Just in time for the beginning of a new ski season, the independent documentary film “The Edge of Never” came to Sundance Cinemas this week.

The film follows 15-year-old Kye Petersen on his journey to ski the Glacier Mond in Chamonix, France, the mountain that claimed his father’s life in 1996. Producer Peter Schweitzer used the book of the same title, written by the film’s director, William Kerig, in 2008, as a vehicle to realize his dream of capturing the “heart and soul of skiing.” Incredible alpine cinematography and unique insight into the daring life of professional ski mountaineers accompany what is a surprising tale of human achievement and fulfillment.

As a documentary qua documentary, “The Edge of Never” meets all the basic criteria that is essential to the genre. It journalistically explores the mystique of the Chamonix mountains in France, an alpine Mecca that at one point in its history claimed the life of one skier per week. The unique subjects and interviews operate as a viable lens for Schweitzer to expand on a particular niche of ski culture, and it maintains a consistent and developing story arc throughout.

Experienced skiers will appreciate the thrill and pure challenge of skiing in Chamonix, and the interviews of internationally renowned ski mountaineers Glen Plake and Ansleme Baud put Kye’s quest in perspective for the casual viewer.

Yet, the film succeeds in more ways than by simply demonstrating the importance of the sport to a handful of its most avid and colorful enthusiasts. Simultaneously, “The Edge of Never” puts forth a subtle bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story, in the character of Kye Petersen, whose maturation is decidedly inspiring when he scatters his father’s ashes across the mountain where his father met his demise over a decade earlier. While practically all documentaries are born out of a filmmaker’s peculiar observation of the complexity of the human condition, few attempt the novelistic creative nonfiction found in “The Edge of Never.” Despite his status as a fatherless ski prodigy, Kye is easily the most accessible subject, and his story seems almost too compelling to have actually happened. Schweitzer uses his adventure well in crafting a human story over the backdrop of ski journalism.

Despite its great balance, the film struggles at times to maintain the artistic fingerprint of Schweitzer, who states near the beginning he intended to use the documentary project to find direction at a midlife crossroads. A professional skier living in Salt Lake City, Schweitzer hints some of his personal dreams are left unrealized, and though he expertly tells the story of Kye Peterson, the film lacks requital of the main motivations for its creation. Plake, Baud and Schweitzer provide a couple aphorisms on the parallels of skiing and the big choices in life, but more elaboration on the changes that took place in Schweitzer over the course of filming would have added depth and meaning to the documentary.

The casual, non-skiing viewer’s initial reaction to the film may be one of tacit disapproval, especially considering the perilous slopes of Chamonix and the questionable decision to send a 15-year-old up one of the world’s deadliest mountains. At first glance, the documentary’s personalities seem out of touch, and the cynic would say that injury and death are the rightful consequences of such a cavalier approach to life. At the very least, the collection of ski bums and Chamonix legends Schweitzer brings together are certainly unique. But as the documentary goes on, it becomes obvious that these skiers are firm believers in living life on the edge, with no plans to change their daring worldview. Their tendency to push the limits of achievement is admirable, and the film seeks to unleash whims of adventure in the viewer.

“The Edge of Never” will never be called one of the seminal works of documentary filmmaking, but that was never the intent of Schweitzer, anyway. Despite its keen focus on the ski lifestyle and those who have made it their livelihood, the documentary will appeal to the daring sensibilities in any viewer. In a strangely existential way, it advocates a fearless approach to life, reminding the viewer that the choices in life — however dangerous they might be — are what define us.

3 1/2 stars out of 5.