Wingsuit pilots and snow riders occupy the same mountain scene in this extract from IMAGINE: Life Spent on the Edge. The Nuit de la Glisse film dates from 2013 and names Mathias Wyss and Ludovic Woerth as the pilots. Its immediate impact comes from combining two activities usually watched separately, with the snow slope providing a common reference for their movement.
Two kinds of mountain movement in one frame
The skiers and snowboarders make the airborne movement easier to read. A mountain on its own can leave a viewer struggling to judge distance; another moving person gives the scene a more familiar scale. At the same time, the camera's position and the chosen angle influence how the subjects appear in relation to one another. Apparent closeness is not a measured separation.
The excerpt's title called the sequence a first. The surviving archive does not independently establish that priority claim, so the film is better identified by its production, year and named pilots. Those details are specific enough to distinguish it from an anonymous stunt compilation without needing to settle the history of every earlier wingsuit-and-ski filming attempt.
Explore more: Valentin Delluc’s speed-riding film; a GoPro journey into the Andes.
Video: IMAGINE: first ever wingsuit flying above skiers (published by Nuit de la Glisse).
Timing two kinds of movement
Watch how the frame changes as one activity enters the space of the other. The interest is not only in the flight or the skiing in isolation, but in the timing that allows the audience to read both at once. A short extract selects the most effective moments; it does not show all the planning, communication or decisions that surrounded the production.
The 2013 release and the surviving recording
The old announcement listed cinema distribution in several countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Australia and Brazil. That was release-period information for the 2013 film, not a current screening schedule. The Nuit de la Glisse recording is the useful point of reference here. Treat the sequence as a historical specialist film rather than a model for arranging flight near other mountain users.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Let Me Take You To The Mountain!
- That's So Cute! 17 Months Old Skiing! We Were Amazed At How Well She Did
- Mad Skier Backflips Over A Highway - And Faceplants Against The Snow
- If This Video Does Not Get You Excited To Go Skiing You Should Just Stop Skiing!
- Valentin Delluc’s speed-riding film
- a GoPro journey into the Andes
- IMAGINE: first ever wingsuit flying above skiers
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