Product Description

Warning: You're about to experience the most breath taking, exhilarating and inspirational ride of your life. The world's best skiers go beyond their dreams to conquer the steepest runs ever faced. From the sheer cliffs of Grand Teton, to the treachery of Chamonix France, to the untouched Alaskan peaks of Valdez, these extremers sacrifice their lives for a thrill but what a thrill it is. Fantastically beautiful images of the most magnificent peaks on the globe along with devastating avalanches and fatal spills only serve to push them harder. But you're about to discover -- not everyone who goes up the mountain -- returns.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5653 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Thrilling and spectacular, Steep is a mesmerizing documentary in the Warren Miller mold about extreme skiing, but with more emphasis on the drive and psychology of the adrenaline-hooked athletes involved. A number of skiers are captured in archival and original footage braving the odds against surviving runs down astonishingly steep, dangerous slopes. Among the subjects is Bill Briggs, who climbed in 1971 to the top of Grand Teton in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and skied down, an unprecedented effort echoed by Europeans who later did the same thing down the French Alps in Chamonix. Doug Coombs, who twice won the World Extreme Skiing Championship, is also profiled and speaks honestly about the possibility of dying for the sake of living life to the fullest as a thrillseeker. Written and directed by Mark Obenhaus, a producer for several of the late Peter Jennings’ television news specials, Steep is visually gorgeous, and literally breathtaking whenever a skier is seen barely outracing an avalanche nipping at his heels. Steep attempts, somewhat, to get inside the heads of the pros who do this sort of thing, but it is hard for many of the subjects to articulate what they feel. It’s best just to be knocked out by their deeds and let the fantastic visuals in Steep speak for themselves. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Risk and Joy
Steep
dir. Mark Obenhaus, 2007

Risk and Joy

One of the subjects of Mark Obenhaus's fascinating documentary on extreme ski mountaineering speaks of the pure and simple joy he experiences when tackling a difficult run, and then tells us the joy wouldn't be so great without the risk inherent in the challenge. I think this is one of the younger skiers, perhaps Shane McConkey. [I saw this in theater a couple of months ago, so details may be a bit vague.] But on the other hand, one of the older and wiser heads, I believe one of those who opened up Chamonix, tells us that though the risk may look extreme, the challenge is in developing skill and technique so that the apparent risk is reduced to manageable and sane levels. Of course, what is manageable and sane to some may be crazy foolhardiness to the rest of us, but after all we take risks every day and familiarity dulls the realization that a careless traffic merge, or pushing the speed to make that sales meeting, could result in a far more gruesome death than any in the mountains.

I was on the fringe, or perhaps the fringe of the fringe, of serious outdoors types in the 80's (about when the skiing documented here began to pick up pace), not so much the extreme downhill skiers who went up only to come down, but hard climbers and ski mountaineers who considered it a form of transportation to get into snowbound areas they might hike and climb the rest of the year. These people were very like the earlier adventurers documented here, always conscious of the risk and trying to minimize it, though in the end accepting it for the joy brought by a challenge successfully met or simply being where few others would ever be.

I should emphasize that this is NOT a thrill-a-minute "ski movie". Anyone expecting constant headbanging adrenaline will likely be disappointed. Though there are sufficient moments of daredeviltry for most tastes (especially in the later parts of the film -- it is nicely paced and progressive), there are also scenes of skiers inching sidewise down steep slopes, or cutting short switchbacks with cautious turns, precision craftsmanship rather than freeform bravado. What this film is, is a historical documentary exploring the sport's development and the psychology of extreme skiers, from the pioneers to modern day adrenaline junkies, using a combination of archive footage (of varying technical quality), interviews, and high quality original footage of the feats of the current skiers and the breathtaking landscape they take place in. Fascinating and visually beautiful, with sufficient excitement for most of us.

Thrilling Ride For Anyone
At first, it appeared that this would be a movie that only appeals to skiers. In fact, this is a fascinating and thrilling ride. You will see places on earth you did not know existed. You will see these guys riding helicopters to the top of mountains where there is barely enough room to stand, and then, skiing downhill at blazing speed. As you might expect, as the movie passes from continent to continent, we see some of the guys we had followed in the beginning actually die. This is a thrilling movie and is not to be missed.

Great Movie with Lots of Interviews
What a great start to a night of watching ski films. Interviews from some of the greats that bring you closer to your love of the mountains, the snow, and the lifestyle.

All the exciting skiing is towards the end of the film, and it's not packed with excitement. It's more about connecting with the lifestyle we choose, and remembering just how close to the edge of life we can find ourselves.