Overview
Aurora produced Launch Party | Snowboard Edition for the Olympic Channel, a new original documentary offering an all-access look at the world’s leading snowboarders as they begin their road to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Filmed in Saas Fee, Switzerland, Launch Party brings viewers inside the snowboarding community during one of the sport’s most important early-season training periods. With access to leading athletes including Mark McMorris, Su Yiming, Maddie Mastro, Valentino Guseli, Red Gerard and Mons Røisland, the film captures life both on and off the slopes as Olympic campaigns take shape, highlighting the close-knit community of the sport as the countdown to Milano Cortina 2026 begins.
Approach
Shot over three weeks in October, the documentary was Executive Produced by snowboarding legend and three-time Olympic bronze medallist Mark McMorris alongside Aurora’s Chief Content Officer Dominique Cutts, and directed by Emmy Award-winning director Peter Hamblin. Embedded within the community throughout the production, the filmmakers were welcomed into day-to-day life in Saas Fee, allowing for a level of intimacy and access rarely seen in elite winter sport.
Launch Party explores the culture and camaraderie that define snowboarding at the highest level. Away from competition, the film follows athletes through downtime on golf courses, informal jam sessions, guitar evenings and shared meals. On the snow, it captures the constant push for progression – big air sessions at Stomping Grounds, attempts at NBDs (never-been-done tricks), and the physical and mental demands of returning from injury or chasing Olympic form.
The film follows McMorris as he targets the one title missing from his career, Su Yiming as he reflects on rediscovering motivation after making history at Beijing 2022, and Maddie Mastro as she balances the pressures of her third Olympic cycle with life away from competition. Alongside them, Hailey Langland races against time to recover from injury, while Valentino Guseli looks to establish himself among the sport’s elite.
All of this unfolds against the backdrop of Saas Fee – a small Alpine town that, each year, becomes a temporary home for the best snowboarders in the world. It is here that friendships are formed, limits are tested, and Olympic ambitions begin to feel real.
Launch Party is available to watch in full for free on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and on the official Olympic apps for mobile and connected TV devices.
WATCH HERE: https://www.olympics.com/en/original-series/episode/launch-party-snowboard-edition
