David Meier blends summer skiing and mountain biking in TWO FACED 2
David Meier and his crew have released TWO FACED 2, a new HEAD-backed action sports film that combines freeride skiing and mountain biking in a continuous summer journey from sunrise to sunset.
Following TWO FACED 1, the team decided not to wait for better winter conditions. Instead, they took skiing into the summer and connected it with mountain biking, stunts and purpose-built features.
“After TWO FACED 1, we put our heads together and thought: why not just do it in summer? We wanted to mix skiing and mountain biking, two freeride sports that usually belong to completely different seasons, and combine them in a way nobody had really done before.”
The film starts high in the Arlberg mountains and crosses rivers, lakes, rock fields and forests in Austria and Switzerland. The route includes the Verzasca Valley, Lake Achensee and Lake Constance.
Meier skis through summer terrain, joins mountain bikers over a bike-park jump and later swaps skis for a bike. The mountain-bike section includes a luge track, jumps over a car and a truck, and a final ride across the water on Lake Constance.
Six months to build, film and edit
Production ran from June to October, giving the team about six months to plan, build, film and edit the project. Each jump, transition and stunt needed extensive construction because the summer locations did not provide conventional snow features.
“In the end, we probably spent three times more time building things than actually filming. Making skiing possible in places where there normally isn’t any snow takes a lot of work. But that’s also what makes projects like this so special,” said Meier.
Friends supported the production through scouting, construction, filming, driving and coordinating the moving parts of the project.
“Of course, it was hectic and there were moments when things got pretty complicated. But we had an incredible summer, travelled to amazing places and had so much fun making it happen. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about – doing crazy things with your friends and creating something you can all be proud of.”
