The “Out of Bounds” artwork by Sassan Filsoof is a digital illustration celebrating the exciting sport of backcountry skiing. Backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste or alpine touring, refers to skiing in the wilderness outside of ski resort boundaries. This often involves hiking or skinning up a mountain, rather than taking a ski lift, to access untracked and ungroomed terrain. Backcountry skiing can offer a more immersive and challenging experience for skilled skiers, as it requires navigating through ungroomed snow and potentially hazardous conditions such as avalanches. It also needs skiers to be self-sufficient and carry all necessary safety equipment, such as shovels, probes, and transceivers. While backcountry skiing can be a rewarding and exhilarating experience, it also has inherent risks and requires a high level of skill and preparedness. In this depiction, the mountain and sky are rendered in a gradation of shades of blue, purple and white, giving the piece a wintery feel.
The skiers are hiking up a snow-covered mountainside towards a dramatic rock outcrop at the peak, giving the piece a sense of tension and drama.
Overall, “Out of Bounds” is a dramatic and suspenseful depiction of skiers pushing their limits on the mountain. The use of colour and composition creates a sense of depth and distance, and the group of hiking backcountry skiers invites the viewer to wonder what will happen next. There is a reminder of the risks and challenges involved in extreme sports, the thrill of pushing boundaries and respecting the power of natural forces.