CINEMA ON THE SLOPES MILLER FILMS SET FOR 51ST MOVIE.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

Warren Miller has announced his retirement from his son's ski-filming company. Again.

``He retires every year,'' says Peter Speek, who, with Kurt Miller, bought Warren Miller Films 12 years ago. ``Then, we ask him if he wants to write a bit of it, or do a (voice over) and then he says, `This is my last year.' It's like he never retires.''

In Speek's mind, a Warren Miller Film without Miller would be a travesty.

``We have to have the Warren Miller spirit,'' Speek said. ``We want people to leave our films inspired. We want them to think about life. What do you want to do with your life? And it doesn't have to be about skiing. Do you want to be a better parent? The question the film should ask is, are you living your life to its fullest?''

Southern Californian Warren Miller, 75, began making ski films in 1949. This year's 51st film, a 90-minute feature called ``Ride,'' will be shown at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The movies, traditionally shown at the beginning of the ski season, include skiing from around the world, music by mainstream pop artists and up-and-coming bands and crisp, droll writing. Miller estimates his movies have generated between $3.5 million and $4 million in revenues domestically and are among the top-25 grossing films among Hollywood productions.

``You can only ski while looking back through your legs and filming a skier chasing you for so long,'' Miller told the Associated Press last month. ``Now, I get to spend all of my time skiing down the hill for the fun of it.''

Speek, 44, and Kurt Miller bought Warren Miller Films a dozen years ago on a leveraged buyout, and with the blessing of Warren. Speek was a ski bum in Mammoth before joining the advertising industry. While working for a beer company, he met Kurt Miller when Miller was looking for promotional material. They quickly formed a partnership.

``We're seen as leading a life of free lift tickets, the ultimate ski bum,'' he says. ``Frankly, I skied more when I was washing dishes in Mammoth than I do now.''

The film crew visited 19 sites for the current film, including Colorado, Wisconsin, British Columbia, New Zealand, Russia, Greenland and Austria. Music is performed by artists such as Beck, Los Lobos, Galactic, Reverend Horton Heat, Duran Duran, Widespread Panic, Slow Rush and 7 Minds.

``Warren has not been involved in the filming in 12 years,'' Speek said. ``But his presence is still there and his spirituality is still there.''

Speek says there's a ``love-hate'' relationship between Kurt and Warren. Both Kurt, who grew up in Hermosa Beach, and Speek understand it's probably easier traveling to ski sites now than when Warren began filming, but it's not an easy job.

``People think of the Warren Miller lifestyle as a wonderful day of skiing and nothing else,'' said Speek, who prefers helicopter skiing. ``They don't see us eating the cold food, the long days of filming, the numerous shots, the travel.''

Last year, the crew filmed in Kazakhstan for the first time. They took 19 crates of gear and only 18 arrived at the former Soviet republic. The missing gear: the film; Speek estimates they shoot more than 100,000 feet of film for each feature and that one foot out of every 35 is used. Fortunately, Federal Express delivers to Kazakhstan.

``We were in Greenland for the first time,'' he says. ``It's a really powerful sequence.''

It's a scene Speek says that draws skiers close to their sport.

``Within our genre, we're the Walt Disney of adventure sports,'' he says. ``Warren Miller Films isn't as big as Walt Disney, but we have our niche, and if we stay with that, we're fine.''

Other Southern California performances will be Dec. 6 at the Long Beach State Carpenters Performing Center and Dec. 10 at the Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks.

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Photo: Peter Speek and Kurt Miller of Warren Miller Films say they are the ``Walt Disney of adventure films.''

Photo provided