Steep: Glorifying extreme risk taking?

The contrast between my own personal take on the movie and what's expressed in the reviews (there are a bunch) linked from here:

movies.go.com/steep/d914981/documentary

are pretty striking. It seems most reviewers have trouble empathizing with the experience of being in wild places and focus exclusively on the risks associated with those who push the envelope. I don't presently intend to ski lines as committing as many of those shown, but I can understand why, sans adrenaline, you'd want to.

I don't think the reviewers have trouble empathizing with the experience of being in wild places. What they have trouble with--and what the film fails to clarify for them--is why it is necessary to court danger for its own sake to enjoy those places. "Steep" is about a branch of skiing that is distinguished primarily by the risk involved. There are other ways to experience wild places on skis that don't entail that level of risk. The reviewers know this. The common theme in the reviews is that "Steep" fails to explain why it is so great to risk your life for fun.

As Dave White writes in his review, most of the skiers interviewed in the film suggest that until you've risked death on top of a mountain, you haven't truly lived. That notion is simply offensive.

^^ I just talked with someone who had that exact same impression last night.

That's much different than the impression I had. Maybe the delivery was unfortunate. Maybe it's just a cheap high. But there's a big difference, to me, between admiring something and experiencing it in an intimate fashion. I'll spare everyone the sexual analogies that are always so hard for me to resist.

Why the need to get offended by what some adrenaline-addled junky says, though? If they're so obviously off base, then there shouldn't be much harm in these loquacious lunatics, should there?

Shouldn't we be just as offended by peoples of various religions who insist that we're headed to hell?

Maybe the delivery was unfortunate.

[...]

Why the need to get offended by what some adrenaline-addled junky says, though?  If they're so obviously off base, then there shouldn't be much harm in these loquacious lunatics, should there?

The delivery is key. If the junky implies that everybody but him is living an unfulfilling life, it is offensive. If on the other hand, the junky says that for him, and him alone, the only way to find fulfillment is to risk it all, it is not offensive. In this case, instead of being offended, the audience is likely to feel some mixture of pity, titillation and/or revulsion.

the directors of Steep chat about why make the film.

Steep is now available on Netflix. I watched it last night and thought it was great, my wife agreed. I thought they spent too much time on the chopper/lift served stuff, shortchanging true ski mountaineering, but I guess it is easier to shoot (and the footage is beautiful). We also thought it focused on the risk a bit too much, but that also makes you think (about the risks we all take in the mountains even on non-extreme days). I was disappointed they didn't even mention any Himalayan descents, the director said he wasn't happy with the available footage he saw, but I think they should have used some stills and at least mentioned some of the 8,000 m routes if they wanted to give a better overview of the sport.

I got an email announcing that Steep was available on DVD... followed the link and got an order page offering the disk for about $27.

Then I went to the Steep site at:
www.sonyclassics.com/steep/

and they had DVD  links to Amazon selling for about $23 and used ones for $18...
www.amazon.com/dp/B0012CJQZK/

and Blueray for about $27:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0012CQSWE