Volker Holzner

Peter Ressmann was an experienced alpinist - during a routine exercise in 2010 he died in an accident. The portrait shows how Ressmann developed from a Kitzbühel boy to a mountaineer on the one hand, but above all to a straightforward and grounded person on the other. Mountain partners like Axel Naglich remember this unique mountaineer, who was not only known and appreciated for the longest ski run from Mount St. Elias.

Mount St. Elias is a dramatic and awe-inspiring feature documentary following three of the world's greatest ski mountaineers to the Mount St. Elias in their attempt to realize the longest ski descent of the world. Why did they came up with such a project idea and how did they made it? In the run-up to the breathtaking documentary, the producer and alpinists answer these questions in an equally exciting making of.

Two Austrian ski alpinists, Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann as well as the American freeski pro Jon Johnston, are facing the challenge of completing the longest ski descent ever – from the peak of Alaska’s Mount St. Elias down to Icey Bay at the Gulf of Alaska. The dimensions: a distance of 25 kilometers from the 18.008 ft high summit with a massive vertical relief up to 60° steepness. However, before this recored descent can be started, the mountain has to be climbed without any technical device - an adventure with indefinable risk. Mount St. Elias is a movie that finally shows why it is the mountains which unite lethal danger and delirious happiness.

History books tells us that in 1953, Hillary and Tensing were the firsts to conquer Mount Everest. However the German researcher Jochen Hemmleb is now casting doubt on this belief as just below the summit of Mount Everest he and his team discovered the well-preserved body of George Mallory, who in 1924 had made an assault on the peak with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine. Did Mallory stand on the summit 30 years before Hillary? To find an answer to this question, we follow Jochen Hemmleb on a further risky search expedition on the roof of the world. Using criminological methods Hemmleb and his team also hope also to find the body of Mallory’s partner, Andrew Irvine. In 1924 Irvine had a small camera with him, whose contents may provide proof as to who was actually the first person to reach Everest’s summit.

Short version of the documentary 'Erster auf dem Everest': History books tells us that in 1953, Hillary and Tensing were the firsts to conquer Mount Everest. However the German researcher Jochen Hemmleb is now casting doubt on this belief. Did Mallory stand on the summit 30 years before Hillary? To find an answer to this question, we follow Jochen Hemmleb on a risky search expedition on the roof of the world. Using criminological methods Hemmleb and his team hope also to find the body of Mallory’s partner, Andrew Irvine. In 1924 Irvine had a small camera with him, whose contents may provide proof as to who was actually the first person to reach Everest’s summit.