The Race of my Life (skateboarder vs. paraglider)

In this short film, champion downhill skateboarder Patrick Switzer challenges paraglider Benjamin Jordan to a duel. Who will be the victor?

Canadian photographer Benjamin Jordan is known for his unique style of advertising and fashion photography. During a skateboard holiday right across Canada he discovered a passion for film, too. His first work was a documentary about his own record-breaking trip across Canada in a powered paraglider, ‘A Canadian Dream’ (2010). Since then, he has used film to realize other people’s dreams. His documentary ‘The Boy Who Flies’ (2013), about the first paraglider from Malawi, won several awards. He filmed ‘The Race of my Life’ in collaboration with Patrick Switzer. Their breathtaking images of this neck-and-neck race – filmed in part using selfie sticks – set new standards for the genre.

The film was made on the Maryhill Loops Road in Washington State, USA. Samuel Hill had this road constructed through the hills in 1911 in order to establish a Quaker community there. It was the first asphalt road in Washington and its design, with many hairpin bends, was often copied. Nowadays the road is only accessible to slow-moving traffic and is managed by a museum. Every year championships in international downhill skateboarding and street luge are held here.