Shawn Farmer

First Descent is a 2005 documentary film about snowboarding and its beginning in the 1980s. The snowboarders featured in this movie (Shawn Farmer, Nick Perata, Terje Haakonsen, Hannah Teter and Shaun White with guest appearances from Travis Rice) represent three generations of snowboarders and the progress this young sport has made over the past two decades. Most of the movie was shot in Alaska.

Travel with Dave Hatchett, Nick Perata and Shawn Farmer to North America's most exotic and radical terrain. Witness huge cliff jumps at Squaw Valley, California; tight chute boarding in the southern Sierras and World Cup halfpipe action at Breckenridge, Colorado. Experience extreme descents in Alaska's Denali National Park, and the chest-deep powder of Mt. Baker, Washington. Don't miss this 55 minutes of on-the-edge snowboarding.

The documentary follows a crew of snowboarders for six weeks in the Chugach mountains, and showcases what it takes to ride these unique Alaskan mountains: the waiting, the stress, the dangers, everything that goes into it and is usually never shown. It also retraces some of the history of this unknown discipline and pays tribute to the pioneers. But the film really focuses on the human aspect and why these people do what they do.