January 17, 2014 – The Disney Channel Original Movie Cloud 9 Premieres
“Now this is what I call fashionably late.”
On January 17, 2014, the Disney Channel Original Movie Cloud 9 premiered. It was written by Justin Ware, Don D. Scott, and Katie Wech, and directed by Paul Hoen. It starred Dove Cameron as Kayla, Luke Benward as Will, Mike C. Manning as Nick Swift, and Kiersey Clemmons as Skye Sailor.
The movie begins with Kayla Morgan, a spoiled teenager, arriving home to find a present from her father before remembering that she’s late to arrive at her snowboarding competition. Kayla is a snowboarding champion, and although she manages to score well, her prima donna behavior frustrates her teammates and her coach. Meanwhile, Will Cloud is working in his family’s kennel, wishing to put his snowboarding past behind him. He runs into Kayla and her boyfriend Nick on the slopes, with Kayla revealing that Will was a legend in the making, but had to leave it all behind after an accident. Will’s friends try to convince him to snowboard again, but he still refuses. That night, Kayla and Nick arrive at a special party for the team, and Nick’s father, Coach Swift, thinks that Nick’s best isn’t good enough. But the excitement still rises when Coach Swift reveals that the upcoming Fire & Ice competition will be broadcast on national television, but Kayla soon finds Nick being berated by his father.
Kayla and Nick head out after the party, with Nick admitting he wants to try the dangerous move, the “Cloud 9”
Later that night, Kayla and Nick talk more about the competition, with Nick wanting to do the “Cloud 9” – the move that cost Will his snowboarding career. They find Will’s sled behind the sign for the resort and decide to take it for a ride, which ends with Kayla crashing through the sign and destroying Will’s sled. Nick and the rest of the team abandon Kayla, leaving Kayla to take the blame. To pay for Will’s sled, her parents decide that Kayla’s punishment is to work at Will’s family kennel every day after school. Will isn’t happy about the arrangement, and tells Kayla that she’s not good at anything except shopping; furthermore, she’s decent but lazy on the slopes, and only made the Swift team because her father owns the resort. The next day, Kayla heads into the kennel, but argues with Will from the beginning. Things get worse for Kayla when Coach Swift kicks her off the team for her antics, even though the boys on the team were also guilty, and Nick tells her that she’s only a champion because the competition was fixed so her father would keep financing the team. Kayla is crushed, as she feels she’s a fake.
Kayla continues to work at the kennel, but runs into trouble every which way, especially as one of the dogs manages to free the others and they all escape. Kayla chases them to the nearby hangout, and finds her boyfriend with his friends. At her low point, he decides to dump her, as he says he needs to focus on her training. She arrives back with all the dogs and starts to cry about her misfortune, and is even more crushed when she is not fired from the kennel job. She confides in her friends that she really liked Nick, but Pia reassures Kayla that this can only mean that something incredible could come out of all of this. Inspired, Kayla strikes up a deal with Will: she’ll help fix up the kennel if he’ll train her for Fire & Ice. Will refuses, however, as the injury the other year nearly cost him his life. Kayla continues to badger him, although he doesn’t think she’s serious enough to compete. Kayla is even more determined to win when she finds that she’s already been replaced on her old team. Will finally decides to help her, and she joins his old team.
Kayla’s world collides with Will’s after she joins his old team
Kayla’s friends are surprised to hear of Kayla’s plans, but Kayla is ready to take on her old team and their new teammate, Skye Sailor. Kayla and Skye have a confrontation at the resort lodge, with Kayla challenging her. Kayla decides, with Will’s lecturing, that she needs to show Skye what she’s made of on the slopes, and starts practicing. Kayla gets better and better, much to Will’s surprise. Kayla also renovates the kennel, with Will and his mother loving the change. Will’s mom thanks Kayla for making Will happy again, as it was thought that he’d never be the same after his accident. Later, Will and Kayla get ice cream, with Will admitting that Kayla looks like a real threat. Kayla tries to convince Will to try boarding again and competing in Fire & Ice, and he promises that he’ll think about it. The next morning, Kayla overhears her father saying that there’s no way that Kayla can win against Team Swift, but that only makes Kayla want to win more, and asks Will to teach her the Cloud 9. Will refuses, and tells her that she doesn’t believe in herself enough. She then decides to head up to the top of the tallest peak so she can snowboard down and prove that she has no fear.
Kayla is nervous when she reaches the top of the peak, but keeps telling herself that nothing’s impossible. The helicopter films her performance, sending the feed live back to the resort, with everyone watching as she makes her way down. She does well for the first part, until an avalanche basically follows her down the peak, and she wipes out. Will hurriedly makes his way up the resort to save her with one of the dogs from the kennel, and manages to pull her out unharmed. She once again tries to convince Will to teach her the Cloud 9, and he reluctantly agrees. Will also agrees to get back on the board, and heads out on a practice run. Kayla gets slightly distracted when she finds her old boyfriend Nick dating Skye, but realizes that she may have feelings for Will. Will begins teaching her the Cloud 9, which is a move with three rotations in the air. Kayla tries again and again to get the move, but continues to fall. She continues to practice into the night, with Skye and Coach Swift watching. Skye tells Coach Swift that Kayla isn’t the pampered princess he made her out to be, but can actually ride.
Will is afraid of Kayla getting hurt, and decides to stop teaching her the Cloud 9
Will decides not to let Kayla practice the Cloud 9 anymore, as he’s afraid that she’ll get injured the way he did. The two finally share a kiss, and Kayla reassures him that she’s all in, and needs him to believe in her. She runs into Coach Swift on her way home, and he apologizes to her for kicking her off the team and asks her for another chance, inviting her back on the team before Fire & Ice. Although it looks like Kayla is rejoining Team Swift, she decides to stay with Team Hotdoggers. The Fire & Ice competition begins, and the teams are doing really well. Finally, it’s time for Kayla’s competition, and Kayla has an incredible first run, beating Skye Sailor. For the second run, Skye takes the lead, with Kayla needed a near perfect score to beat her. Before Kayla heads up, her father finds her to apologize for not believing in her. Coach Swift berates the scene between Kayla and her father, and Nick loses it, as he’s tired of his dad not giving him any praise, and tells her the truth: on Coach Swift’s orders, Nick steered the sled into the sign so there was a reason to kick Kayla off the team. This news makes Kayla all the more determined to win the competition with the Cloud 9. She heads out on her run, and nails the Cloud 9, achieving the perfect score necessary to win not only the women’s division, but the overall competition for her team.
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