High Ice (film)

High Ice, also known as Challenge of the High Ice,^[4] is a 1980 American adventure television film directed by Eugene S. Jones and starring David Janssen, Tony Musante, Madge Sinclair, and Gretchen Corbett. Its plot follows a park ranger and army lieutenant attempting to save three rock climbers stranded on a mountain ledge. The film was released in the United States as an NBC Movie of the Week in early 1980, but was given a theatrical release internationally. The extended theatrical cut of the film shown in foreign countries includes nude sequences that were excised from the television version.

High Ice
Genre	Adventure thriller
Written by	Sy Gomberg Jack Turley
Directed by	Gordon Hessler
Starring	David Janssen Tony Musante Madge Sinclair Gretchen Corbett
Music by	Robert O. Ragland
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Eugene S. Jones Natalie Jones
Cinematography	Robert E. Collins
Editor	George Hively
Running time	97 minutes[1]
Budget	$2 million[2]
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	January 7, 1980 (1980-01-07)[3]

Premise

A park ranger (David Janssen) clashes with an army lieutenant colonel (Tony Musante) regarding the rescue efforts of three rock climbers stranded on a mountain ledge in Washington.

Cast

• David Janssen as Glencoe MacDonald
• Tony Musante as Lt. Col. Harris Thatcher
• Madge Sinclair as Dr. Pittman
• Gretchen Corbett as Liz
• James G. Richardson as Scott
• Allison Argo as Kathy
• Dorian Harewood as Lt. Zack Hawkins
• Warren Stevens as Sgt. Lomax
• Katherine Cannon as Sandy
• James Canning as Lt. Foster
• James Kaufman as Lt. Foley

Production

Filming took place in Darrington, Washington in the summer of 1979.^[2] The production budget was approximately $2 million.^[2]

Release

Upon its airing on NBC in January 1980, High Ice was met by approximately 25 million viewers in the United States.^[2] The film was subsequently given a theatrical release internationally, with nudity which had been cut from the television version reinstated.^[2] The film aired on television again in the late 1980s on MTV.^[5]

Critical response

James Brown of the Los Angeles Times deemed the film a "visually breathtaking, but dramatically stuttering diversion...  Director Eugene Jones further hampers his own cause with some choppy transitions, confusing flashbacks and muddled dramatic focus."^[4]