JACKSON, Wyo. — A Wyoming PBS documentary about American mountain guides will make its world premiere in January at the AlpinFilm festival in Jackson, which is hosted by the Teton Climbers’ Coalition.

“A Life Outside: American Mountain Guides” will debut at Center for the Arts on Jan. 17 with director Mat Hames, Wyoming PBS and the mountain guide community in attendance. The 90-minute film highlights Wyoming’s pioneering mountain guides and the legacy of Paul Petzoldt, a mountaineer who founded the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and the oldest guide service in North America: Exum Mountain Guides.

“I’m deeply grateful,” said Hames via press release. “‘A Life Outside’ is a love letter to guiding, teaching, and mountaineering in the Tetons, and AlpinFilm feels like the perfect place to premiere it. After two years of making this film, there’s no better feeling than getting to share it first with the people who lived it: the guides of Exum, Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and NOLS. Screening it for the outdoor community makes this especially meaningful as it’s their story. Wyoming is where guiding became a true profession, and this night will be about honoring that history.”

With a parallel narrative structure, the documentary weaves the historical context of mountain guiding into a modern story that follows Exum guides on the Grand Teton and NOLS students in the Wind River Range.

Paul Petzoldt, right, leading a group. Photo: Wyoming PBS

The film will later be screened at the Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Durango Independent Film Festival. Wyoming PBS has yet to release a broadcast date for the documentary, but will update its website when that has been finalized. After the screening at AlpinFilm, a 30-minute panel discussion will take place.

“Paul Petzoldt taught us that the outdoors has the power to shape character, leadership, and respect in ways few classrooms ever could,” said Wyoming PBS CEO Joanna Kail. “To have ‘A Life Outside’ premiere at AlpinFilm in Jackson, in the heart of Wyoming’s mountains where it all began, is a profound honor. His pioneering role in the profession of guided mountaineering and instruction, and the values he instilled continue to inspire climbers, guides, and adventurers across Wyoming and around the world.”

Monica is a Staff Reporter who studied journalism at Syracuse University and has been in the valley since 2015. She loves writing about the local food and bev scene, especially craft beer. When she’s not on the clock, you can find her paddle boarding, sewing, or whipping up a new recipe at home.