Heath Calhoun. Tyler Stableford photo.
Health Calhoun was an Airborne Ranger serving in Iraq when a rocket blast destroyed both his legs. After training with the group Challenge Aspen, Calhoun found new life as an adaptive ski racer. In just four years, he went from a never-ever ski racer to one of the fastest disabled ski racers in the world.
He shares his story with Carbondale, Colo., photographer Tyler Stableford, who directed a short film about Calhoun’s experience called “The Fall Line.” Stableford joined Calhoun as he trained for the Vancouver Paralympics, but through interviews, Calhoun narrates the film himself and brings viewers along on a journey of discovery as a terrible tragedy unfolds into what he calls a blessing.
For Stableford, a magazine and commercial photographer named by Men’s Journal as one of the world’s top adventure photographers, the project had him branching out from still photography to video.
The film shows at Telluride MountainFilm on Memorial Day weekend, part of a weekend of films that celebrate the environment and social change.
NEW WEST: There are all kinds of films about extreme athletes doing extreme things in the snow. What was it that inspired you to make a different kind of film about skiing?
TYLER STABLEFORD: I spent a few days volunteering for Challenge Aspen a few years ago and met Heath Calhoun. He had just come out to be an adaptive skier. I was really moved by the work that Challenge Aspen was doing and the work that Heath was doing to find a new path, a new joy in his life. That really resonated with me. It was several years later when I learned he was training for the Paralympics and became one of the world’s greatest disabled ski racers. Nobody had come as far as he had come in that sport in such a short period of time.
I knew it was the making of a great short film. We have this amazing loss and this sense of self-discovery. In this process of discovery, he ended up learning more about himself, traveling the world, becoming one of the world’s greatest ski racers. He also met so many disabled and able-bodied skiers and athletes and supporters and coaches and friends that he made along the way. As he says in the film, his life has truly been blessed since he lost his legs.
This was shot as Heath was training for the Paralympics. I made the decision as I was filming this in Aspen not to go to the Paralympics in Vancouver. The film was about Heath’s struggle and triumph to get to that point. This was about everything that he had given in the last six or eight years since he had lost his legs to be at this point, just giving it his very best. That was what mattered.
As a director, you got out of the way and let him tell the story himself.
For the voiceovers that carry through this film, I asked Heath about the struggles of losing his legs, about the hardships with his family, and also about whether he thought taking time away from his family to train for the Paralympics was a selfish endeavor. What was this bringing to him? He had some great responses.
You’ve primarily been a still photographer. How was it making the jump to video?
Moving to video is a huge challenge in a lot of ways. Telling a story and editing it into a compelling piece is where the challenge lies. It certainly doesn’t lie in pressing the record button and pushing the camera up to your eye.
I had been a magazine journalist for seven years at Climbing magazine and Rock and Ice here in Carbondale. That’s where I really honed my storytelling skills. As a still photographer, it was wonderful to come full circle back to storytelling and then add in music and sound score. For me it was great to combine motion footage, some stills, Heath’s narration and storytelling, and also some great music.
Did it open creative pathways that still photography doesn’t allow you?
It really does. With motion it’s a whole new world of creative ways to position the cameras. We’d shoot photos of wheels spinning on the chair lift. You’d never shoot that as a still photographer, but it’s incredibly compelling when matched with Heath’s narration.
From what I’ve seen of your work, you seem to have a strong interest in outdoor adventure sports and also in tough guys. This was a project that brought the two together.
I guess that’s true. I’ve shot a fair number of stories with the military. With the Air Force and Marines and veterans. And then also some heavy industry work. I really love the heavy-industry guy thing. Maybe it’s a boyish fascination. I love it as a storyteller and an image-maker. I’m also an outdoor adventurer myself. That’s how I dream in my free time. To marry those two in a story I think I was able to bring my own heart and soul into this piece.
What role do you think Heath’s training as a Ranger played in his ability to overcome his disability and train to be a ski racer?
Being able to pass Ranger training, as well as Airborne training, says a heck of a lot about a person’s determination, not just their physical fitness but also their mental hardness and adeptness in all sorts of situations. I have no doubt that was a huge part of him learning to be a top disabled skier and dealing with all the incessant crashes and pain of failing out of these monastic. You’ve got to pick yourself up all the time. It’s a very humbling process. You’ve got to be prepared to give it if you’re going to have any measure of success in the sport.
Heath is one of the very few bilateral, above-knee amputees who’s been able not only to walk but also to run and excel in gymnastic sports on prosthetic legs. You’d hardly even know that Heath was an amputee if you saw him get out of his truck and walk toward you.
Is there also something about the redemptive power of skiing in this film?
I think this film shows us the very best of what skiing can bring to our lives. I have hesitation because skiing, and I’m stereotyping here, is a rich, white man’s sport. It’s expensive to get into and it’s not accessible to everybody. In an ideal world, disabled people could find redemption in a less expensive fashion.
But at the same time, this was an incredible vehicle for Heath and it worked wonderfully. For me, I get a lot of joy out of skiing and I wanted to share that.
It seems like more than anything it’s about the power of the human spirit to endure and overcome obstacles.
That for me is what fascinated me about this. It really didn’t matter if it was cycling or running or skiing.
How has audience reaction been?
It’s been great. We’ve won a couple film festival awards. But this is really Heath’s story. I’m a vehicle for telling it. It’s a real joy for me to be able to share Heath’s story. It has connected me to so many people who have come and approached me and shared their own life stories after watching this. It’s just been a huge addition to my life.
