Beauty, pain, joy and suffering. A kaleidoscope of emotions. Big mountains and small people. Powder and ice. Sun and snow. All of this and more will be showcased in the Hard Snow ski mountaineering film festival.
Scheduled for November 13-15 and hosted by the Limelight, Hard Snow features eclectic and diverse offerings from both amateur and professional filmmakers. With a mix of feature-length offerings the event is highlighted by an appearance of legendary climber and alpinist John Roskelley, who closes out the festival on Sunday, November 15 with a rare presentation on his first ascent of K2.
Benefitting the Aspen Alpine Club’s Nepal Relief Fund, the event will excite and inspire. “We wanted to pick a wide variety of films,” says event organizer Tom Winter, who collaborated with Mike and Steve Marolt on the project. “There are a lot of different layers to ski mountaineering, from serious climbs in the Himalaya to just going out and skiing a fun peak with your friends. The sport doesn’t have to be intimidating and you don’t need to do the most intense descents. Enjoying the mountain environment is the most important thing. If you are not having fun, you’re not doing it right.”
“We wanted to showcase the diversity of experiences in the mountains, throw a fun party to kick off the winter season and contribute to a good cause,” adds Mike Marolt of the inaugural event. “The festival isn’t expensive to attend and it has something for everyone. It’s a good way to get stoked for the season and a good cause to support.”
Highlights of the festival include Roskelley’s presentation as well as The Edge of Never (Saturday, November 14) and Tien Shan (Friday, November 13). Written and directed by William A. Kerig, produced by Peter Schweitzer, documentary film The Edge of Never is a coming of age saga featuring Glen Plake and Kye Petersen skiing the route that killed Kye’s father. The award-winning feature film Tien Shan features the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. In addition to these offerings, a variety of short films will round out the festival.
Tickets for each night are a mere $5 and all proceeds will benefit the Aspen Alpine Club’s Nepal Relief Fund, which assists those impacted by the April 2015 earthquake.
“Just because the earthquake and subsequent devastation isn’t in the headlines any more doesn’t mean that the need isn’t there,” says Marolt, who has climbed and skied extensively in the country. “It will take a long time for Nepal to fully recover, and that’s why an ongoing effort to help is so important.”
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For more information or to support this event, please contact:
Mike Marolt • marolt@rof.net • 970-920-1144
Tom Winter • tom@tomwintermedia.com • 303-525-7767
