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High
Turns:
Aspen to
Everest
- with
Mike
Marolt
Filmmaker
Comments
Growing
up in a
family
with a
father
and
uncle
who
skied in
the
Olympic
games
and who
made
skiing a
way of
life for
their
families,
you
don’t
have to
think
too hard
about
why two
twin
brothers
would
make the
same
choice
to ski -
a
lot. It
is
simply
in the
blood.
But it
may not
be so
easy to
understand
why
those
brothers
would
determinedly
pursue
the
lofty
goals
that no
one
around
them
would
set out
to
achieve?
After
all, the
Marolt
twins
wanted
something
out of
the
ordinary,
namely
to climb
and ski
the
highest
peaks in
the
world
with no
supplemental
oxygen
or
support
other
than
from
themselves
and
their
life-long
buddies.
From
a very
young
age, my
brother
and I
became
obsessed
with the
adventure
side of
the
mountain
lifestyle,
playing
“Mt.
Everest”
on the
snow
banks in
front of
our home
in
Aspen.
We soon
started
to share
the
experience
with our
close
friends
who had
the same
passion
for the
mountains.
From
then
until
today,
we have
formed
what I
believe
is, in
the
annals
of
mountaineering,
a
totally
unique
brotherhood
of
climbing
partners.
There is
nothing
like the
cocktail
of the
majesty
of the
world’s
greatest
peaks
combined
with the
commaroddery
experienced
with
your
twin
brother
and best
life-long
friends.
Over
the
years,
the
climbs
turned
into
expeditions.
My
interest
became
the
aesthetic
part of
the
treks,
ensuring
that
with
camera
in hand
I could
document
the
journey.
Over the
years,
the
cameras
became
more
sophisticated,
the
shots
more
refined.
Then in
2000, I
was
approached
by a
television
network
interested
in
filming
our
journey
to
to ski
the
majestic
Shishapangma
in Tibet
and
other
Himalayan
and
Andes
Peaks.
This
skiing
adventure
generated
a fair
amount
of
publicity
as it
marked
the
first
time any
American
would
ski from
above
the
benchmark
of 8,000
meters
(26,246
feet).
After a
year of
planning,
my
brother
Steve
led us
to
achieve
the goal
and I
was able
to
document
the
adventure
in a
documentary
film,
Skiing
From the
Death
Zone
which
debuted
on
national
TV.
The
footage
I got on
Shishapangma
was
entirely
unique
in that
there
was no
existing
film of
anyone
skiing
from
these
altitudes.
This
fact
created
another
goal for
me
personally,
to
continue
to
capture
such
unique
high
altitude
ski
material,
something
that
could
only be
accomplished
by a
mountaineer
skier
like
myself.
Over
the
years,
and some
40
expeditions
later,
Steve
and I
find
ourselves
having
to
balance
our high
risk
lifestyle
with
maintaining
our
careers
as CPA’s
running
our own
practices
and
being
married
with
children.
No risk
is worth
leaving
our
families
fatherless,
and
although
our
skiing
experience
has
continued
to
enrich
over the
years,
reaching
the
summit
is
optional
-
getting
home,
mandatory.
It may
be tough
to
surpass
the
beauty
of the
mountains,
but as
our
father
always
assured
us - the
mountains
will
always
be there
and
skiing
safe is
the
first
rule.
With
that in
mind,
through
the
natural
progression,
starting
on the
snow
banks of
Aspen as
kids,
all the
way to
the
incredible
slopes
of Mt.
Everest,
we
continue
to grow
as ski
mountaineers,
but also
take the
lessons
from the
mountains
with us.
High
Turns
is a
pictorial
story of
this
journey.
--Mike
Marolt,
Summer
2009
To see a
movie
trailer
of the
film,
click
here.
Brought
to you
by:
Ute
Mountaineer
Sponsored by: City of Aspen Recreation Center
NOVEMBER
17, 2009
Upstairs at the Ute Mountaineer.
The film
will
start @ 7:00pm
Please
enter by
the
Hyman
Ave
Mall.
For more
information,
call
970-925-2849.
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