Snowboarder Ben Ferguson’s Exhilarating Directorial Debut, ‘Fleeting Time,’ Is Now Streaming

There’s a scene in Fleeting Time, the new snowboarding film from decorated-competitor-turned-backcountry-filmer Ben Ferguson, that features one of Ferguson’s halfpipe runs at the 2018 Burton U.S. Open competition, interlaced with clips of him as a young grom.

His U.S. Open run begins with his massive air to fakie that you may remember from his run at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where he finished fourth in men’s halfpipe. The crowd goes wild as his mom, Jennifer, looks on—Ferguson’s Olympic-level talent is clear for all to see.

As the announcers continue on through the remainder of Ferguson’s run, the video slowly fades to black and white, transitioning to gorgeously shot footage of Ferguson, Red Gerard, Jared Elston, Austin Smith and Ben’s brother, Gabe, riding in North America, soundtracked by Samiam’s “Don’t Break Me.”

It’s a well-done moment that allows us, the audience, a glimpse into Ferguson’s mind as he made the film.

“It fades away like it’s a memory and then, boom, you’re in the mountains and you’re watching backcountry snowboarding,” Ferguson told me by phone during Fleeting Time’s press tour. “That’s what I want to do now. I’m proud of what I did in the halfpipe, but I’m a backcountry snowboarder now for sure.”

Born in Indiana, Ferguson and his family relocated to Bend, Oregon, when he was young, and he cut his teeth on that region’s powder-covered peaks, including his home mountain, Mt. Bachelor.

During his competitive career—Ferguson is one of a handful of rare pro snowboarders who competed in both slopestyle and halfpipe—he took silver in superpipe at X Games in 2016 and bronze in 2018.

Excelling in both disciplines as well as his background riding powder in Oregon made Ferguson a true all-mountain rider, which would give him a leg up when he transitioned into the backcountry.

Still, that transition wasn’t an easy one.

“Being in the backcountry is a whole new skill set compared to a halfpipe contest or even going up just around the resort,” Ferguson said. “You’ve got to know how to be on the snowmobile, how to be in the mountains, how to handle big terrain and what comes with that…avalanches, you have to have first aid experience if things do go wrong because they can and you want to be as prepared as possible.”

Everyone involved in the production, from the crew to the riders featured alongside Ferguson—in addition to Gerard, Elston, Smith and Gabe, that vaunted list included Travis Rice, Mark McMorris, Danny Davis, Hailey Langland, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Mikkel Bang, Brock Crouch, Kaishu Hirano, Raibu Katayama, Mikey Ciccarelli, Luke Winkelman and Curtis Ciszek—had attended at minimum Level 1 Avalanche Training.

“The more time you spend in the mountains, the more time you ride natural terrain, you get better every time—just gaining the experience is an important thing for filming,” Ferguson said. “It’s an amazing place to spend time, but it can get real real fast.”

Around 2016, Ferguson, who had been involved with some smaller film projects, including his 2016 short Hail Mary with filmer Tyler Orton, began to venture more into the backcountry. Backcountry veteran Travis Rice asked Ferguson to be part of his 2016 film The Fourth Phase, which was the biggest production Ferguson had been involved in to that point. He called it a “really amazing learning experience.”

In 2019, Ferguson filmed with fellow Burton Snowboards team rider Gerard and Sage Kotsenburg—another former Olympian who now focuses on filming rather than competing—as well as Davis and Crouch on Joy, which was directed by Orton and John Cavan.

But as Ferguson would learn during the making of Fleeting Time, directing a snowboarding film is an entirely different beast than starring in one.

“All around, it’s a lot more work,” he said with a chuckle. While most snowboarders spend their summers relaxing, Ferguson and his crew had to move paperwork, pitch the deck, take meetings, raise money, oversee editing and generally prepare the film, from Homestead Creative and co-produced by Red Bull Media House and Ferguson, for its release.

But one of the biggest rewards was hand-selecting the riders who starred alongside him in the film, many of whom were his friends and all of whom pushed the level of riding.

“Spending time in the mountains with amazing snowboarders really pushes your snowboarding and makes you strive to be better on your snowboard,” Ferguson said. “Without the people in the movie it wouldn’t have been as high caliber as it is.”

Filmed over two years, Ferguson and Co. traveled to Whistler, British Columbia; McCall, Idaho; Jackson, Wyoming; Haines and Valdez, Alaska; Lake Tahoe, California; Japan, and Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood in Oregon. Ferguson’s favorite location—and the most challenging—was Alaska.

Within the last decade, filming has emerged as a legitimate way for snowboarders to support themselves and attract high-level sponsors if they don’t want to go, or want to move away from, the competition route.

Even though he won’t be going to another Olympics, Ferguson’s sponsors Burton and Red Bull—whose media production arm, Red Bull Media House, co-produced the film—have stood behind his projects.

And though historically women snowboarders haven’t received as many opportunities to film or to transition to the backcountry as men, Fleeting Time provides a prime stage for Olympians Langland and Sadowski-Synnott to show off their prowess in a more creative way. In the last few years, female snowboarders like Elena Hight and Robin Van Gyn have proven that freeride snowboarding and filming can be a path in the industry that can exist harmoniously alongside competition.

“For me, Red Bull has had my back since I was 16 now and has given me so many different opportunities. It’s a big family,” Ferguson said. “Burton as well; Burton is a small privately owned company; it’s a family, and it is the biggest and the best snowboard company in the industry. They give me the opportunities to do these things I want to do. I count myself lucky.”

As for where you might see Ferguson next, he plans to return once again to the Natural Selection Tour, now in its third year, in February 2023. The big-mountain competition has proven to be a hit among competition riders and freeride filmers alike, one of the few competitive formats that many of today’s big names who have moved beyond structured competition will even participate in anymore.

Ferguson adds that he will “definitely be in the backcountry riding my snowboard” and that he hopes to make more films in the future.

The 27-year-old was blown away by the reception to the film and hopes that even more people will check it out now that it’s available on streaming.

“It was amazing to put a bunch of hard work and effort and time into something and then feel the positive feedback and recognition once it’s shown,” Ferguson said about the press tour, which included sold-out showings in towns like Bend, Chicago, New York and Burlington, Vermont.

“I’m hoping that this film just makes people want to go snowboard. Even if you don’t snowboard, it will hopefully get you excited to get out there and appreciate whatever it is you like to do…get you fired up and take advantage of the time you’ve got,” Ferguson said.

That, after all, was the meaning behind the film’s title, Fleeting Time, as well as the creative choice to punctuate the action with the sound of a chiming grandfather clock.

“Time is kind of all you really have, and you can spend it any way you want,” Ferguson said. “And I think to live a fulfilling life you should spend it wisely and take advantage of all the time you’ve got.”

From November 3 to 9, Fleeting Time is streaming for free on Red Bull TV for a limited one-week exclusive.