Warren Miller Has Died
Warren Miller, whose ski films made him a legend in the ski world in his own lifetime, has died at the age of 93.
Miller was born in 1924 in depression era USA. Being keen on skiing, surfing and photography as a boy he joined the navy during the war and shot his first ski films at Yosemite on a borrowed cine camera whilst on leave at Christmas 1944.
Leaving the navy in 1946 he spent his winters working as a ski instructor at Sun Valley, Idaho where he filmed fellow young ski teachers to help them improve their technique.
His films became increasingly popular, not just for their commentary but for humorous commentary and scenes Miller added in. In 1949, aged 25, Miller set up a film company in his name and began making one big movie a year, which he took himself initially around theatres and ski resorts, narrating the commentary.
The films became increasingly popular to an ever wider, eventually global, audience, with the arrival of the new film each autumn heralding the start of the new season for skiers.
Warren Miller's "Beyond The Edge" Theme Song, 1986
Congratulations to the late Dan Fogelberg, who is being inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame this year! Dan composed the theme song for Warren Miller's "Beyond the Edge" (1986), one of our all-time favorites. Do yourself a favor and take a look at this clip.Click here to download the full film: http://bit.ly/wme-library
Posted by Warren Miller Entertainment on Freitag, 9. Juni 2017
Miller travelled the skiing word looking for locations and featured some of the greats of the skiing world in his films including The Arlberg’s father of downhill skiing Hannes Schneider and the French skiing sensation, Jean Claude Killy, with whom he toured the world for six months in the late 1960s making a TV series.
Miller made the films annually for almost four decades to the late 1970s when he sold his company. However he kept narrating films until as recently as 2004.
Miller was famous for his humour and witticisms as well as his cinematography and for taking skiers to exotic and exciting parts of the world they were unlikely to visit and could not then see instantly on a small screen as they can today. He wrote 11 books and over a thousand articles for newspapers and magazines.
A statement posted today on Warren Miller’s website says,
“We are saddened to share the news that our beloved Warren passed away peacefully at the age of 93 at his home on Orcas Island, WA. While this is a time of profound loss, we are comforted that Warren’s life touched so many. Warren made the extraordinary seem accessible, and his legacy of freedom, humour, and adventure endures through all of you. Whether you saw his movies, read his books or met him on the slopes, he considered you to be part of his family. Your love meant the world to him. For those who are able, ski your favourite run or do something else you love in Warren’s memory. As Warren might say: “I’ll see you same time, same place next year, only I’ll be watching from a different mountaintop.”
