Tami, a professional skier with a mixed identity, navigates the complexities of cultural duality.
What does it feel like when your life is split between two distinct worlds? That is the question that skier Tami Razinger, a Flylow athlete, asks in her new film, “Mezclada,” which premiered online in October.
Razinger was born in Argentina and moved to southern Vermont when she was two years old. Her parents both worked in the ski school at Vermont's Stratton Mountain, where she learned to ski at a young age. After college at the University of Vermont, where she competed on the UVM Freeskiing Team, Razinger chased her skiing dreams to the Tetons, settling in Jackson, Wyoming. She competed on the Freeskiing World Qualifier tour for a few years and in Jackson, she connected with a vibrant Latino community, bonding with new friends who spoke the same language as her.
Photo by Brooks Curran
Six years after moving to Jackson, Razinger decided to take a leap and make her first short film. “It was a dream I had for years, telling my story and telling it authentically,” Razinger says. “It’s obviously not the easiest way to do your first ski film. But I wanted to stick to my story. It had been many years in the making.” She was introduced to up-and-coming filmmaker Karlos Jeri, who was also raised by immigrant parents, and the duo teamed up to produce and direct the film, which was funded in part by Razinger’s sponsors as well as GoFundMe campaign.
In the film, she takes a look back at her roots and where her love for big mountains all started: Bariloche, Argentina. Reuniting with family and cousins in Argentina feels like coming home, but she also struggles with the sense of being an outsider no matter where she is. “Growing up in the U.S., I blended in, but it never completely felt like home,” she says. “But back in Argentina, even surrounded by all of my relatives, I was always viewed as a bit of an outsider.”
Razinger’s grandfather, who escaped post World War II Slovenia and immigrated to Argentina, was a pioneer in the ski community in the Andes, opening a ski shop and setting up backcountry trails around Bariloche. In the film, Tami explores her family’s history, alongside her mountain-loving cousin, Niko, to discover that maybe she belongs right where she is after all. “It's a film of self discovery, of understanding. It’s like the entire filmmaking process was a journey, a catalyst for me to gain a better perspective on myself,” Razinger say.
She is not one thing singularly but a blend of both: mezclada.
Photo by Marko Magister