For this project, I worked with Mike Rolfs the FOMR Executive Director and the creator of the film, Steven Gnam. Mike builds custom skis at COOP Ski Works. You can find Mike on Mission Ridge nearly every day of the year, on skis or on foot. Steven Gnam is a FOMR board member, National Geographic photographer, Emmy-award-winning videographer, and author of the book, Crown of the Continent, The Wildest Rockies. Steven lives with his wife and daughter in Cashmere, WA, with their four ducks. Both Mike and Steven North Central Washington locals and avid outdoorsman who care deeply about the FOMR mission.
Film Summary:
A developer proposes a 7,812-bed luxury resort near the top of Mission Ridge, adjacent to the Mission Ridge Ski Area. Orchardists, skiers, hunters, birders, and Tribes are concerned about the impacts that this development would have on the ecology and culture of the region.
Mission Ridge was an oasis during the last ice age, while the surrounding terrain was buried under thousands of feet of glacial ice or scoured by cataclysmic floods. The mountain became a refuge for plants, animals, and early humans, evidenced by the fact that it has one of the highest occurrences of endemic plants in the region, and continuous human habitation going back before the building of the pyramids in Egypt. The film, Ridge to River, follows locals as they trace lines across the mountain, following the migrations of the Colockum elk, chasing ski turns, and growing food at its base. Ridge to River is a love letter to this landform that stretches from Mission Peak to the Columbia River.
I created four different versions of the poster and they ended up using all four options in various aspects of the film’s marketing. For the posters above, Steven was kind enough to lend some of his photos that were captured during the production of the film.