Atomic Applauds Chris Benchetler’s Announcement of New Collaboration with the Grateful Dead, Mountains of the Moon

Atomic applauds Athlete and Creative Director Freeski, Chris Benchetler, as he announces his collaboration with the Grateful Dead which will debut in Fall 2025. Mountains of the Moon, currently in production, is an immersive experience featuring music by the Grateful Dead and produced in partnership with Arc’teryx.

Chris Benchetler is accompanied by fellow Atomic athletes Dennis Ranalter and Mike Gardner as they bring the mountains to life equipped with the 2025 Bent family of skis. A line 15 years in the making in partnership with Benchetler, the latest iteration of the Bent family is an extension of his style and vision as a skier and artist. Atomic is proud to be a part of his journey as he continues to inspire audiences through his groundbreaking storytelling and creativity. Through film clips within Dead & Co’s opening night at the Sphere Las Vegas, fans caught a first glimpse of Mountains of the Moon’s one-of-a-kind visuals.

State-of-the-art camera equipment and lighting capture surreal images of athletes including Rob Machado, Elena Hight, Danny Davis, Michelle Parker, Dennis Ranalter, Jared Elston, Mike Gardner and Benchetler as they ski, snowboard and surf at night in lit landscapes and Arc’teryx skeleton suits. Within the Dead & Co opening night, imagery captured at Mammoth Mountain while making Mountains of the Moon were featured during “Drums & Space.” The Dead & Co. residency at the Sphere is scheduled to run through mid-July 2024.

These shots are just a tiny taste of Benchetler’s latest and most-ambitious multimedia project to date. “My last film, Fire on the Mountain, featured skiers, snowboarders and surfers riding at night with lighting and effects that created a whole new way of seeing the sports, set to a hypnotic soundtrack from the Grateful Dead. Mountains of the Moon isn’t a sequel, it will be an immersive experience designed to explore even deeper themes and evocative visuals pushing nonlinear visual-storytelling to its absolute limit.”

“Chris, as an artist and a filmmaker, sees things in new ways that bring new dimensions to music and art,” said Mickey Hart, Dead & Co and Grateful Dead's longtime drummer. “I am thrilled to be part of his latest project, getting to play on top of Mammoth in the middle of the night was surreal. It felt like heaven; I was deeply moved by the experience.”

But make no mistake, Mountains of the Moon will not be just another action sports film. Instead, it’s an ode to the emotional connection and improvisational skill skiers, surfers, snowboarders, divers, climbers and bikers feel when they commune with their natural environments. “For me, the improvisational connectedness that the Dead express musically, is really no different than the experience that I have deciding on a line down a mountain or a surfer has when dropping-in on a wave,” Benchetler said. “The experience will celebrate the spiritual, mystical feelings we have when we practice our various crafts.”

In addition to night skiing at Mammoth Mountain in California and an early shoot at Kelly Slater Wave Co’s Surf Ranch, the project will be in production for the next year, with production planned in six dynamic, natural environments worldwide. Thank you to Altamar Brands, Alterra Mountain Co, Arc’teryx Atomic Skis and Ikon Pass for believing in the vision. Follow @ChrisBenchetler on Instagram for more insider looks at the project as production continues.

Media Contact for Chris Benchetler: Lora Bodmer | Deep Communications | 307.690.1630 | lora@deep-communications.com