In “Aiming High – A Race Against the Limits,” directors Flavio Gerber and Alun Meyerhans chronicle the ambitious effort to establish a new downhill classic at the base of the Matterhorn. The documentary world premieres at the Zurich Film Festival.
Touted as the world’s first transnational and highest-altitude ski race, the Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening was set to debut in 2022, with racers speeding down the Gran Becca course from the Matterhorn glacier in Zermatt across the border to the finish line in Cervinia, Italy.
Courtesy of Filmgerberei
The film follows 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 initially planned to make a documentary offering a big-picture look at the ski scene and the new race offered an ideal entry point.
“It was interesting to do a movie about something new, about a vision, about some something big,” says Gerber. “Of course we wanted to have the spectacle of the ski races – and it was a speed race. And we wanted to have all this with the big view of the mountain. But it turned out differently. It turned differently each day we were there.”
First organized in the fall of 2022, it was quickly canceled due to insufficient snow. The following year, facing fast-changing weather conditions, heavy snowfall and strong winds, it was again canceled, dashing the hopes of organizers, sponsors, fans and athletes, among them Swiss ski champions Marco Odermatt and Lara Gut-Behrami.
Indeed, while it started out with high expectations, the massive undertaking soon devolved into a roller coaster of emotions. “It was down, up and then further down,” Gerber recalls. He and Meyerhans saw the troubled development of the race as an even more interesting part to focus on, however.
Courtesy of Filmgerberei
“It was quite challenging to keep the spirit up of all the protagonists and of the organizations, even the FIS [International Ski Federation]. It was bitter for all of them. We were there, we kept on going, and it was also tough for us to be like, okay, what’s the story and where can we find our way to tell the story? But in the end we somehow managed.”
It was “a massive undertaking, marked by emotions of euphoria, uncertainty and helplessness,” adds Meyerhans.
In view of the dangerous conditions of the high-altitude course, the athletes ultimately became united in their opposition to the races.
“A lot of people knew about the conditions during this time in November at this level,” Meyerhans explains. “There were a lot of voices saying, let’s do it like in March, because then for sure you have 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 a risk.”
While the skiers were aware that the course was risky, they were also interested “because there was a huge gap between the season start and the first speed race,” Gerber notes. “So it was kind of a good idea. The second year it was okay, let’s try it one more time.”
Having to spend at least a week there, ready to put everything they’ve got into the race, only for it not to take place was draining for the skiers, Gerber adds. “And then you go home with nothing. It’s a big loss also for the athletes.”
The adrenaline and frustration added to the drama. Watching the skiers geared up and ready to go only to have the race canceled at the last minute was agonizing. Some already expected the race to be canceled the following day and didn’t even want to get up in the morning. But still they had to and they had to be ready to travel up 3,800 meters up the mountain, he adds.
In co-directing “Aiming High,” Gerber and Meyerhans re-teamed after making their 2021 doc “Roger Federer. The Reunion,” likewise produced by Zurich-based Filmgerberei. While they worked closely together they also led their own teams while making the film, with Gerber focusing on the event organizers and the FIS and Meyerhans concentrating on the athletes.
In addition to Odermatt and Gut-Behrami, the film also features such top athletes as Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Corinne Suter, Jasmine Flury and Mauro Caviezel, who likewise discuss their experiences in the run-up to the races.
Gerber and Meyerhans put together a team of seven DOPs headed by Tom Gibbons and also including Silvio Gerber, who worked on the Federer film, and Jan Mettler.
“The first challenge was to find good team members who were able to ski because you’re only allowed to go on the slope if you’re able to ski,” Gerber says. “No snowboard allowed because it’s too icy, too hard. So that was the first challenge. And then of course, we had a good team of DOPs who were really used to shooting in the mountains.”
That was of particular importance as the cameramen had to work very independently at times, with an assistant and maybe a sound guy, but still had to do a lot by themselves, while getting shots that were “big and spectacular.”
Despite the failure of the Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening, the Matterhorn continues to lure Switzerland’s ski sector, which is again pushing for a new World Cup race in Zermatt. Instead of the cross-border Gran Becca course, however, the Gornergrat downhill on the eastern side of Zermatt is now being considered for a possible comeback in 2027. The Gornergrat Derby was one of the most popular skiing events in Europe in the 1950s and ’60s.
Gerber and Meyerhans are keeping up with developments but it’s too early to say whether they’ll return to the Matterhorn for a follow-up doc. The duo is currently tossing around 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, Liberty Global-owned telco Sunrise.
