To live and play in the mountains is inspiring, life-giving and deadly.

Whether a denizen of the Rockies, the Japanese Alps, the Dolomites, Andes or Himalayas, mountain people are connected by distinct threads. They are softened and humbled by nature, aware of its herculean forces. Indeed, the mountains transcend culture, religion, and language and remind us our fragility and dependence on the natural world. They also comprise important pieces of our identity.

Such notions are at the core of Yūgen, “a three-year borderless mountain-based documentary film that explores the connection we as mountaineers and environmentalists share with the natural world.” At the helm is snowboard mountaineer Rafael Pease. He takes viewers on a global, awe-inspiring mission through Hokkaido, Japan; Patagonia, Chile; Haines, Alaska; Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, and more.

Check the trailer ahead of Yūgen’s September premiere.