What are snowboarders to do when snowfall totals drop to record lows at certain elevations? Perhaps they’ll simply have to go higher into the mountains than they were previously used to. They’ll have to work harder than before for their deeper turns and softer landings, even if that requires walking for so long that they feel like they’re hiking as much as they are riding. Maybe they’ll just have to make do with relatively little snow, or travel to colder locales.

But what if the snow doesn’t fall at all where it seems it should? If that’s the case, snowboarders will have to practice patience and be ready to strike when it finally comes around.

Gregor Betschon and Levi Luggen loosely explore these ideas in Things we never told you, a foot-powered film about splitboarding in an ever changing world. The film lightly touches on the ongoing conversation surrounding global warming without delving too heavily into the subject, serving as a lighthearted spin around a rather serious situation. In its nearly 19-minute runtime, the film illustrates that although snowboarders may play a smaller role in the larger picture, the larger picture still very much affects us.

Despite the gravity of the topic, Things we never told you does well to recognize the problem without pretending to give the answer for it. Instead, the video focuses on answering the question of what snowboarders will do in the face of low snowfall threatening their way of life. It does so through its celebration of the only thing we know for certain about our collective future: No matter the weather, snowboarders will always adapt to make the best of the situation we’re in.

Photos: Phil Bucher

Video Colorist: Oliver Schmocker

Sound Design: Florian Falkenberg

Graphic Design: Joël Roth

Starring: Gregor Betschon and Levi Luggen

Guest Appearances: Léa Klaue and Adrian Oesch.