Steep
by Mark Obenhaus
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DVD details
Actor: Anselme Baud, Bill Briggs, Chris Davenport, Doug Coombs, Ingrid BackstromDirector: Mark Obenhaus
Brand: Sony
Writer: Mark Obenhaus
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.78:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-18
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Steep
DVD Review: Risk and Joy
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Description of Steep
STEEP - DVD MovieThrilling 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
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