Montana PBS releases film about local skiing “Mavericks”

“Mavericks,” a new film from Montana PBS, that premiered in Bozeman on Jan. 26, documents the story of skiers from all over Montana finding their path to success while encountering struggles along the way.

This film highlights the careers of just a handful of the best Montana-made freestyle skiers. Featured athletes include Olympic gold medalist Eric Bergoust from Missoula, Whitefish’s Maggie Voisin and Butte’s Bryon Wilson.

Scott Sterling, director of production at KUSM and Montana PBS, and Kelly Gorham, director of visual media at MSU, are two of the film’s producers, while Montana PBS Director and General Manager Aaron Pruitt is the executive producer. “This really fits the kind of stories that I, as a filmmaker, want to tell but also what PBS wants to tell,” Sterling said. “You know unique stories, number one; Montana stories, also number one. Stories that haven’t been told before, the repetitive filmmaking isn’t for anybody.”

Gorham, a former competitive freestyle skier himself, set the “Mavericks” story in motion over 10 years ago while competing with many of the athletes featured in the film. Gorham’s goal was to capture the essence of the sport, which isn’t only about glory but also the struggles and what it takes to overcome them.

“At one point it struck me and I think this was right after I got out of college and I had made the U.S. team and it really struck me like wow,” Gorham said. “This is something special and I feel like I’m involved in something special.”

Gorham grew up in Missoula and has experienced everything the sport has to offer: successes, disappointments and, worst of all, injuries. After enduring a severe crash and undergoing bone graft surgery, Gorham’s skiing career came to an end.

“My experience isn’t the glory, my experience is the injury and I think that experience is shared by probably 95%,” Gorham said, explaining the inclusion of injuries in the film.

“A story needs both sides and most ski films are the glory,” Sterling said. “People don’t talk as much about the adversity in the struggle, it’s more than injuries, it’s self doubt.”

Gorham and Sterling sifted through hundreds of hours of archival footage to encompass the history of the sport and highlight the top skiers of Montana. The pair have worked hard to combine Gorham’s knowledge and experience of the sport and Sterling’s top-notch filmmaking skills to reach the final product.

“It really turned out to be a great partnership,” Sterling told the Exponent. “And each of us brought a full half to the table that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.”

This film embraces the ‘Montana-way’ of life, which is with a skiing perspective. Gorham recalled being inspired when his close friend and fellow competitor, Eric Bergoust, retired from competition after the 2006 Olympics and was then inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Later, Gorham began to see this as a bigger story than that of just one athlete.

“I got really seriously into photography when I was about 17 and that’s when I was competing,” Gorham said. “I started just documenting everything, we always did when we were training together, because we didn’t really have coaches or teams. And so it was just a group of friends, growing up in the mountains.”

The film focuses on Montana skiers, but the targeted audience breaks those barriers. “It’s a human story, it’s not a ski film,” Sterling said. “So the idea is that this will resonate with anybody.” Gorham and Sterling produced the film with the goal to scratch past the surface of the competitions and tell the story in a way that is enticing and inspiring to all audiences, including those outside of Montana and beyond the ski world.

“Mavericks” premiered on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at the Emerson and will also premiere on Thursday, Jan. 27, in Missoula at the Wilma at 7 p.m. The film will air on Montana PBS at 6 p.m. on Sunday and again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, for those who miss it or those who just can’t get enough.

For more information on the film and to view the film’s trailers, visit https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/mavericks/.