Ski movie means winter is on the way.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

For Glen Plake, the chance to star in Warren Miller's latest film, "Journey," was too much to pass up.

"Whether you're on the cutting edge of ski film action or you've never skied before, the Warren Miller film kind of covers everybody's bases," Plake said, speaking by phone from Florida. "It's not necessarily (so much) the film as it is the theatrical appearance."

For years, Miller's films have signaled the start of the ski season, or at least the start of the preseason hype, for thousands of skiers. Plake, the mohawked skier who helped pioneer the free-skiing movement during the 1980s, has appeared in Miller's films before, but never to the extent that he does this year.

Along with a sequence shot at Plake's home base in Lake Tahoe, Calif., that shows the ever-athletic skier charging a mogul-packed run on giant, 225-centimeter-long downhill skis, and a scene in which he follows some new school skiers into the terrain park, the spiky-haired icon is also doing double duty as the publicist.

Plake won't be at Thursday's Eugene screening at the McDonald Theatre, but he will host the Oct. 24 and 25 showings at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

"Warren is, you know, getting up there," Plake said of the 78-year-old Miller, "so they figured they'd get the next best ski bum in town I guess - me."

Other notable scenes in Miller's latest film include a ski-and-kayak trip to Morocco with Sarah Clemensen and other athletes; a journey into the back country with ski racer Bode Miller; a combination king salmon fishing/`corn snow" skiing vacation in Alaska with Olympic medalist Tommy Moe; and a tutorial on preseason "boot-packing" with the Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol.

As in previous Miller films, "Journey" doesn't highlight just skiing. The movie chronicles snowboarding, too, and there are other action sports.

Filmmakers follow barefoot waterskier Brian Heeney into an icy cold lake in Montana. They trail behind European daredevil Loic Jean-Albert as he hurls himself out of an airplane and glides to within 15 feet of the ground in his custom "flying suit."

Miller, once again, lends his famous whiny narration to the film. Although he continues to provide the bad jokes for all the films that bear his name, he no longer owns the company, which recently was bought up by Time Warner.

Miller began making movies in the late 1940s, and for years he personally narrated his films when they went out on tour. The company now shoots year-round across the world, publishes a magazine and employs a small army of athletes and camera operators.

Still, Plake said, something about the experience of watching the movies remains un- changed.

"You can't deny what Warren Miller films has done. The Warren Miller theatrical appearance is something that has yet to be matched as far as getting ready for winter."

MOVIE PREVIEW

Journey

What: The 54th installment in the Warren Miller ski movie series

When: 8 p.m. Thursday

Where: McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St.

How much: $15

CAPTION(S):

Glen Plake's mohawk is as extreme as his adventures on the ski slopes.