THR Curates

 

It begins: The High Route’s curated list of backcountry touring and ski mountaineering films/movies/videos.

 

Here’s the gist: we are beginning to curate a list of films/movies/videos that speak to our sensibilities regarding backcountry touring and ski/ride mountaineering. While we acknowledge this is not a definitive list, it is an aspirational list. We aim to help others find and watch excellence and keep the scrolling and searches to a minimum. The list is as much yours as it is ours. Feel free to email suggestions or hit us up in the comments. 

For now, we are organizing our selections chronologically by publish date on the site. Over time, we aim to subcategorize selections by topic and geography when relevant. You can find the direct link to Films / Movies / Videos under The VPR Desk. For a refresher, The VPR Desk stands for Volume, Proximity, and Repetition: a time-honored argument technique. The detailed backstory, which we are remiss to divulge, has something to do with VPR being regionally specific in a remote zone in the Northern Rockies where some call the snowpack maritime and others intercontinental. We’ll not take sides, we’ll call it a gray zone.  

Also, not all of the suggestions we list are free. Some may be available for rent or purchase. When that is the case, we will link to a trailer (if available) and the platform(s) on which the specific content is available. Lastly, as a curated list, the younger set may find some classics here, while the long-toothed, conversely, may find a refreshing attitude adjustment where there is “free” as a prefix regarding the skiing and riding. 

In this first list, you’ll also note some Eurocentrism—bear with us for now.

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“Downside Up “T’es pas born la?” by Seb Montaz-Rosset

  • Link to Rent/Buy on Vimeo: Rent for $3 or buy for $8
  • “We join skier and mountain guide, Vivian Bruchez, as he explores his backyard on several steep adventures in a winter of exceptional snow, in the company of a few talented friends. Previously impassable and unthinkable routes become a tangible reality when skill, experience and conditions align.”

 

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“Between the Lines / Entre les Lignes,” by Yucca Films

  • Link to rent/buy on Projektor: Rent for $2.50 or buy for $4.99
  • Extreme skier and high mountain guide, Vivian Bruchez has a prolific year in 2018, so we decided to produce a film retracing his winter, highlighted by “big achievements.”

 

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Montagne en Scène Vivian Bruchez: the Vertical Interview

 

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Rancho EP#10 “98 au paying” / “98 under foot” by Supersize Films

 

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Diable D’Or (The Golden Devil) A film about Patrick Vallencant by Thomas Thenander

 

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The Faction Collective Presents: La Grave

 

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TWENTY – An accidental history of freeriding by Guido Perrini

  • Link to YouTube: free
  • “TWENTY is the culmination of twenty years of big mountain filming, and raises the question of ‘is it worth it? While documenting the evolution of this sport many of the characters have witnessed first hand the power and destruction of the mountain, Guido as well as other central characters struggle to come to terms with the reality and the dangers.”

 

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La Liste: Everything or Nothing 

  • Link to RedBull TV: free
  • Big mountain skiers Jérémie Heitz and Sam Anthamatten tackle the world’s highest peaks, from the Swiss Alps to the Himalayas, in this thrilling freeskiing adventure across 6,000m mountain ranges. 

 

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Steep Skiing ft. Kilian Jornet

  • Link to YouTube: free
  • Kilian Jornet skiing and running seven Norwegian Summit in a single day.

 

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“Troll Wall,” by Raymond Aasen & Matti Bernitz

  • Link to YouTube: free
  • The Troll Wall is the tallest vertical rock face in Europe in which we can find the iconic Fiva Route, that has never been skied before Kilian Jornet gave it a go in 2018.

 

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Born in Chamonix (A film about Tof Henry)

 

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Tempting Fear

 

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“Mt St Elias: A ski descent of ‘The Man Eater’”