Risk is a funny thing. Without any risk, we easily become complacent; there’s no excitement or accomplishment. Too much risk, though, becomes reckless, needlessly endangering ourselves, our collaborators, our loved ones.

Every day we go out in the mountains, we accept a level of risk in order to pursue what we enjoy–but how much is too much? If we are dedicated to and driven by something that has an amount of danger baked into it, what is reasonable to continue to pursue? How do we balance our need for freedom and exploration with responsibility and safety? And how do we marry our relationship with risk in the mountains, vulnerability to things outside of our control, and the life that we step back into when we take off our boards?

In Invisible Ground, Elias and Zavier de Le Rue explore the relationship between freeriding in big mountains, personal experiences of risk taking, and the vulnerability that is inherent in their pursuit.

From Elias:
Invisible Ground is a new film from the creative mind of Elias Elhardt. We’re humbled to be helping bring this film to our audience, discussing heavy topics that hit close to home for anybody who has spent time in the mountains.

After tragic avalanche accidents, Xavier de Le Rue and Elias Elhardt deeply question their motivation for the potentially life-threatening pursuit of freeriding, which they have dedicated themselves to. During several days in the mountains together, they share personal experiences of risk taking and what being vulnerable actually means to them. By questioning unrealistic ideas of control, Invisible Ground sets out to explore how to obtain a reasonable balance between the love for adventure and a misguided drive to expose oneself.