This thrilling sports documentary outlines the history of snowboarding through 2005, which comes across as something Icarus might have tried if he had lived in a
colder clime. It may seem a stretch to reference Greek mythology when talking about a sport that was once looked upon with scorn by the skiing establishment, but the transcendent imagery of First Descent gets you thinking in those lofty terms. As a framing device, the movie gathers a handful of pioneering and contemporary snowboarders to tackle some of the most
harrowing mountains in Alaska, and in their daredevil exploits these athletes aim to do nothing less than touch the sky.
