Video Exclusive
The Outliers 3
Southeast Alaska DIY Grows Stronger
The Outliers, a DIY project out of Southeast Alaska released in 2023, surprised everyone—even the riders and filmmakers themselves. It’s up to 374,000-and-counting views on YouTube. People love it. There’s something refreshing about a homie flick. Something real and raw. Couple that with strong riding from a crew of Alaskan diehards, and it resonates.
Led by Mark Rainery and Ryland Bell, they followed it up in 2024 with The Outliers II, and that was recognized with several award nominations at the high profile iF3 Festival. So why not make a third?
The Outliers 3 is live now, above. Read on below for an interview with editor/producer/filmer/rider Mark Rainery, conducted in late December as he was putting the finishing touches on the edit. When you boil it down, The Outliers series is a labor of love, and we’re lucky these films exists.
Sunset at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Douglas Island near of Juneau, AK. Photo: Scott Baxter/Aurora Projekt
When you made the first Outliers film, did you ever think you’d be making a third?
I definitely didn’t think it would be happening, but I was hopeful that something like this would continue going. I know that all of us up here are motivated to make these kind of projects. When you’re at the mercy of weather in southeast Alaska, it can feel pretty daunting at times, especially here in Juneau.
How does the process go?
We wait around for weather a lot. Eaglecrest, Juneau’s ski area, is a low elevation mountain and we might miss having a powder day by half a degree. But then when it does happen, it’s worth it when you’re here, of course. It takes a lot of patience.
How was last year filming for Outliers III?
We had a really big storm towards the end of January and we got some cool stuff around Eaglecrest. Meanwhile, Ryland [Bell] and those guys were starting to break into some of the bigger terrain in Haines around that time. Then it was slim pickings the whole winter. Haines had some good cycles come through, and I know Ryland and Adam Billings and Chris Galvin all got to ride some good lines. They just made the most of a handful of days, though.
Mark Rainery at Eaglecrest near Juneau, AK. Photo: Scott Baxter/Aurora Projekt
How does the film look different this year than the past couple? Has anything changed process wise, or is it just Ryland and others send you hard drives at the end of the year and off you go with the edit?
We’re still kind of on that program. I was trying to do some work with SEABA in the spring up there in Haines, but it didn’t work out during a very short fly window near the end of the season. So pretty much everything was sled access or hiking or touring around Eaglecrest, and there is some stuff from Mt Baker because I came down and rode around there for a month or two, but again, that was only a couple days of filming.
How many days of footage would you guess are in the final edit?
Maybe 14 days of filming, if that.
Is the movie a bit shorter this year as a result?
It’s a little bit shorter, but everyone maximized their days and got two or three good lines every time they went out. So, big lines are the majority of the film, again, trying to showcase top-to-bottom stuff if we can. We let stuff run in the film where maybe it’d be a quicker cut if someone else is making it.
We just like freeriding. That’s what we do. Freestyle stuff too, but linking multiple turns on a big face, I still think that’s the coolest stuff, and pretty much everyone else on the crew thinks that, too. Not many of us are trying to shovel too much unless we’re digging out a sled or something. We’re hoping shovels stay in the backpacks at all times.
Who’s in it this year?
Chris Galvin, Adam Billings and Ryland Bell all have full parts. I’m sharing a segment with Lucas Merle and there’ll be a couple cameo shots in there… Garrett Warnick and Inaki Odriozola share a little segment from some of their time sledding with Chris and Ryland, and then there’s a friend’s segment with a bunch of the southeast crew—Holly [Enderle], Taiga [Bell], Evan Breen, Evan Fabrello, Bernardo Carandang. Brady Farr, who’s from Anchorage and used to be in with JB Deuce and Think Thank contributed some footage, too, so we’ll have some of the south-central Alaska scene represented as well.
Bernardo Carandang puts a seaside relic to good use. Photo: Scott BAxter/Aurora Projekt
From a technical standpoint, how is it cobbling together this footage from different cameras and different styles? I doubt you’re all talking about shooting it in the same raw format and all that…
Not at all, dude. I’m blowing my lid sometimes. I hate color correcting. For me, coming from a background of spending a lot of time with cameras and editing, it gets challenging. You want to have good B-roll and lifestyles and scenics, but when you’re out there doing this stuff, it’s a battle to get to the line safely and ride it safely. Going full production mode isn’t what a lot of us are trying to do. But when I’ve got all the footage on the computer and I’m playing around with it I’m definitely like, Oh man, I wish we had a shot like this or that to break apart these two clips or something. That’s always something I strive to get when I’m out there, but it’s hard when most of the footage is coming directly from riders.
Maybe it feels a bit more raw but maybe that’s what something that we appreciate as viewers too? You’re all just out there doing it. You don’t have big budgets, or even professional camera operators all the time.
We’ve just got riders that are flying the drone as best they can. It makes for a lot more on-screen snowboarding, there’s nothing else to fluff it up. But sometimes that [non-snowboarding] stuff is cool…
Do you feel motivated to chase more budget and see if you could go more production mode?
That would be cool. It’s kind of a struggle to get the sponsors we do get though and I’m very thankful for them. It still feels like it’s completely underground in a sense, even though, last year, Ryland and Chris and the movie itself got nominated for three awards and the IF3 Festival. But it’s just a homie flick still.
It’s kind of indicative of the world we’re in—if you’re not making a brand-driven movie, there isn’t a lot of money out there…
Ryland’s the biggest name in the flick. We don’t have huge names to bring in budgets. We’re just happy that Eaglecrest Ski Area threw down; Dave at MoPros, Jones [Snowboards], Karakoram, Boarderline, Aurora Projekt, Forbidden Peak Brewery, Discover Deishú, Visit Haines, and Coastal Helicopters and SEABA all backed it. We’re lucky for that. As long as we continue to get that level of support, Outliers IV will be dropping in January, 2026.
If you’re not last, you’re first.
Rainery tree tapping at Mt. Baker Ski Area, WA. Photo: Colin Wiseman