Documentary about big mountain and extreme skiing reveals exhilaration, danger, death. *** Three Stars

By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 12/25/07 – In the daredevil skiing documentary ‘Steep’, French-Canadian skier Hugo Harrisson skis first down a terrifyingly steep 50 degree mountain slope to show rookie Ingrid Backstrom how it’s done…or not. Harrisson suffers a spectacular spill, cartwheeling down the mountain. Backstroum is alone on the top of the mountain. There’s no chair lift, no lodge, no ski patrol. Big mountain skiers mountain climb to the top or fly in by helicopter. Backstrom makes a perfect run down the mountain, practically skydiving on her skis…without a parachute. Harrisson, it turns out, is lucky. He’s only sprained an ankle and will live to ski another day.

“With that type of skiing you must not fall because you’ll plummet to your death,” says skier Andrew McLean. “You want to ski more conservatively, make a lot of turns.” Not always, because ‘Steep’ shows Backstrom making her blazing run down the mountain in just four turns. “It’s a great feeling,” says Backstrom of her experience skiing down the dizzyingly steep mountain. “I felt like I was flying for a few seconds. I feel lucky to be included in the many wonderful skiers represented in ‘Steep’.”

As dangerous as falls are, avalanches are worse. There’s an astounding avalanche scene in ‘Steep’. “We were hoping to climb up that slope and then ski down the couloirs,” says McLean. “Climbing up is common practice to see what the ground may be hiding, if there’s any ice. I do ski mountaineering or big mountain skiing. You hardly ever see people going solo in back country. It’s a partner sport. They have their avalanche beacon, and you dig them out. You always have a partner or three or four. It’s about avalanche safety. I had no idea the avalanche was coming.” McLean was an expert, had been skiing there two weeks and been a professional avalanche forecaster for a year. The film’s director describes how the avalanche happened.

“Andrew McLean, Matt Turley and Dylan Freed were skiing in Iceland,” says director Mark Obenhaus. “The camera crew that day was a three-man crew with cameraman John Armstrong. The plan was they would climb the back face. They’d gotten to the top much earlier and were set up. They’d had lunch. It was not more than twenty paces away that the whole side of the mountain slipped off. The most likely outcome is that one or all of the skiers would be swept away.” The avalanche may look soft and fluffy, but it’s liquid like water if you’re caught inside it. When the avalanche stops it sets instantly like concrete.

The featured skiers in ‘Steep’ are Ingrid Backstrom, Anselme Baud, Bill Briggs, Doug Coombs, Chris Davenport, Stefano De Benedetti, Shane McConkey, Andrew McLean, Seth Morrison, Eric Pehota and Glen Plake. “The death of Doug Combs was a defining moment in creative process in film,” says Obenhaus. “The balance of risk versus reward was something we wanted to deal with in film. It changed the emotion, changed the shape of the film.”

Another key individual who died during the making of ‘Steep’ was Peter Jennings, who the film is dedicated to. “In 2005, Peter was at that point sort of expanding his franchise,” says Obenhaus. “He set up Peter Jennings Productions to produce his documentaries for ABC. One of the ideas presented was from Bill Kerring, the skier-writer. He had a large blanket proposal, a 7,000 reel history edited into a reality show. A lot of people don’t go back country or big mountain skiing, but that’s the dream. It was at the point we became clear what we’re doing that Peter was diagnosed. Sadly, he didn’t get to see the result. He was involved at the beginning.”

“The purpose of a ski movie is to get you fired up,” says McLean. “What I would miss most about skiing is the people. That’s the most important to me.” McLean reflects on the lifestyle change of having a 4-month-old baby girl. “They say it won’t change anything or that it will change everything”, says McLean. “I’m looking for trips with less objective danger. Crossing a big ice field is glorious, but not as dangerous as steep slopes. I’m concentrating on trips with good adventure but less time in the strike zone. I’m skiing across the Bagley Ice Field in Alaska using kites.”

Who are these daredevils who would seem right at home in the movie ‘The Eiger Sanction’? And, what’s it like to be beautiful woman in an extreme sport among all these men? This is an environment where there’s no privacy. Big mountains have no bathrooms and no bushes. And, you always ski in a group for avalanche safety. “I have perfected the art of peeing outside with my skis on,” says Backstrom. “I’m just as quick as any guy! Everyone that I travel with is awesome. Really it doesn’t matter if you’re traveling and skiing with men or women as long as they have a great attitude, are trustworthy and fun to hang out with in the mountains!”

In showing the most exhilarating skiing moments of eleven different skiers, ‘Steep’ unfortunately loses the human story. It’s like watching a collection of “play of the day” sports highlights. It’s amazing footage, but it’s not as personal as watching the entire game. The camera crew dragged into the mountains HD cameras and even a huge Cable Cam flying camera system that’s typically used for football games. Like Sherpas, the camera crew is invisible in ‘Steep’. For me, a documentary on the making of ‘Steep’ could have been more engaging than watching highlights, shown more of the camaraderie. In backing away to show how big and terrifying the mountain is, the human being gets reduced to just a speck.

‘Steep’ is exhilarating, but distant. You must see the avalanche.

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Release Date: December 21, 2007 (limited)

Running Time: 1 hr. 32 min.

MPAA Rating: PG for extreme sports action and brief language.

Robin Rowe is a journalist wit Hollywood Today and a partner in MovieEditor.com.