Swiss distribution and production group Ascot Elite Entertainment has announced the start of filming for the highly topical sports documentary and four-part mini-series Downhill Skiers - Ain't No Mountain Steep Enough by Austrian filmmaker Gerald Salmina.

The two-part production about the world of alpine skiing began on 8 April and will be filmed until the Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria, in February 2025.

At the centre of the documentary is Swiss ski champion Marco Odermatt, who set a record run at the ski championships last season. Other stars of the ski racing scene such as Switzerland's Jasmine Flury, France's Cyprien Sarrazin and Austria's Marco Schwarz also have their say.

"To win, you have to surpass yourself and face the challenges of gravity and centrifugal force in an area that is difficult to control without being brutally thrown off," says Salmina. "Downhill Skiers - Ain't No Mountain Steep Enough - is a film that wants to find out and learn what exactly drives these athletes and how the best of them manage to constantly push themselves to their limits."

Salmina explored this world back in 2014 with his sports documentary Streif - One Hell Of A Ride, in which he accompanied participants training for the ski challenge on the legendary Austrian Streif in Kitzbühel, which is considered one of the most dangerous courses in the world.

His other works include Mount St. Elias, shot in Alaska, about three mountaineers who attempt the longest ski descent in the world, and the speed windsurfing doc Bjorn - Born To Windsurf, shot in Namibia.

Downhill Skiers - Ain't No Mountain Steep Enough is a co-production of Blue Bird Pictures and Elite Filmproduktion in co-operation with Red Bull Media House, Amazon, ORF and the Swiss company CH Media, funded by the Austrian Film Institute and the Swiss Federal Office of Culture.

"We are delighted to be working with Gerald Salmina and his team. Of course it is a highlight that we are able to set the sporting focus of this documentary with Marco Odermatt, currently the most successful skier in the world, but we are also looking forward to other world-class athletes such as Jasmine Flury, Cyprien Sarrazin, Dominik Paris, Marco Schwarz, Conny Hütter, Sofia Goggia and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie," says Ascot Elite producer Roger Kaufmann.

The film is distributed in Austria by Panda Film and in Switzerland by Ascot Elite Entertainment.