. “I’ve given a documentary workshop for free to them in the past. It would just be nice to get them more involved in things that are going on. In Bella Coola, Indigenous people are after getting really into heliskiing. They are making little helicopters out of wood. It has become a staple for them.”
Chzanowski’s book-signing/film-screening takes place April 13 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Find more details here.
