Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Edge of the Earth’ on HBO Max, a Limited-Run Docuseries Following Some of the World’s Greatest Adventurers

What does it mean to go to places few ever dare to go? That’s the question asked in Edge of the Earth, the appropriately-named documentary miniseries debuting on HBO Max. Over the course of four episodes, filmmakers follow four different teams of outdoor adventurers attempting never-before-accomplished missions of incredible daring, athleticism and discovery, ones that’ll leave you breathless even if you never get off the couch.

EDGE OF THE EARTH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The camera sweeps in on a massive, impossibly-steep and snow-covered mountain, slowly zooming in until we realize that three tiny specs on the snow are climbers working their way up a sheer frozen wall. If you’re like me, your palms are already sweating less than a minute into the show.

The Gist: Edge of the Earth promises to follow a different group of adventurers on an extreme adventure in each episode, and the first episode wastes no time setting the tone. We meet a team of snowboarders, led by veteran athlete Jeremy Jones, as they plan to trek up Mount Bertha in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park for the purposes of snowboarding down a fresh “line” that’s never been skied or snowboarded before. It’s an audacious mission just to say it, but to see it–from the sweeping camera shots that start the episode–is to wonder how such a thing could even be possible and not a death wish.

The crew is fleshed out through quick bio hits, showing multiple members of the team in more “traditional” sporting competition, snowboarding in organized competitions and expressing their eventual frustration with the sport even as they excel at it. It sets them up as outsiders–people who couldn’t find what they were looking for in the ‘normal’ world of sports and had to go to the edge of the earth searching for meaning (and for bigger thrills.)

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Some of the best adventure documentary films out there, from Meru to Free Solo to 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.

Our Take: “Once you commit, there is no turning around,” the first of a chorus of voices intones near the beginning of the first episode, titled “Into the Void”. Others continue: “We’re entirely removed from civilization.” “We know once we get there, we’re on our own.” “We’ve chosen to live a life that does have risks.” “One mistake, and you’re dead.” “If you harness that fear, you can do something that you never thought possible.” “Is the pursuit worth the risk?”

These people aren’t like you and I, is what they’re getting at.

Documentaries that focus on extreme outdoors adventures run the risk of being corny, because frankly, the people who engage in such things are often prone to spouting slogans and mantras about possibility and risk and overcoming fear and just doing it. In the wrong hands, what’s meant to be an inspiring piece of filmmaking can quickly turn into something closer to a Nike commercial.

The best way to avoid that happening?

Just make something that’s simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful and utterly terrifying.

Edge of the Earth does this and more–the pilot presents a mission that feels impossible before it even truly starts, as we find the would-be snowboarders waylaid by a storm, shoveling snow off the deck of their boat while still attempting to sail to the mountain they plan to climb up and slide down. That obstacle serves as a perfect dramatic stall; the tension builds while we wait for the chance for the promised adventure to begin. We meet each member of the crew and become invested in their journey as more than just the specs on the mountainside we saw in the opening shot.

That’s only the first of many obstacles; eventually, they land their boat, then have to trek miles inland across the glacier on cross-country skis, dragging all of their gear behind them as more storms loom. When they reach the mountain and the sun finally does come out, the seemingly-welcome warmth triggers hundreds of avalanches. “This whole perfect place turns into this sloppy, dirty, dangerous mess of wet snow,” Jones grimly notes.

When the main quest finally does begin, it’s a doozy. An arduous trek up the sheer mountainside, traveling mostly at night when the snow might be safer. “Every step you take has to be a sure step,” Hight notes, without need for explaining the alternative. The triumphant moment the team shares at the summit almost feels like a Hollywood ending–until you remember they’re not done about to snowboard down the mountain.

“It’s pretty indescribable… but you can’t forget that the most dangerous part is ahead of you.”

(I can’t do justice to what happens next. You just need to watch to believe it.)

Sex and Skin: None. It’s cold up there! You gotta keep those clothes on!

Parting Shot: The three adventurers stand at the bottom of the mountain they’ve just skied and boarded down, in awe of the enormity of their accomplishment. “It’s just surreal. It’s like make-believe,” they laugh.

Sleeper Star: Jeremy Jones is presented as the team’s leader, but the most compelling member might be Elena Hight, a two-time Olympian snowboarder who grew burned out with traditional competition and decided to “walk through the mountains and figure out the rest of my life.”

Most Pilot-y Line: “When you’re this far out on the edge, you have to rely on your team to make it back,” our adventurer notes just after laying out the audacious scope of their planned mission.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Outdoors documentaries can become repetitive after a while, but there’s nothing stale about Edge of the Earth, which balances character-based drama-building with truly epic cinematography that’ll drop your jaws and fill your heart.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky who publishes the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter.