HEITZ & ANTHAMATTEN RE-DEFINING STEEP SKIING
We are honoured to have welcomed freeskiers Jeremie Heitz and Sam Anthamatten along with our long-time friends, the Sherpas Cinema team, to film for the highly anticipated film, 'La Liste: Everything or Nothing.' The film follows Jeremie and Sam as they attempt to make their distinct mark of fast and fluid skiing on some of the world's most beautiful high-altitude mountain ranges. A true exploration of the limit of human possibility.
Heitz and Anthamatten are two of the best skiers and alpinists in the world. Having met at a Freeride World Qualifier in Europe ten plus years ago, these two professional athletes have been breaking down the doors of steep skiing together every since. To us, they have become friends and much adored guests with their fun sense of humour and ever so humble attitute toward their jaw dropping accomplishments and future goals.
Heitz became legendary for re-defining steep skiing with his 2016 film 'La Liste,' a beyond ambitious project to ski the 15 most beautiful faces of the Alps' highest peaks and to ski them in a way no one had before: fast and fluid. The feat represented a complete reimagining of classic ski descents and a progression into a whole other level of freeriding. It required a massive breadth of skill, mental fortitude and strength in both alpinism and skiing. The film was nothing short of stunning. But in the words of legendary ski mountaineer Sylvain Saudan: "You've done it in Switzerland, now you must do it in the world."
Heitz opted to transcend to the next level with Anthamatten as a key partner on this project. The list included some of the most iconic peaks in the world that tower above 6,000 meters in Peru, Pakistan and Tibet. In a figurative sense, these prized peaks were moving targets; the success rate of ski descents from their summits entirely dependent on highly unpredictable weather patterns in some of the world’s harshest environments. With only a few locations in the world hosting peaks of this size, the crew was consistently monitoring the ever-changing conditions. All amidst a global pandemic that cancelled trips and presented even more uncertainty about if, and when, they could reach these destinations.
Their high objectives required month-long expeditions into remote locations; all taking a massive toll, physically and mentally, on the athletes and the film crew. But the relationship with the natural world, and the intimate bonds between everyone involved, provided motivation for the team as they aimed to achieve their goals, that at times seemed impossible.
Some goals were peaks that had not yet been climbed, let alone skied, but first descents were never the goal. When asked during his stay with us what was, Heitz simply replied: “To show something beautiful.”
For these two, the way they move in mountains is a form of expression. It’s an art.
And whether they aimed to or not, these two did tick off a few first descents in our surrounding peaks and enjoyed some deep powder turns that emphasized the truth that skiing isn’t always about the boundary pushing goals—it’s also about just having fun.
I wanted to show people outside of the ski community how incredibly dangerous and challenging high altitude ski mountaineering is.
— Eric Crosland
Sherpas Cinema
"While watching this film, I would like the viewer to experience the intense feelings, emotions, and decision-making of navigating, traveling, and skiing the highest altitude mountain ranges in the world. Most ski films show just ski descent; I wanted to show everything behind the scenes that goes into getting to those skiing descents. The challenges of making this film were working in a high elevation with little oxygen and a frigid environment, with no electricity, with minimal crews, and in some of the most dangerous mountains in the world, during the most challenging time of year in these mountains for avalanche conditions. Covid also really isolated everybody on the film team, and we did not use the same crews for all the expeditions.”
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The film’s title says it all: either you succeed in the completion of these endeavors, or you come back with nothing to show for the time you spent away from home, and the risks you took while you were out there.
Watch La Liste: Everything or Nothing on Redbull.com
You do not want to miss this inspirational story of these two athletes attempting to write a new chapter in the evolution of skiing.
Follow along with their ongoing adventures on Instagram:
IG: Jeremie Heitz
IG: Sam Anthamatten
IG: Sherpas Cinema
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