DVD REVIEW

Steep

Sony Pictures || PG || March 18, 2008

Synopsis

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.


Critique

Steep opens with – and by extension traces the history of extreme skiing as we know it today to – the story of Bill Briggs, who, in 1971 climbed to the top of Grand Teton in Wyoming and skied his way down.  No one saw him come down, but proof surfaced the next day when Briggs and some guys from the local paper flew over the mountain in a helicopter and photographed his lines.

As we come to learn over the course of Steep, skiing a new line is only part of it; someone has to see it.

The late 70’s nad 80’s would see a world of skiers who would not only pick up the gauntlet Briggs laid down, but who would make sure that every slope, every turn, every line was documented, as the rise of big mountain skiing and refined ski film aesthetics fed into each other.

We follow this infant sport from Jackson Hole to the French Valley of Chamonix, where European skiers, free from the strict rules and freed by taller peaks took the sport to another level.  For nearly a decade, a the sport grew more and more extreme with little American involvement.

Then The Blizzard of AAHHH’s was released.  The groundbreaking 1988 ski film – arguably the most influential ski film ever made – showed a group of American skiers discovering Chamonix for the first time.  These guys are simultaneously clowning around and held in awe of the valley’s power.  The film brought extreme big mountain skiing to a new generation of American skiers.

The skiers in the film talk about the first time they saw The Blizzard of AAHHH’s with reverie, one of those “where were you when” stories where everyone knows exactly where they were, whose house they were at, what grade they were in, when they saw the film for the first time.

Steep uses the interviewers with the skiers to try and shed some light on the lifestyle, to help up understand the kind of personality that would go for this kind of lifestyle.  These are the weakest moments in the film, as many of the skiers are, if not downright inarticulate, frequently unable to put into words exactly what drives them.  Man of them come off saying things that we have probably heard before and sounding like guys who have seen Point Break a few too many times: it’s not tragic to die doing what you love.  It’s hard to know whether or not they have really put any thought into that, or if they’re just parroting the same lines over and over.

One of these, perhaps the one most in touch with his mortality, is Doug Coombs, a consummate big mountain skier, a skier’s skier, the guy whose high school yearbook quote was, “There’s no such thing as too much snow.”  Coombs provides some of the most impressive footage in the film, making it easy to see how he won the World Extreme Skiing Championships twice.  Doug becomes the central character in Steep, a man e meet early in the film and stay with until the end.  Coombs talks in the beginning about being nothing more than a guest on the mountain: “You don’t know when you’re time is up as a guest.”  Later, in what might be a curse of too much talent, Doug talks about becoming numb to the dangers of extreme skiing.  Not long after, Coombs is dead, victim of a skiing accident.

Doug’s death is not the first one in the film, but it is certainly the most striking.  No one is immune to the mountain’s whims.

But Steep is not a downer.  If anything, it is 90 minutes of interviews all meant to say something quite simple: skiing is a lot of fun.  We follow the lines from Chamonix to western Canada to the Chugach Mountains of Valdez, Alaska.  The downhill footage is the franchise here, and in that respect, Steep is a dynamic, impressive film.  The footage here, all the angles, in slow motion and more, is endlessly breathtaking, and it makes one want to strap on a pair of skis and drop in.


Video

Steep is presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  White is what this film is all about, and the white levels on this disc are solid.  There is no wavering or degradation at all.  The rest of the film’s color palate is equally impressive.


Audio

This disc is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the presentation is sharp.  The channels are clear and well balanced, and the overall presentation is crisp.  The whoosh down the slopes, that ripping sound of snow under skis, is rendered well.


Special Features

Commentary with Director Mark Obenhaus and Skiers Ingrid Backstrom and Andrew McLean: an interesting talk about the making of the film, the photography, the skiing and more.  Backstrom and McLean are great additions because they are able to talk about the other skiers as friends, not as film subjects.

Q&A with Director Mark Obenhaus and Skiers Ingrid Backstrom and Andrew McLean: from a 2007 festival screening of the film, the principals take questions about skiing, extreme lifestyles, choices in the film and more.

Shooting Steep: a look at how all the action was captured on film.

Photo Montage: The Skiers of Steep: exactly that.  

Interview with Doug Coombs: from 2006, this is an extension of footage we see in the film gives us a little more insight into the film’s central character.


Final Thoughts

Steep is a great collection of ski footage punctuated by some less than impressive interviews.  There is enough action footage to make for a fun viewing, and the bonus material is interesting.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

 

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Review posted on May 5, 2008 | Share this article | Top of Page

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