“Aim high” recounts the defeat in the Matterhorn ski event

In “Aiming High – A Race Against the Limits,” directors Flavio Gerber and Alun Meyerhans recount the ambitious effort to establish a new downhill classic at the foot of the Matterhorn. The documentary has its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival.

Billed as the world’s first transnational and highest altitude ski race, the Matterhorn Cervino Speed ​​Opening was due to begin in 2022, with racers hurtling down the Gran Becca course from the Matterhorn glacier in Zermatt across the border to the finish line in Cervinia, Italy. .

The film follows the organizers and athletes and the challenges they face over the course of two years as they try to establish the new event.

Gerber and Meyerhans had originally planned to make a documentary offering a holistic overview of the ski scene and the new race offered an ideal entry point.

“It was interesting to make a film about something new, about a vision, about something big,” says Gerber. “Of course we wanted to have the spectacle of ski racing – and it was a sprint race. And we wanted to have it all with a clear view of the mountain. But it happened differently. It turned out differently every day we were there.

Organized for the first time in the fall of 2022, it was quickly canceled due to insufficient snow. The following year, in the face of changing weather conditions, heavy snowfall and strong winds, the event was canceled again, dashing the hopes of organizers, sponsors, fans and athletes, including the Swiss ski champions Marco Odermatt and Lara Gut-Behrami.

Indeed, although it started with high expectations, this massive undertaking quickly turned into a roller coaster of emotions. “It was down, up, then down,” Gerber recalled. He and Meyerhans, however, saw the difficult development of the race as an even more interesting aspect to focus on.

“It was a real challenge to maintain the morale of all the protagonists and the organizations, even the FIS (International Ski Federation). It was bitter for them all. We were there, we kept going, and it was also difficult for us to ask ourselves: okay, what is the story and where can we find our way to tell the story? But in the end, we made it. »

It was “a massive undertaking, marked by emotions of euphoria, uncertainty and helplessness,” adds Meyerhans.

Given the dangerous conditions of the high-altitude course, the athletes ultimately united in their opposition to the races.

“A lot of people knew the conditions at this level at this time in November,” says Meyerhans. “There were a lot of voices saying: let’s do it like we did in March, because then there’s sure to be snow and the conditions are better. There was a huge discussion going on. … But it was kind of a big dream, so they really tried (to organize this) new race, and I guess they were also willing to take risks.

While skiers were aware that the course was risky, they were also interested “because there was a huge gap between the start of the season and the first sprint race,” notes Gerber. “So it was quite a good idea. The second year everything went well, let’s try again.

Having to spend at least a week there, ready to put everything they had into the race, only to have it not happen, was exhausting for the skiers, Gerber added. “And then you go home with nothing. It is also a great loss for the athletes.

Adrenaline and frustration added to the drama. Seeing the skiers prepared and ready to go and seeing the race canceled at the last minute was distressing. Some were already expecting the race to be canceled the next day and didn’t even want to get up in the morning. But they still had to do it and be prepared to climb 3,800 meters of mountain, he adds.

In co-directing “Aiming High,” Gerber and Meyerhans teamed up again after directing their 2021 documentary “Roger Federer.” La Réunion”, also produced by the Filmgerberei of Zurich. While working closely together, they also led their own teams during the filming of the film, with Gerber focusing on the event organizers and FIS and Meyerhans focusing on the athletes.

In addition to Odermatt and Gut-Behrami, the film also features top athletes like Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Corinne Suter, Jasmine Flury and Mauro Cviensel, who also talk about their experiences in the run-up to the races.

Gerber and Meyerhans assembled a team of seven cinematographers led by Tom Gibbons and also including Silvio Gerber, who worked on Federer’s film, and Jan Mettler.

“The first challenge was finding good team members who could ski, because you’re only allowed to go on the slopes if you know how to ski,” says Gerber. “No snowboarding allowed because it’s too icy, too hard. So that was the first challenge. And then of course, we had a good team of cinematographers who were really used to filming in the mountains.

This was particularly important because camera operators sometimes had to work very independently, with an assistant and perhaps a sound guy, but they still had to do a lot on their own, while still getting “big, dramatic” shots. .

Despite the failure of the Matterhorn Cervino Speed ​​Opening, the Matterhorn continues to attract the Swiss ski sector, which is once again campaigning for a new World Cup race in Zermatt. Instead of the Gran Becca cross-border route, we now plan to make its return in 2027 with the descent of the Gornergrat, east of Zermatt. The Gornergrat Derby was one of the most popular ski events in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gerber and Meyerhans are monitoring the situation, but it is too early to say whether they will return to the Matterhorn for medical follow-up. The duo is currently brainstorming a number of ideas for a possible next project.

“Aiming High” was produced by Filmgerberei in cooperation with Swiss sports network MySports and with funding from its parent company, telecommunications company Sunrise, owned by Liberty Global.