Kye Petersen is no stranger to the mountains. The twenty-five-year-old out of Whistler, British Columbia has been claiming peaks, conquering burly lines and filming epic ski segments with multiple production companies for nearly his entire life. This year, Petersen is working on his in his first-ever solo film project, In Search. Hitting the web this fall, In Search will examine Petersen’s life in the mountains and his passion for big mountain skiing. We caught up with the man himself to get the scoop on what’s to come. Spoiler Alert: It’s going to be sick.

The Q&A

Hey Kye. How’s summer treating you? Where are you currently?

Summer has been good. I’m in Pemberton right now. I’ve just been bouncing around the sea-to-sky area lately, taking advantage of the good weather we’ve been having by skating, climbing and hitting new swimming holes when it’s too hot. I’ve also been working on my new project, In Search, trying to finish up editing and whatnot.

Todays dunk spot. #heatwave @flynntowin @killahcal

A photo posted by Kye Petersen (@kyepetersen) on Jul 2, 2015 at 9:19pm PDT

Congratulations on your film project. How stoked are you to show your latest work to the masses?

Thanks man. I’m super stoked. It’s cool to be able to have some control and be able to choose what I really want to put together and show people. It’ll give a sense of what I’ve been up to and will show the variety of backcountry terrain styles that I enjoy. Hopefully it gets some people psyched.

Aside from yourself, can we expect to see any other athletes and friends in the film?

It’s a short personal project, about ten minutes long. But I did ride with a variety of friends throughout the year and that will be shown in the spring camping trip I did to the Waddington Range with Matty Richard, Nicolas Techrob and Johnny Foon. But yeah, the main action is just footage of me.

You worked alongside Inspired Media throughout. Who exactly made up your film crew?

I mostly worked with my buddy Benjamin Webb. Ben is also doing all the editing for the movie as well. I also shot with a few other filmers. Caleb Einhorn did all the filming on our Waddington camping trip. I dragged some friends out for a few days to shoot, and linked with Leo Horn, Mason Mashon and some of the Superproof and Sherpas crew. A few of the shots are also from trips I did with Patagonia and 4FRNT as well. It took a lot of collaborating to make it happen. Inspired [Media] became involved after the original idea was sparked, and I’m stoked they wanted to join forces. Inspired is helping produce the film by doing all the premiere tour stuff, releasing the movie on its player and distributing it around the web.

Where and when can we check it out?

The Inspired movie tour stops will be released soon, but I know there are stops through many towns in the U.S., Canada and some in Europe. We will release the full trailer next week, and the full movie will drop in late October. More details will be released when the full trailer is released.

What has been your favorite moment of the filmmaking process thus far?

Probably just filming some of the zones I was really interested in and going on the trips I really wanted to do. Road tripping to Alaska was really cool, even though we received unstable weather, most of the time the terrain was incredible, as was the experience.

@foonskis and I topping out on the Gerbolet coulior. After wallowing up insecure 60 degree pow for 600m and dodging the loose snow streaming down from Johnny punching through the cornice i was very anxious to get to a nice spacious ledge to put my skis on, only to realize our top out was a boot-width knife edged ridge with a double edged cornice and 2000 feet of air below. Quite gripping to say the least although i felt somewhat comfortable (besides being cold and wet), mostly thanks to Johnny's confidence and psyche on the route. This line was the first and only TD+ ive ever skied and likely the steepest skiing ive done with so much fresh snow. #In_Search #waddingtonrange #WaddedUp #AhhHell Photo: @foonskis

A photo posted by Kye Petersen (@kyepetersen) on Jul 23, 2015 at 12:56pm PDT

What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in making this project?

The biggest challenge was definitely dealing with the weather on some of our biggest trips and working through the worst season I’ve seen on the west coast. The last two winters haven’t been great around British Columbia and I was hoping this winter was going to be a good one because most of the locations we planned to shoot at were in B.C. We had some great moments, but had to work through a lot of bad conditions and small, unstable weather windows. We didn’t have many consecutive days getting shots and many days took a lot of effort for little outcome, but that’s how it goes in the mountains sometimes.

Are there plans for a world premiere?

As of now there isn’t one distinct world premiere, but I would like to do a special showing around my hometown of Whistler and maybe an online sneak peek premiere at the same time. I do know that one of the first showings will be premiered online at the iF3 festival in late September.

Will the flick eventually be available online?

Yes, it will first be release by Inspired on its video player and site in October. Shortly after, it will be distributed to many different sites and on YouTube, all for free.

You have a unique perspective on backcountry and big mountain skiing. Where do you look for inspiration in your skiing style?

I usually channel most my inspiration from the terrain I search for. Typically, that includes unique natural backcountry features. A lot of my inspiration also comes from surfing and skateboarding, as well as all the rippin’ skiers I grew up watching and the guys I often ride with. I try to take a bit from everyone and be inspired by pushing the technical natural lines and features more than anything.

Over the years, you have been involved with Seth Morrison and the late JP Auclair, particularly in The Ordinary Skier. Can you give us some insight on how either or both of them have furthered your knowledge in the mountains?

Riding with those guys over the years helped give me confidence, but also showed me that you have to love what you’re doing to continue improving and getting better. Both JP and Seth gave it their all because they genuinely love skiing. JP more than anyone showed me that it’s all about love and creativity.

A video posted by FREESKIER Magazine (@freeskiermagazine) on Aug 21, 2015 at 4:24pm PDT

You’ve got a badass series of pro model skis with 4FRNT. Which pair do you find yourself on most?

I’m mostly riding the KYE 120, which is the fattest model. I love it for the really deep conditions, and in most terrain types I’m really comfortable on that ski. For more specific disciplines—like hard pack, couloirs, park or super steep areas—the 95 and 110 are also great weapons.

What are your plans for the rest of the summer, fall and the coming winter?

I’m hoping to get on my surfboard more around the B.C. coast when I have time this fall, between premiere stops. I’m also planning a few fun alpine climbing adventures before the snow flies. I’m working on figuring out plans for this winter, but I’d definitely like to head back to Alaska and the northern British Columbia; hoping to put another short film together as well, but we’ll see.

Final thoughts?

Thanks to my family, friends and sponsors who support me doing what I do. Thank you. Make sure to check out my short movie, In Search this fall.