Chris Benchetler Raves About Dennis Ranalter In Upcoming Film

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Apr 29, 2025 3:49 PM ET

Skier and creative visionary Chris Benchetler has been dropping small nuggets of content from an upcoming film all winter long.

The new film, titled Mountains of the Moon, will feature skiers and athletes from a variety of action sports disciplines as they move through the mountains in their respective sports, while once again illuminated by glowing skeleton costumes in an homage to the the film's soundtrack of Grateful Dead tunes.

As the film continues production, Benchetler has released behind the scenes episodes to his YouTube channel along the way. The latest of these Ship of Fools episodes transports viewers to an iconic line at Mammoth Mountain that Benchetler himself had skied previously. A GoPro POV of Benchetler skiing it blew up on TikTok and made it a no-brainer to include in the film.

You can watch the latest episode here, or by clicking play below.

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Rather than ski the line again, Benchetler has passed the torch of this weird wiggle onto none other than Austrian steeze lord, Dennis Ranalter. According to Benchetler, Ranalter was high on the list of athletes he wanted involved in the Mountains of the Moon project. "His style is so unique and how he translates his art form on skis is exactly in line with this project," said Benchetler.

The line winds its way through several rock hallways, just wide enough for a pair of skis, before snaking through the trees to more step-down style features. Once Benchetler had skied it, he knew skiing it at night would be epic. "I feel like this is the dream run in my head," said Ranalter of the line, "I could spend months in there."

A collaboration between Benchetler's vision and Ranalter's creative skiing is pretty much a match made in ski production heaven. There are few skiers that exude the same creativity as these two, and when backed by a film crew of this level, the product is sure to be cinematic magic.

Mountains of the Moon is currently slated to be released in Fall of 2025.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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