January 30th FILM PROGRAM at the Dairy Arts Center (Boedecker)

Alex Lowe, one of the greatest mountaineer of his generation

1:00 PM and (Sold Out) 4:00 PM: TORN with Special Guest: Max Lurie, AvaLanche EXPERT

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Playing at the Boedecker Cinema — $15

Widely hailed as the greatest mountaineer of his generation, Alex Lowe was a towering figure in the world of outdoor sports. But he loomed even larger for his oldest son, Max, who was only 11 in 1999 when Alex was buried by an avalanche along with cameraman David Bridges while attempting to ski the north face of Mount Shishapangma in the Tibetan Himalaya. Seventeen years after their deaths, Lowe's and Bridges' bodies were found by two climbers attempting the same route, and in the following months, Lowe's family journeyed to the remote mountain to recover them. In the powerful and deeply moving new documentary TORN, director Max Lowe examines the long-buried feelings this unearthed for him and his family, including his mother, Jennifer; his younger brothers, Sam and Isaac; and his stepfather, Conrad Anker, Alex's climbing partner and best friend.


“An intimate, intense, and emotional documentary.”

”A story of a young man trying to understand why a father would risk his family to go mountain climbing, and why another mountain climber was able to find a more harmonious balance.”


"When Alex [Lowe] used a camera to capture his remarkable feats, there's something poetic about Lowe employing it once more for what seems impossible."

“The filmmaker clearly finds catharsis in telling his own story, but moviegoers will discover value, too, in this poignant glimpse into the allure of danger, and the grief that can be left behind.”



  • Director : Max Lowe

  • Principal Cast: Conrad Anker, Alex Lowe (archive footage), Isaac Lowe, Sam Lowe, and Jennifer Lowe

  • Country: USA

  • Year: 2021

  • Running Time: 92 minutes

Max Lurie

Max was raised along the rugged coastline of Maine and learned to climb in Acadia National Park and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For more than fifteen years he has traveled in pursuit of this passion. Max began his career as a mountain guide while earning his bachelors degree in Earth Sciences at the University of Maine. While in school his studies took him to Denali National Park, Alaska and the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Since 2009 he has been traveling to climb and guide in Alaska, Canadian Rockies, Cascades, Rainier, Red Rock, Sierras, South America, Tetons, Yosemite and more. Currently Max lives in Boulder, Colorado with his partner Katie and their dog Dexter.

Max is an American Mountain Guide Association certified Rock and Alpine Guide, as well as an accomplished alpinist. Max has been climbing since 2004 and traveling to the greater ranges in pursuit of his passion. Currently, Max’s greatest passion is ice, mixed and alpine climbing. He enjoys steep technical ice and mixed climbing on long routes in the mountains. When he isn’t guiding, Max is training to improve his own technical skill and quiet his mental landscape in constant pursuit of his next objective. He can be found honing his craft on the many cliffs surrounding his home in Boulder, Colorado or up in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Max primarily works in Rocky Mountain National Park and along the Front Range of Colorado. However, he frequently travels to Ouray, Red Rock, Rainier, North Cascades National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Canadian Rockies and abroad for climbing and guiding.

Alpine Bank - Boulder official sponsor of the 2022 Boulder Environmental/Nature/Outdoors Film Festival

Program sponsor