Miller, Obermeyer Jr. develop two films in Aspen honoring sports pioneers

Filming recently in Aspen, creators Kurt Miller and Klaus Obermeyer Jr. are in development with two documentaries that trace the DNA of modern winter sports back to two of its boldest pioneers.

“Both of these films go back to innovators within the winter sports category,” Miller said, the son and former owner and executive producer of Warren Miller Films who also runs Synergy Group. 

Award-winning filmmaker Miller is producing, and top commercial director Klaus Obermeyer Jr. is directing. The pair shot Dec. 4-5 in Aspen at three different locations, including Hotel Jerome.

‘LIFT’

While many ski movies focus on on-snow action, Miller and Obermeyer Jr. are zeroing in on aerial contributions to films, whether it’s a James Bond movie, a war movie like “Dunkirk,” or a winter sports action flick. The pair hired their own heli pilot to visit heli-ski operations in Blue River, British Columbia.

“The film is about the craft of flight itself — about the technology, expertise, choreography, and sheer audacity required to capture cinematic moments from the air,” according to a press release. 

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The documentary explores the beginnings of heli-skiing — a concept that once sounded outlandish. More than 60 years ago, ski pioneers like Mike Wiegele and Hans Gmoser were climbing huge peaks to make a single, bottomless-powder run. It was sublime but not scalable. Wiegele’s entrepreneurial leap was to fly skiers to the top instead of climbing. This meant flying in deep winter, bitter cold, and conditions few would dare. 

“It’s not just ski action; it’s what they were able to accomplish. Who would think of flying a helicopter in the snow with a snowstorm, in the cold, with a thousand thousand pounds’ worth of people riding in the back?” Miller said. “These are people that did it way back when.” 

It led to the foundation of the heli-skiing industry and one of the most extraordinary ski experiences available.

Talent in the film includes local Colter Hinchliffe and longtime Wiegele guide and “Aspen Extreme” athlete Bob Rankin, with award-winning aerial stunt pilot Craig Hosking. The film is slated for the fall of 2026.

Klaus Obermeyer

The other documentary centers on the life of Aspen’s Klaus Obermeyer, 106, whose name has become synonymous with Alpine life. Starting with little more than grit and vision, Obermeyer built Sport Obermeyer in 1947, an outdoor apparel brand that still bears his name and remains founder-owned. 

“It will be 80 years in two years, and it’s still going strong. The founder that founded it is still around,” Miller said. “This is rare and an incredible feat for a company.”

He noted that, at a recent lunch, Obermeyer can still sit down and order a cheeseburger at his age.

“The guy is amazing,” Miller said.

The documentary will open with a harrowing chapter Obermeyer recounted from his youth when he tried to escape Germany: He believed Nazi soldiers had left the area, only to see them below as he was skiing from a mountaintop. 

“Klaus was escaping Germany and got shot by the Nazi’s leaving and was left for dead at the top of a hill,” Miller emphasized. 

According to Miller, Obermeyer’s story encompasses being shot in the back, falling off a cliff, and somehow surviving, “swimming down the hill” on two broken legs. For Miller, it’s an example of the improbable resilience and fate that shaped Obermeyer’s path to America. At heart, both films are tributes to people who refused to accept what was “normal.” 

Production and release plans reflect the same independent streak these stories celebrate. The film is planned to be shown in a community rollout and then sold to a streaming service, with proceeds from the film going to local charities.

Chris Jenkins, who is doing the mix on both films, has won three Academy Awards, including Sound Mixing on “Mad Max: Fury Road” and Best Sound for “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Out of Africa.”

Miller added that a trailer is slated for Aspen on Dec. 2, 2026, on Klaus’s 107th birthday, with the full premiere scheduled for Dec. 2, 2027.