GQ Studios partners with John Skipper's Meadowlark for new documentary

GQ's longform story, "Angels of the Avalanche," written by Joshua Hammer, tells the story of helicopter rescue team battling life-and-death obstacles in the high mountain slopes of the Swiss Alps.

It is now being developed for the screen as a documentary. GQ Studios has teamed up with Meadowlark, the production company run by former ESPN chief John Skipper, to adapt the story.

It marks one of the highest profile developments for GQ Studios, under the leadership of CNE's President, Agnes Chu.

"Angels of the Avalanche" –which is featured in the February 2022 issue of GQ – follows the elite Air-Glaciers Rescue team of the Alps.

It will feature select participants of the Air-Glaciers team that undertake all types of rescue missions. Hammer’s first-hand reporting provided an inside look at the storied Air-Glaciers rescue team, who make roughly 2,500 rescue runs in the Alps each year. Skiers and snowboarders are venturing further in the backcountry than ever before—at a moment when climate change is making mountain conditions dangerous and unpredictable.

CNE's Global Head of Film and TV, Helen Estabrook, told Deadline: "Josh’s reporting — centering on a helicopter rescue team battling life-and-death obstacles in the high mountain slopes of the Swiss Alps — is plenty dramatic. But what makes it a quintessential GQ Studios project is that it tells a deeper and more urgent story about survival, climate change, and why one of the world’s most dangerous jobs is suddenly getting both harder and more important."