FWT Hakuba 2020. Hank Bilous pulled off a massive transfer, leaping across a ravine
Where to insert tricks, which cliffs to jump over, and how to navigate narrow chutes with no room for turning—the way each rider carves their own line on the same face is what makes freeriding so exciting
It was a gap that deviated from the "standard procedure," involving leaping over a not-so-small ravine. Even local riders who had seen the venue's face many times hadn't imagined this way of connecting the terrain, but Hank nailed it in one go
Four years later, Hank made a film about style: "The War on Style."
The Bilous family is a skiing family from Wanaka, New Zealand. Their father worked as a ski guide not only in New Zealand but also around the world. His younger brother, Finn Bilous, competed in the Olympics twice in freestyle skiing and has followed in Hank's footsteps to compete in the Freestyle World Tour (FWT)
Cardrona, formerly Snow Park NZ. In Wanaka, near Treble Cone with its vast freeride fields, the brothers grew up in an environment where both freestyle and freeride were readily available
Hank took part in the FWT in 2020, placing second in Hakuba and third in Fiberbrunn, finishing fifth overall for the year. Despite two podium finishes, he only competed in that one season. After leaving the tour, Hank pursued a career in nursing. At the time of this film's release, he was working as a registered nurse in the emergency department of a small community on New Zealand's North Island
"The War on Style" is a film written and directed by Hank himself
explores the relationship between technical skills and self-expression.
Hank divides learning into two categories.
There are things that can be taught and things that you must discover for yourself
There's a right way to learn technical skills. They're acquired through repetition and following the rules, and as you become more proficient, each movement becomes unconscious.
Edging, landing, speed control—if you think about these things every time, your mind will be completely occupied. As you acquire the skills, you'll have more room to look around and expand the range of choices you can make.
Hank says that self-expression emerges in those blank spaces
When we evaluate something, the basis is what has been done in the past. If the skiing is within the existing rules, it can be evaluated in terms of line, control, fluidity, and the execution of the air. Scoring works as long as everyone is skiing within the same rules
The moment someone completely transcends the boundaries, the reliable standard disappears. All that remains are the viewer's emotions and personal preferences. Sometimes those emotions turn into cheers. The definition of what is good changes at that point. Even today's technological systems were once built upon someone's such deviation
The video shows Hank working as a nurse, alongside skiing and surfing. He tunes skis, inserts IV needles, makes tea, and paddles in the ocean
Hank speaks of them without distinction. His words lead back to that line he demonstrated in Hakuba in 2020, where he leaped across a stream bed