For skiers and snowboarders, fall is one of the best times of the year. The weather cools, snow begins to fall, and the season is just weeks away. Oh, and one more thing: it’s ski film premiere season. And for big-line, backcountry lovers, one of this year’s movies will leave you itching to find your own lines.
Teton Gravity Research recently dropped its official trailer for its new film, Actually, It Is Rocket Science. Since the company’s founding in 1995, one of its main focuses has been on documenting the progression of action sports — primarily skiing and snowboarding. Actually, It Is Rocket Science marks TGR’s 31st annual ski film, following 28 elite skiers and snowboarders as they ski and ride some of the world’s most consequential terrain across multiple continents.
With its latest film, TGR wanted to prove that elite-level skiing and snowboarding are more than just dropping in without a second thought. To do so, it turned its riders into mountain scientists, testing the limits of speed, precision, creativity, and commitment in big-mountain and street environments where any minor adjustment can be the difference between the line of a lifetime or a catastrophic injury. The film covers everything from pre-drop calculations to instincts to line ideas, all culminating in a movie filled with jaw-dropping clips and raw mountain environments.
“Actually, It Is Rocket Science plays with the idea of what is and isn’t when it comes to skiing,” TGR Lead Editor Johnny Seybold said in a press release. “It’s a little tongue-in-cheek because we’re not literally building rockets, but there’s a real question underneath it. Some athletes lean into analytics and calculation, while others rely on feel and instinct. And when you consider everything that goes into making a ski film, the parallels start to show. From the mountains to the office, it’s a 12-month, all-hands-on-deck effort where everyone from athletes to interns play an equally important role, or the mission fails.”
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The film features locations all over the world, each highlighted by their own unique features, identity, and conditions. The film begins in Haines, Alaska, where a base camp sitting on the edge of the Alaska Range puts athletes within shooting distance of some of the world’s most remote and spectacular big-mountain terrain. In Japan, the riders experienced volcanic peaks covered with snow along with a completely different landscape of rural plains, lakes, and cliffs.
The riding continues in British Columbia, marked by iconic granite walls. Up next is Finland, famous for its Arctic light and endless forests. Sticking around Europe, the riders head to Andorra, finding lines across rugged Pyrenean valleys and high-altitude basins.
When the riders return to North America, Jay Peak, Vermont, is the location of choice, with a season marked by endless powder. All roads eventually led back home to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and its dramatic, jagged peaks.
“Different mountains. Different conditions. Different variables,” TGR writes. “But the objective is simple: find the line.”
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Following in the footsteps of the scientific method, everything starts with questions: “How far can you push a line? How much can you calculate before instinct takes over? And what happens when the plan meets the mountain?”
Each skier answers those questions differently. Whether it’s relying purely on instinct, spending months calculating lines, or just waiting for the perfect moment, Actually, It Is Rocket Science gathers perspectives from all and brings them together across a season spent chasing the most intense lines.
“From Alaska to Japan, British Columbia to Finland, Andorra to Vermont, the film captures what happens when preparation meets uncertainty—and when the only way to find the answer is to drop in,” the company wrote.
Actually, It Is Rocket Science premieres Sept. 19 in Jackson Hole before taking off on a global film tour with 200-plus stops. Tickets and screening locations can be found on Teton Gravity Research’s Website.
