By: randosteve|Posted on: September 17, 2009|Posted in: Grand Teton, People, The Tetons | 9 comments

I found out about the One Mountain project last winter while researching some stuff on the web and hearing about the filming up on the Grand Teton. The movie is a feature length documentary that focuses on two Jackson skiers’, Hunter Wood and Dan Petrus, dreams of skiing the Grand Teton. (Kind of like the video from my first descent of the GT, but a bit more dramatic and much longer.) The film…or at least the trailer…has some cool aerial footage of both the Teton Range itself and skiers skiing the Grand Teton, and well worth the seven and a half minutes it takes to watch the trailer. Click here to watch on amazon.com.

PROJECT SUMMARY

ONE MOUNTAIN is a feature length documentary that will follow the efforts of Hunter Wood and Dan Petrus as they attempt to ski and climb one of the biggest and most dangerous mountains in North America. The film will use interviews and sync pieces to carry the audience through spectacular action and scenic sequences, exploring the mystical attraction of mountains and how they are able to inspire and dominate our lives.

The film will showcase the beauty and grandeur of the high-mountain environment, revealing the inescapable attraction that has taken over the lives of Hunter and Dan. But the audience will also see that in this dramatic landscape danger is everywhere. From avalanches, to weather, to exposure, the film will look at the risks that Hunter and Dan face, building tension toward their ultimate challenge – the Grand.

Though the film is full of spectacular skiing and mountaineering, ONE MOUNTAIN is not a “ski film” and is designed to appeal to a diverse audience. By developing the characters the audience will find that these skiers and mountaineers are not so different than anyone else and their devotion to the mountains can be found in virtually all of our lives, only in other ambitions far less dangerous. With their lives consumed by their passion, Hunter and Dan struggle with the internal conflict of their love of being in the mountains and their desire to have some of the comforts of a more traditional lifestyle.

Looking deeper into Hunter and Dan’s lives, the film will find humorous and lighter moments revealing the effects of their addiction to the mountains. But there is also tension as friends and family worry that they may become “65 year old bartenders who ski a lot”.

In the climax of the film, Dan will climb one of the most difficult routes up the Grand and Hunter will ski it from the top. These will be the most dangerous endeavors of their lives. By accomplishing them, they will have reached the pinnacle of their sports. Will this be the final achievement that will allow them to concentrate on other aspects of their lives? Or will it reinforce their desire to test themselves on more dangerous mountains?