It just so happened that when I walked into Wyoming’s oldest snowboard shop last week, the Boardroom in Jackson, a group stood around the skate counter, drinking beers. Lauri Aittola, owner, welcomed me in and offered me a can of the local ale. We talked about the loss of snowboard shops, and the sense of community they provided. At least it remained right here in the Tetons, in a full-on ski town no less. But tonight’s gathering had a purpose. The theater upstairs from Asymbol Gallery was hosting the movie premiere of Close to Home, featuring WYPY, the Wyoming Pythons snowboard posse: A sideways tribute to their native state.

Few seats remained by the time we arrived. Soon enough the WYPY boys took the stage, giving props to the movie’s sponsors, and tossing a boxful of swag into the crowd. No need to prime the audience for this flick, though. Close to Home was the funnest snowboard movie I’ve watched in a long time.

The film takes us on a road trip around the entire state of Wyoming. From obvious spots like Snow King in Jackson, to micro resorts like Meadowlark, to Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole proper, WYPY throttles them all. Agreed, the tame hills and double chairs where some of the boys learned to ride—“the places everyone talks shit about”—do lack challenging terrain. But this forces the riders to improvise. And that results in piled-snow mini jumps, some laughable small-scale crashes, and plenty of DIY jibbing, sliding, carving, flips, and methods, among other spontaneous tricks. Later in the film, standing-room-only by now, Bryan Iguchi cruises around Targhee with his little son Milo, the future of style.

Close to Home represents snowboarding better than any movie I’ve seen since the days of VHS.

All of us can relate to small-scale road trips, on the cheap, traveling to ride and to enjoy the moment. Not all of us grew up riding a beast of a mountain like Jackson Hole, so it’s cool seeing WYPY attack the everyday hills, too. And it’s rad as hell that these Wyoming riders set out to explore, rediscover, and absolutely rip resorts entirely within their state’s borders. Keeping it local kicks ass. But so does visiting spots with locals that help define the culture and art of snowboarding, like the crew in Jackson.

Check the WYPY Facebook page for more info. Close to Home should be online soon. In the meantime, here’s the trailer:

WYPY – Close to Home – Trailer from WRKSHRT on Vimeo.