After watching footage of the JP Memorial last week, I went hunting for State of Mind. “It’s got to be online somewhere,” I thought. Thankfully, Newschoolers had an existing copy on record.

State of Mind plays a bit different now in 2020 than it did close to a quarter-century ago. The skis seem even skinnier, and there’s more bump skiing than I remembered—but after all, this is 1997 we’re talking about. What remains the same, though, is the feeling of rebellious innovation—that spark of excitement of a sport gearing up for a bold new era. And then there’s the “I wanna be your pimp” segment.

Yes kids, this is what skiing looked like in the ’90s. We’ve come a long way since then, and we’ve got these crazy characters—JP Auclair, Vinnie Dorion, JF Cusson, Shane Szocs and many other names lost in the snows of time, plus the filmmakers like Johnny Decesare who documented them—to thank for getting the fire started and pushing skiing into the modern era. Enjoy this journey back to the era of hip-check cornice drops, pro mogul contests, stiffy grabs and straight skis—the age of the forefathers.