Haulin' Ass Filming Locations

Haulin' Ass is a documentary about one of the most challenging, yet least recognized sports in modern culture: Pack Burro Racing. Pack Burro Racing is a sport indigenous to Colorado that is deeply rooted in the state's mining history. Started in 1949, the sport set out to celebrate the lives of miners, as well as their most faithful companions: burros. Over 60 years later, the sport still survives, although it is relatively unknown outside of its annual participants and the towns that host the races. The rules to burro racing are simple: one man or woman is partnered with one burro to run races over marathon distances into the Colorado mountains, surpassing altitudes of over 13,000 feet. The person may not ride the animal. Instead, they must run alongside of it and try to develop a partnership with one of the most notoriously stubborn creatures on the planet. There are half a dozen races each year, but the three most challenging make up the coveted Triple Crown of burro racing. For three consecutive weekends in the middle of every summer, burro racers run for a collective 64 miles in the Fairplay, Buena Vista and Leadville races to try and win the intensely challenging and heartbreakingly elusive Triple Crown. Haulin' Ass follows Curtis Imrie, an old-time burro racer who returns year after year, driven by a true passion for the sport and the community; Roger Pedretti, who travels from Wisconsin to carry the torch of a family legacy; and Hal Walter, a family man with a true talent for the sport who is still discovering what burro racing truly means to him. Over the course of the documentary, we bear witness to their quests to take the Triple Crown while overcoming their own mental and physical obstacles. Haulin' Ass is a celebration of perseverance and dedication, and ultimately a testament to the communities that support this incredible sport.