I remember seeing this movie on TV as a kid. It was on in the middle of a weekend afternoon to fill an empty timeslot possibly. I know I wasn’t impressed as I was expecting a ski action movie like Warren Miller, but it wasn’t anything like it. Not much skiing. I was young, what did I know. I recall seeing it again many years later on the late late movie. I have the book at home, but didn’t get a chance to read it.
The movie is a documentary based on Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura’s memoir of the 1970 expedition. The 1975 film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Canadian Budge Crawley was the the producer. Eight people died during the expedition.
The last part of the movie is where Miura goes for it. Skied down from 26,000 feet with a parachute on his back then falls and slides for a long time. Let’s just say, that as a 12 year old kid, I wouldn’t have given it an award. It was like watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here is the last 10 minutes of the movie. I can really appreciate both movies more now.
The rest of the movie: Parts 1 to 7.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
References: Wikipedia
Wow, interesting soundtrack on that one! Eerie space music during an epic big mountain descent… certainly not a typical soundtrack selection from what is definitely not a typical ski movie! Looks like the soundtrack was done by a Toronto based percussion ensemble called Nexus.
Maybe it’s the 12-yr-old kid in me, but I had started watching this movie several months ago, got bored with it and shut it off after about 15 minutes. It was a combination of the hushed voice of the narrator, the spacey soundtrack, and the dated ’70s production. Anyhow, just watched your part 8 above, but will still probably skip the other 7 parts…