Whitefish's Parkin Costain featured in new ski flick

From a young grom shredding around Whitefish Mountain Resort to a professional skier riding spines in Alaska for Teton Gravity Research, Parkin Costain is hoping to inspire everyone to get excited for the winter season ahead.

The Whitefish native will star alongside world-class athletes in the new Teton Gravity Research (TGR) ski film titled Magic Hour. The film will premiere in Whitefish at the Montana Tap House on Friday, Oct. 28.

Magic Hour features breathtaking cinematography from impressive locations such as the Selkirks and Kootenays of British Columbia, Alaska’s Chugach and Coast Mountain Ranges, various locations across Montana and Jackson Hole.

TGR describes the theme of the film as finding the magic hour for being in the mountains, either the first hour after sunrise or the last hour before sunset. These times have the right light to capture images and videos of skiers and snowboarders riding unreal lines. In the film, TGR says throughout the experience they found that the Magic Hour isn’t the same for everyone.

“Magic Hour isn’t a particular time of day so much as it is these magical moments that we all

experience on any given day, playing in some of the wildest places on the planet,” said Todd Jones, co-director of the film and co-founder of TGR. “We captured some of the most amazing skiing and snowboarding action in some of the most beautiful places in the world this past winter, and we can’t wait to share the magic with the world.”

As for Costain who grew up in Whitefish, filming with TGR is a dream come true. He won the TGR Grom Contest when he was 15 years old which kickstarted his professional skiing career. For the contest, he had to make a film edit of himself skiing and submitted it to the judges. Costain did the contest twice, the first time coming in second and the latter time he won. This got his name out there to TGR.

Costain prior to filming also competed for several years in big mountain skiing competitions, where he found a lot of success. He was on the Whitefish Mountain Resort Freestyle team for many years.

He got his first real film segment in a TGR film called Far Out when he was 18 years old. Costain has now had parts in the TGR films over the last four seasons and each time has a little more exposure in the film.

“I was just a little grom that was stoked on winters back in the day and I would always go to these TGR films in the fall,” Costain recalled. “And it was always kind of like a dream to potentially shoot with those guys.”

In Magic Hour, Costain has two different segments including shooting in locations around Montana and also a trip to Alaska to ride the picturesque steep snow-covered spines. The locations in Montana included Cooke City, Bozeman and some “secret spots.”

Costain says one of his favorite moments from filming Magic Hour last season was the trip up to Alaska.

“Just getting up to Alaska with the whole crew that I had always dreamed of being there with...” he said. “Every one of those days that we got out in the field and got to go stand on top of these ridges and beautiful snow... it was definitely all I had ever hoped for, I’m excited to get back up there.”

Costain hopes his hometown community will tune into the film and go out to the premiere to support all the athletes involved. He says the film is sure to create a buzz about the approaching winter season and get everyone stoked for skiing again.

And for him to be in a film that his hometown will be watching — another dream come true.

“Just 10 years ago I was exactly the same grom watching these films in Whitefish at the O'Shaughnessy Center and now having it go full circle and I’m the one on the screen it’s pretty funny, but it's exactly what I had always hoped for.

“If there are kids out there that are interested in it, just keep shredding and putting in the work, and kind of pursuing this dream,” he added.

The family-friendly show is Friday, Oct. 28 at Montana Tap House at 7 p.m. It is outside so dress accordingly. Tickets are available on the day of the show.

For more information visit https://tour.tetongravity.com