A group of Revelstoke snowboarders are rolling out a film sequel online that documents their 1,350-kilometre grind cycling from the heart of B.C. to southern Alaska – with their boards and a keyboard attached.
After receiving rave reviews internationally and locally, Without a Pedal: A Bicycle Film about Snowboarding will be released online Friday, Dec. 19, to unveil the 2023 journey of film directors Johan Rosen, Nick Khattar and friends Garrett Warnick and Colin Watt riding north along Highway 37, from Terrace to Haines, Alaska.
“Beyond the breathtaking landscapes lies a story of four individuals — friends bonded by a shared goal: navigating the perils of isolation and unknown adventure,” Jamie Lynn narrates in the film’s trailer. “An exploration of the human spirit, against the harsh backdrop of the Canadian north.”
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Cycling as far as 100 kilometres per day in chilling winds and on narrow, snowy roads that semi-trailers zoom along, the group of adventurers not only bike three weeks but hit the Alaskan backcountry with their boards for untouched powder in fierce avalanche terrain.
“We didn’t give ourselves a lot of time for rest and recovery, because we were trying to catch this weather window in Haines,” Rosen told Black Press Media, noting his team only took one rest day from cycling and split-boarding in harsh March conditions.
Navigating the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, while purportedly ascending more elevation than the height of Mount Everest — some 9,430 metres — “they must rely on their wit, resilience, humour and occasional dumb luck to overcome treacherous terrain, unpredictable weather and their own limitations,” a release reads.
All said and done, only three of the four thrill-seekers complete the journey to Haines, facing countless challenges along the way.
“We overestimated what we thought we could actually pull off,” Rosen admitted. “Even getting over 80 kilometres in a day was a grind.”
As he aptly sums things up in the trailer, “this is not the time and the place to do whatever we’re about to do.”
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This hour-long film incorporates history of the lands the cyclists traverse, while continuing the friends’ story from their prequel Without a Paddle: A Canoe Film about Snowboarding. This first film came out in 2022 and chronicled their 120-kilometre voyage between Mica and Revelstoke dams amid the global isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, also taking a historical look at the Columbia River.
After more than a year editing through some 70 hours of footage, Rosen and Khattar then premiered Without a Pedal earlier in 2025, touring the world and racking up more than a dozen nominations at film festivals everywhere from Vancouver and Fernie, to France, Sweden and Peru. They even physically attended a festival in Poland where their work earned an accolade.
The film at last came to Revelstoke on Oct. 9, screening at the Roxy Theatre to an enthusiastic and sold-out audience, and this week will become available free online for everyone else to view.
Following the local screening, “people were so hyped afterwards,” Rosen recalled. “I was pleasantly surprised by the reactions to it.”
A main aspiration of his with the film for the Revelstoke community is demystifying the idea of expeditions as only meant for highly-trained athletes.
“The word ‘expedition,’ to me, seems almost unattainable,” he explained.
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In truth, anyone should feel empowered to have an adventure in the outdoors, Rosen said, whether on a paddle down the Columbia or a bike ride up Mount Mackenzie. And to prove that adventure is for everyone, the filmmakers hope their approach in Without a Pedal — going on “hillbilly expeditions” — inspires more people to plan the trips that uniquely challenge them in the outdoors.
Rosen, who brought his snowboarding training from Sweden, and Khattar, who moved from Halifax with a journalism background, have both lived in Revelstoke for more than a decade, and originally met through Society Snow & Skate.
“We started filming instantly and, ever since then, we’ve been super tight friends,” Rosen said.