Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche

This documentary had me riveted to my seat. I have always had an interest in this story, mainly because of how it affected our family. My brother-in-law was a professional skier at the time and his girlfriend was at the resort working that day. She became so worried about the weather conditions, so she called my brother-in-law to come pick her up. The avalanche happened about an hour after they left. It was a miracle she avoided the catastrophe that followed. I've heard this story so many times, and I'm glad someone finally did a documentary about it. Thank you to all those who worked so hard in the rescue efforts.

This documentary is one of the best that I have ever watched. I remember this event well as I was learning to ski at Heavenly Valley Ski Resort during this terrible storm. Such a perfect storm was created from the weather, the snow conditions, etc. While watching this moving doc, I chuckled, I had tears in my eyes, and I learned a lot about snow and weather and what can create these types of conditions that led to this tragic event. I also really enjoyed the interviews with the surviving people that were in charge at Alpine Meadows that terrible day. Well filmed, well documented, and the subject matter was handled beautifully with grace, homage, and dignity given where deserved. This needs to be nominated for the Best Documentary category!

7.0 stars.

This is a semi-memorable documentary about a really bad avalanche in one of the most avalanche prone resorts in the world. What's the big surprise here? It's obvious that something like this was going to happen in such a hazardous location, and yet, the local "experts" figured they had it under control. It's a sad story of the needless loss innocent lives. These things happened a lot in those days, not so much now 40 years later. We don't see nearly as much of these dangerous occurrences in the United States these days. For some reason our safety awareness has skyrocketed ten-fold since the 80's, yet life expectancy hasn't changed. I find that interesting. This film is very well done. I don't watch a whole lot of documentaries, but got through this one just fine.

Maybe a bit long? My big issue was the overly loud music in the first 15 minutes, I understand they were trying to describe that many of the employees were ex-hippies but I keep thinking/hoping they would turn it down during the conversation, they don't! Really annoying. I do like the style of no third party "interviewing" just letting the people talk and tell their story. 3-4 of the main characters are not very likeable. That's always a problem when the story line is built to to provide a "sympathetic avenue" and it doesn't work. Overall, a good doc. I'm sure skiers will get more out of it than non-skiers.

The necessary elements for an outstanding movie are the same whether for a documentary or feature film.:

1] Compelling story and script.

2]. Performance quality that is genuine with unmistakable emotional content that resonates with and enlivens the emotional experience of viewers.

3]. Cinematography that effectively supports as well as enhances the visual story-telling process.

It is my opinion that "Buried" embodies the highest qualities of each of these elements and clearly demonstrates that it's creators possess a mastery of the visual story-telling art. It would be impossible to produce a documentary of this quality without a remarkable commitment of time and compassion. Interviewees rarely share their hearts as openly as those in this film without a substantial level of trust and comfort. Although based on the consequences of a natural disaster there is a consistently uplifting theme of heartfelt humanity throughout. The film also successfully highlights the necessity for avalanche awareness as well as the need for improved prediction and snow management practices.

Bravo to director/producers Steven Siig and Jared Drake for this monumental achievement.