Ski Channel Glides Into HarroArt Pact
Deal With Ski Photographer Harrington To Produce Series, Documentary
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 12/17/2007 3:38:00 PM
The Ski Channel has inked a programming deal with skiing photographer Tony “Haro” Harrington that will yield a new TV series, a documentary film and coverage for the World Heli Challenge on the video-on-demand service.
Ski Channel chairman and CEO Steve Bellamy said the company, which has a carriage contract with Time Warner Cable, has ordered the Storm Hunter series from Harrington's firm HarroArt. The show, featuring a dozen half-hour installments, will be shot on film and follow such extreme skiers and snowboarders as the Crist Brothers and Chris Davenport in the Himalayas, Andes and Dolomites. Columbia Sportswear is one of the brands lined up to support the series, according to Ski executives.
The partnership will also manifest in a documentary film that will chronicle the globe’s biggest storms and those who tracked them.
In addition, Ski Channel has obtained rights to the World Heli Challenge, where five helicopters elevate 50 of the most extreme skiers and boarders to some of the most untouched terrain in the world for various competitions. The 14-day event in 2008 will take place in Mt. Cook in New Zealand, where the mountain scenes for the Lord of the Rings theatricals were shot. Competitions include: freestyle, extreme and Chinese downhill, plus bungy jumping, jet boating, glacier walks and ice climbing.
“Harro is one of the worlds’ most unique and talented artists,” said Bellamy in a statement. “There is a good chance when you pick up a magazine with an amazing winter display; you are looking at his handi-work. This is a guy whose photos have carried over 120 covers. He is the Roger Federer/Michael Jordan of the space and a guy revered by all in this world. This partnership is going to be a great windfall for The Ski Channel.”
