The Edge of Never is an important and well-written book that documents the story of Kye Peterson traveling to Chamonix to ski the run that his famous, pro-skier, father Trevor was killed on. Through this journey, the book also deals with the subjects that surround the risk and reward of big mountain skiing as an activity, a lifestyle and a job and it also posses the question: is there such thing as a living a life worth losing?
I liked this book, it was easy to read and it inspired me. It forced me to experience all the emotions that come with skiing big lines: the intrigue, desire, commitment and suffering that are part and parcel of the big mountain life. In the first half of the book, I was really fired up to concentrate on some projects that have been on my back burners for years. It was like I was awakened again to how much I love skiing big lines and my thoughts raced about what I wanted to achieve. But as I progressed through the story I was also reminded about how scary and dangerous big lines are and I remembered that the enthusiasm to ski them must be tempered with the reality that it really is a ‘death sport,’ and the risk is probably not worth it.
The part that made this book great for me was the story inside the story about the production of the movie Steep, of which the Chamonix trip was to be a central part. As anyone who has seen ‘Steep’ knows, none of the Kye Peterson material ended up making the movie and Bill gets removed from his own project by the production company during the movie’s filming. The whole process was a wild ride and it makes for a good read.
Interview I caught Bill Kerig on a Skype chat while he was in an airport on his way to a trade show. Here are some parts of the conversation
…chat in process Tim Grey Trevor was a hero of mine, and I met him and went to his funeral. So I'm pretty close to the story. His death also affected my life path, so I was pretty interested in this book.
William A. Kerig Wow. Yeah, Trevor seemed to touch a lot of people. I barely knew him and now I've spent five years of my life trying to tell his (and his son's) story.
Tim Grey The hook for me with your book was the process you went through with the production house. Would you be willing to talk about Steep as well, or do you want to steer clear of talking about it.
William A. Kerig Interesting. My first draft didn't include any of that. But it was incomplete and felt like half a story without it. It wasn't until I really told the truth about the whole thing that the stories came to life for me. For sure, I will talk about Steep. I'm not negative about the whole thing. I'm proud to be associated with Steep. It's not the film I set out to make, but there are different levels of success and I feel I did achieve one with that film. Another with the book (I hope) and I look forward to the final level with The Edge of Never film. If that makes sense...
Tim Grey I liked that you put yourself into the story with the meth dealer at the beginning. There's a real dialogue here about skiing big mountains as an activity, a lifestyle and a job. I have to do the same thing. Work my ass off just so I can make a bit of money so I get to be in the mountains for work.
William A. Kerig Cool. Yeah, that's the dialogue that I'm still living and I'm sure you're doing the same thing...
Tim Grey Curious if you have more projects like this that you want to tackle in the big mountain world?
William A. Kerig trying to.
Tim Grey And what's the status of the current project? William A. Kerig
William A. Kerig I'm researching another project now. As for the film version of EON, all our funding sources ran for cover in the market meltdown. Right now we have no $$ to finish the film. It may have to wait a year, but we're really trying to scare up other $$$.
Tim Grey Oh dang. The saga continues. I'm sorry to hear that. Is there a lot of money needed to make a film like this? I'm also curious how the book sales have gone?
William A. Kerig Saga is the right word. But we'll get it done and meanwhile the book is being received well ... to be honest, much better than I expected. Yeah. The budget on Steep was $4 million, about the same as Riding Giants. Dogtown and Z Boys was done for about $2 million by the time it was all said and done. And then there's marketing...
Tim Grey Where do you see the EON playing? In movie theathers? or at film festivals?
William A. Kerig I see EON playing in some film festivals first, then movie theaters, then TV, then DVD.
Tim Grey I’ve heard steep criticized a little for wandering off the true steep skiing story and talking more about heli stars and the current state of freeriding. Like no disrespect to Seth or Shane, but they are a little different than true ski mountaineers.
William A. Kerig Another point I completely agree with and fought against. One of a handful that I felt very strongly about. I didn't mind the heli star stuff in there, but it was unbalanced. And I was quite unhappy about Sylvan Saudan being left out. That in itself is a long story. You need the rock-star skiers in there because they look so great on film. But the other side has more depth.
Tim Grey Man you had to fight hard on this project.
William A. Kerig Yeah, I did fight and now continue to fight. But it's something I love, so I don't mind it. I've sold ads for a magazine that I started. That's a fight. I've done a lot of other stuff that just made me hurt to get out of bed. But struggling some to get these stories told isn't a bad way to spend time. Especially if I get to do it from the mountains with my friends and family. Yeah, the production stuff is interesting and complicated, especially when you get big egos and big $$ involved.
Tim Grey Your book took me through all the emotions that I've encountered with being a dedicated steep skier. In the first half of the book I was so in to thinking about all the steeps that I wanted to go ski. But by the end, I remembered that everyone dies in this game... or a lot do, and I had to shut down my ambitions again. Do you have a desire to still push some steep lines?
William A. Kerig
Yeah, I really am still drawn to steeps, but I tend to ski steep tight chutes and tricky smaller shots. The big, completely exposed lines scare me more now that I have a wife and two kids who need me. But that part of my life is great too. I also like to tour a lot more by myself now. And when I go by myself I ski really mellow things. It sounds so un-rock-star, but those days balance all the forces.
Tim Grey I'm the same way now. Although I have to remind myself a lot sometimes. What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned through the process of Steep and then EON?
William A. Kerig I made another feature film (Net Worth in 1998) and it was the same lessons: Nothing is easy, but collaborative creative endeavors with millions of dollars at stake are just damn difficult (for everyone, it seems). There's no future in flying off the handle and blowing up your relationships when things don't go as expected. Conversely, things get really interesting if you stay in the game and work with the people who seem to be screwing you over (which, in the film business, is pretty much the expected behavior).
Tim Grey Thanks for your time Bill. I hope to see you soon.
