I still remember sitting in the screening room, jaw agape. Here were men and women pummeling down mountains - not regular ski mountains with carved-out routes, but mountains in Alaska without another soul for miles.

These were the skiers in search of the real adventure - interested in riding the line between life and death.

Perhaps it was Kerig’s experiences in crafting "Steep" that led the filmmaker to follow up that documentary with another work about skiing, and the ultimate price that has been paid by so many thrill-seekers. It’s called "The Edge of Never," and it zeroes in on an extreme legend: Trevor Peterson, who was killed in Chamonix, France as he attempted to push his body beyond the limit.

This, of course, is always the danger on taking on mountains. There are crevices you can fall through, avalanches you can set off that will bury you deep in the frost. There are jagged cliffs and rocks, and unexpected patches of ice. The skiers like this rush precisely because it’s so dangerous - but the flip side of that coin means that injury and death lurks all around.

"The Edge of Never" begins before Petersen’s death, chronicling the rise of the extreme skiers, and digging deep into the mentality that leads someone to gaze up at a mountain and want to ride it all the way down.

But the movie also acknowledges the agony that awaits an entire community when one of the pioneers goes down, a victim of the sport he loved.

This is one of the few extreme skiing documentaries I’ve seen that pays heed to the dangers of the activity. And out of this mourning, "The Edge of Never" chronicles a mission of redemption and renewal.

Peterson had a 15-year-old son, and extreme skier Glen Plake - a friend of Peterson - decides that he’s going to bring together a crew of elite athletes to help this youngster to finish his father’s run - simultaneously slaying the mountain that kill his dad, and fulfilling his final wish.

All of which makes this documentary surprisingly moving, as well. It’s a film with stunning vistas, about a sport that most of us here in Wisconsin - who don’t see mountains every day - can hardly imagine. And underneath it all, it’s also a story about the camaraderie of this community, and one family struggling to move forward with their lives after a terrible loss.

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