TPM Episode 330: Wiley Miller, Pro Skier, Commercial Pilot
The Powell Movement
Mike Powell
4.9 • 860 Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2023
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
wileymiller 's ski career trajectory is so different from most people on the podcast. There was no competing early and often for Wiley. He earned his spot in ski movies by showing up at a film shoot. Then, Wiley was nominated for and won big awards early on, and parlayed that into a 20-year career of ski movies. While I wish it were all roses in this one, Wiley shares about his Mom's battle against ALS, the ups and downs of sponsorship, owning brands, and more…And these days, while Wiley is still shredding on a pro level, he's also a commercial pilot, and we get a great Nipsey Hustle story out of him during Inappropriate Questions.
Wiley Miller Show Notes:
3:00: Elliot Bernhagen story, Billings, MT, Red Lodge, his parents are athletes, and his Mom's battle with ALS
14:00: Stem Cell treatment in Mexico, building jumps with his brother, no park skiing in Montana, Camp of Champions, and his brother being the better skier
22:00: Rollerblade: They invented inline skating and make the best skates on the planet.
Best Day Brewing: All of the flavor of your favorite IPA or Kolsch, without the alcohol, the calories and sugar
Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better.
25:00: University of Calgary, New Zealand, paying the bills, Utah, and shooting for Photo Play
32:00: Nominated for a Powder Award, sponsorships and getting ownerships of Saga and 4FRNT, and Level 1
41:30: Stanley: Get 30% off sitewide with the code drinkfast
Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: Over 60 years of getting you out there
High Cascade Snowboard Camp: The legendary snowboard camp
44:30: Level 1 Realtime, Best Male Performance at IF3, X Games Real Snow, TGR, Chris Collins, and Conrad Anker
51:00: "The Connection to Gravity" Movie, not being able to say no when filming, Cold Rush, pioneering the Nosebutter 7 on skis, and close calls happen when he's overconfident, and it happened a couple of weeks ago
61:00: The bad side of sponsorship, the Saga saga, the 4FRNT sale, his new sponsors, and Rory Bushfield
85:00: Inappropriate Questions with Chris Logan and an Anonymous Source
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have a seat on your porcelain throne. |
| 0:02.3 | It's time to talk some shit on the Powell Movement. |
| 0:13.5 | Welcome to the Powell Movement. |
| 0:17.1 | I'm your host Mike Powell, and this week I want to start the show talking about a good friend who died last week. |
| 0:23.0 | I met Ben Wise when I was the team manager at K2 Skates. |
| 0:26.3 | I put Ben on the pro team for his incredible talent, but also just as much for his magnetic personality. |
| 0:32.4 | He was one of those guys that commanded every room that he was in, the life of the party. |
| 0:36.5 | A doo-doo always was coming up |
| 0:37.9 | with ridiculous ideas that he would defend and push forward with, even when everyone else |
| 0:42.2 | thought he was crazy. Now, I've worked with a lot of athletes, and the best ones have had wild |
| 0:47.2 | ideas up their ass, that they're lucky to pull off in a year or even in their career. But Ben was |
| 0:52.0 | one of those guys who would have a different, crazy, |
| 0:54.4 | death-defying idea every single week. And once those ideas came to him, he would bombard me |
| 0:59.8 | with phone calls asking for budget to make them happen. I loved that he was always thinking, |
| 1:04.6 | but at the same time, I hated that he could never just chill. But that was Ben Wise, |
| 1:09.2 | always coming up with insane ideas and stunts that put him |
| 1:12.2 | at the center of attention. There's a reason why people called him Best Trick or the Ben Wise show. |
| 1:17.6 | And while Ben loved the spotlight, he wasn't a self-centered asshole, but he was a polarizing figure. |
| 1:23.0 | Anytime you have a person that's so into themselves, they can rub people the wrong way. |
| 1:27.4 | But Ben was also a |
| 1:28.3 | dude who would give you the shirt off of his back, and that shirt was usually a Gucci or a Louis |
| 1:32.4 | Viton item, and I never wanted to know where that shit came from or how he got it. And I'll talk |
... |
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