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Screening Of Film Featuring Avalanche Victim Put On Hold

VAIL, Colo. (CBS4) - The screening of a film featuring the grandson of one of the founders of Vail is on hold after the young man perished in an avalanche on Tuesday.

Tony Seibert, 24, died outside the Vail Mountain Resort. The Seibert family is well known in the Vail area. It goes back to Pete Seibert's desire to build the best ski mountain in Colorado. He settled in Vail, not far from Camp Hale where he served during World War II. It's the history of the 10th Mountain Division that is the purpose for the film.

"I'm really proud to be a descendent … everything that they've done has affected my life so much, and that's the reason I am who I am today," Tony Seibert says in the film "Climb to Glory."

The Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum has been working on "Climb to Glory" for the past four years and got some help from Warren Miller Entertainment.

"We feel like this is one of those things that will keep kids in Colorado educated to really -- what was happening in the 1940s? And who fought for this country? And who gave them the ski industry that they're enjoying today?" Susie Tjossem with the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum said.

One way to make that connection was to have Tony Seibert star in the movie with two other men.

"So you had three very, very accomplished skiers that were intimately involved in this story," Tjossem said. "And it meant so much to them personally to be able to tell the story of their relatives."

But a film that was meant to be a tribute for the 10th Mountain veterans now has an added meaning.

"Now it's going to be a lasting tribute to Tony as well, and I think we want the family to see it and enjoy it," Tjossem said. "Tony is so happy in this movie, knowing he's giving back and paying tribute to his grandfather. It's just heartwarming."

The Big Vail Valley premiere for the movie was supposed to take place Thursday at the Vilar Center in Beaver Creek. It's now been pushed back Thursday, Jan. 30, out of respect to the Seibert family.

Last year, for a very small screening, it won the Audience Choice Award at the Vail Film Festival.

The film will also be shown on March 17 at the Boulder Theater.

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