Calm Beneath Castles

During another snowless winter, a famous freeride skier has a chance encounter with two kids on the street, which prompts him to dig through his grandfather's old family albums, capturing the snowy winters of the past. Immersing himself in the photos, the young man is transported to the parallel world of the winter mountains. Is winter irretrievably lost?

Snow dancing and spectacular skiing stunts are showcased in this lively video program hosted by star skiers Suzy Chaffee and John Eaves. The antics are backed by the music of Alan Parsons, Harold Faltermaier, Gary Wright and John Denver. Much of the footage comes from the ski film Fire and Ice.

Feel the rush of the breathtakingly beautiful National Parks of California with one deep breath of the summer air.

A beautifully filmed documentary about the life and work of Ski Patrol at several Montana Ski Resorts and the Search and Rescue teams that respond to winter emergencies in the backcountry.

Zanskar is a remote kingdom in the northwest Indian Himalaya, where local people are snow-bound for six months of the year. About 10,000 Zanskaris live in the isolated valley. In winter, mountain passes are blocked, the summer Jeep road closes and buses stop. Two decades ago, three friends founded a ski school - to enable winter travel in the valley, improve quality of life, and to encourage young people to stay in Zanskar by helping establish a culture of mountain sports. The film tells the story of this friendship, the ski school and the development of skiing in the area. Along the way a bigger question is raised. Most recently, the federal government announced a major road building project that will provide year round access to Zanskar. How can Zanskar's wilderness be preserved? It is only a matter of time before the winter road is completed, and the "Big India" rushes in.

Sam Anthamatten (ski) and Victor de Le Rue (snowboard) push new boundaries in the wildest corner of Alaska. A bush pilot drops the small crew of five on a remote, unexplored glacier to conquer the spine walls in a series of ascents, each one more committed. Narrator Jérôme Tanon describes with honesty and a touch of sarcasm what exactly is going on here. Above all, he wants to feel what it’s like to be in their shoes, to understand what so called “free riders” are made of, and what could be the purpose and beauty of “freeriding”.

Immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa have chosen to start their lives over north of the 49th parallel. Here, in the vast expanses of Northern Canada, they reflect on the challenges and splendors of a season they’ve never yet experienced: winter.

The mountain reveals honesty to oneself like nothing else. Dopamine, inner peace, or simply being unreachable are all understandable reasons why someone seeks the summit. With personal stories and individual connections to the mountains, "Sariri" brings together five protagonists from Switzerland, Austria, Bolivia, and Peru. Descending steep walls on skis in the Andes at over 6,000 meters pushes the group to their limits. With a first descent of the 6074-meter high "Chachacomani" in Bolivia, the mountaineers consciously take certain risks. The invisible power of altitude presents a significant obstacle to overcome. The film explores the question of why mountains play such an important role in some lives and why these cloud-catchers made of stone, snow, and ice are the closest place to heaven. The willingness to undertake long journeys and the mountain itself are what shapes "Sariri."

Hans Thirring, a theoretical physicist at the University of Vienna, is skiing down a mountain slope wearing cape-like attire. The cape, designed by Thirring and called the Thirring mantel, is made of parachute silk and acts somewhat like a parachute to provide its wearer reduced speed while shushing down the slopes. But it also provides lift so that the skier is lighter on his skis, almost weightless. This "flight" somewhat mimics the experience felt by those participating in the relatively new sport of ski-flying (also known as ski jumping), which must have exacting conditions (i.e. little wind, hard packed snow) to ensure safety. Even in ideal conditions, ski-flying is a dangerous sport, especially if the landing is not executed properly.

Nikolai and Vegard were childhood friends who spent their free time on the ski slopes. Now, Nikolai has become a professional skier, while Vegard lives in caves and trains obsessively to complete a perilous and physically demanding ski tour. This is a story about friendship and setting ambitious goals.

Belarus, Vileika district of Minsk region. Lonely elderly people are leaving for winter to the home of seasonal residence. Each of them carries their own experience and beliefs, but they will have to stay the winter together. The days pass in sicknesses, conversations, watching TV... In mid-winter, there appears a new resident of the house, and the life inside changes.

Lake Effect is a two-year Michigan ski film highlighting the joys of backyard adventure and the shifting perspective of Mike King, a professional skier who for a decade has only sought adventure from the peaks of mountain tops in the far reaches of the West. In 2020 when Covid encouraged lockdowns & travel restrictions, Mike's life on the road came to a screeching halt. This abrupt change inspired Mike to take the hurdle as an opportunity to rediscover the unique, untapped terrain, ski culture, and the people thriving right here in his home state of Michigan. Throughout filming Lake Effect Mike realized you don't need to travel far to have an epic adventure. Rather some creativity, curiosity, and the willingness to walk out the door to the abundance that starts right in our backyards.

Jacquelín is a forty year old single mother who decides to leave everything behind.

Teton Gravity Research and Indy Pass bring you a short film celebrating the independent spirit of the Midwest ski and snowboard community. Those who ride the Midwest will tell you - they don’t need endless storm cycles, 4,000 feet of vert or fancy base areas to have fun. A few rope tows and rails, a set of slalom gates to bash, reliable snowmaking and a sense of adventure is all it takes. The ski industry could learn a few tricks from these tried and true Midwest ski areas: Family-first means affordable passes, after school programs, volunteer-led race clubs and most importantly, a sense of camaraderie. In Pursuit of Soul 2: Midwest Independence was filmed on location at Buck Hill, Caberfae Peaks, Granite Peak, Little Switzerland, Lutsen Mountains, Nordic Mountain, The Rock Snowpark, and Tyrol Basin.

During an unusually harsh winter, a frozen trawler arrives on the river Thames.

In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a period of a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions.

Nuit de la glisse 2003

In the 1950’s the United States government restricted a 6 by 10 mile block of land somewhere north of Las Vegas. Although the government will not discuss this top secret facility, it has been consistently associated with UFO sightings and conspiracy stories. The reasons for the cover up of alien activity is unclear, but one thing is for sure, the government will do everything in their power to stop the public from knowing the truth. The most probable explanation is that mass panic would ensue if the public knew we were being visited by beings far superior to ourselves. In 1999, TGR exposes AREA 51, a 16mm jib flick that shows skiing’s new generation going bigger than ever and pulling the sickest tricks imaginable. Filmed at competitions and sessions around the globe, this movie has it all.

Steep traces the legacy of extreme skiing from its early pioneers to the daredevils of today.

Faced with a traumatic injury that renders you permanently disabled; how would you reinvent yourself? Full Circle tells the story of Trevor Kennison and Barry Corbet’s shared resiliency and refusal to let their passion for life be limited by Spinal Cord Injury. It is an unblinking examination of the challenges of Spinal Cord Injury, and a celebration of the growth that such tragedy can catalyze.