8½ Circles

Directed by Jean-Marc Boivin in 1977, Glace Extrême is a documentary about mountaineering and extreme skiing at the Aiguille Verte and the Grand Pilier D'angle in the Mont-Blanc massif chain in France, with the legends of mountaineering Jean-Marc Boivin, Patrick Gabarrou and ski champion Patrick Vallencant. It was broadcast in the Carnet de L'Aventure on France 2 in 1980.

On some peaks in 2003, the statistics are impressive. For the K2 dubbed "wild mountain" or "ruthless mountain", only 240 reached the summit and more than 60 perished in the ascent. An unimaginable rate of one death in four to survive. And these statistics are even worse At the start of the 2004 climbing season, only five talented and determined women had reached the 8,616-meter summit of K2, but only two made it out alive. , they too perished while climbing other peaks of 8000 meters, these five women all disappeared in the mountains.

A screen adaptation of the well-known novel by Roger Frison-Roche about the harsh lives of mountain guides and their families in the French Alps, near Chamonix and the French/Swiss/Italian borders... Like his father, Zian Servettaz is a dedicated mountain man. His Italian-born wife Bianca does not adjust well to his mountain village in France, and to the ever life-threatening dangers presented by his mountain guiding and climbing. She briefly returns to Italy and to her family. However, after Zian's insistence and trip to Italy, she returns to mountain life in the French Alps. Once back there, events will unfold, changing their lives as well as those of other mountain people forever.

Mountaineering documentary on the Nanga Parbat expedition, in India, in 1982. Led by mountaineer Pierre Mazeaud, this international expedition brings together eight French people, two Germans, an Iraqi, an Austrian and an Englishman including Michel Afanassieff, Michel Berrueux, Walter Cecchinel, Kurt Diemberger, Hans Engl, Shah Jehan, Karim Imamdad and others. On July 14, 1982, Hans Engl reached the summit after twelve hours of struggle.

René Collet, skier member of the French team, guides a friend from the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. This descent is an opportunity to focus on the remarkable elements of the terrain: the cable car and its work still in progress, the surrounding peaks (Capucin, Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc). The two skiers stop regularly, here to observe climbers scaling the south face of the Aiguille, there to visit the Cosmiques Laboratory. They even take the time to rescue a skier stuck in a crevasse at the Séracs du Géant, before continuing their descent in style onto the Mer de Glace.

Sadpara The Mountaineer

Catherine Destivelle has deservedly become the most famous female climber in the world. She rose to prominence with historic climbs, such as the free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, and solo winter ascents of the classic north faces of the Matterhorn and the Eiger, climbs that have never been repeated by any woman. She also made history in sport climbing by winning the world championship title. In 1997, this time in Scotland, on the iconic Old Man of Hoy route, opened by Bonington, Patey & Baillie, Martin Belderson crowned Destivelle Queen of the Rock. She was four months pregnant when she made this 137-meter ascent, which was not difficult but on tricky rock.

Le Pilier de la Solitude

Lucien Berardini and Edmond Denis are two mountaineers who took part in the French expedition to Aconcagua (Andes Mountains) in 1954. Both suffered severe frostbite to their fingers and toes, and three years later, they set out to climb the Aiguille du Géant, a legendary route in the Mont Blanc massif. The camera closely follows the efforts of the roped party, an example of strength and self-sacrifice, until their victorious arrival at the summit.

Miha invites his fiancée Minka to the dance, but he's tempted by another big desire of his - climbing. Frustrated Minka insists on the festivity, where she finds herself in a company of older hiker. However, all ends happily, as Minka and Miha, after many smaller adventures, meet at the top of Mount Triglav, where they sign the marriage contract, but also confirming their love for the mountains. In addition to its charming story, the movie features footage of picturesque Slovenian mountains.

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

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The story of the ascent of the Aiguille de la République by mountaineers Jacques Fromentin and Michel Bastien. The Aiguille de la République, in the Mont-Blanc massif, culminates at an altitude of 3,305 meters among the Aiguilles de Chamonix group of summits. In the Fontainebleau forest, children learn mountaineering techniques on the bouldering climbing site. In 1954, rock climbing was also practiced in the Chamonix valley. The Montenvers train crosses the viaduct taking tourists or athletes to the Mer de Glace viewpoint. The two climbers take an approach step and reach the Envers des Aiguilles refuge. They then climb this steep and smooth wall, progressing along the ridge. On the platform, a rope throw allows them to climb up and sit at the top to dominate the panorama. Then the return: abseiling from the summit block.

TSR documentary on the 1979 expedition to Algeria in the Atakor massif (Hoggar desert), organized by Geneva mountaineer Michel Vaucher and Jean-Blaise Fellay. The climbers make a dozen ascents including the famous summit of Adaouda (which means "finger" in Tamasheq, the Tuareg dialect), by several routes. Then a new route on the peaks of the southern Tezoulegs. They discover the volcanic geological characteristics of the Atakor massif and meet the nomadic inhabitants of the region, the Tuaregs, who are increasingly settling in the town of Tamanrasset.

For nearly three years, director Dina Khreino interviewed world-class mountain climbing athletes, listening to what compels them to leave behind families, friends, and everyday comforts to risk everything for a fleeting glimpse into the unknown. What she found was a tribe, a diverse group of professional adventurers and amateur philosophers forged by the ultimate test of body, mind, and spirit. In the face of shifting winds, sheer granite cliffs, and impossible odds, they climb. Each for their own reason, but every one connected by the vertical world. In this rarefied air, these athletes are fundamentally changed, not just as climbers, but as human beings.

The extraordinary, complex, nuanced, restless, and rebellious personality of Walter Bonatti is recounted in a docufiction that traces the life of the greatest mountaineer of all time, without neglecting his overwhelming love story with movie star Rossana Podestà.

In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service. And up on the walls, generation after generation has pushed the limits of climbing, vying amongst each other for supremacy on Yosemite's cliffs. "Valley Uprising" is the riveting, unforgettable tale of this bold rock climbing tradition in Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity -- and the laws of the land.

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

1967: Two of the world's best climbers, Yvon Chouinard and Royal Robbins, tackle the west face of Sentinel Rock, an iconic 2,100-meter granite peak located in Yosemite National Park, considered one of the most difficult in the world. The film's atmosphere is immersive, driven by a sober narrative that highlights the intimate relationship between man and the wall. The technical difficulty of the route, the prolonged physical effort, and the isolation reinforce the heroic dimension of this ascent. The documentary also reveals the essential solidarity between the climbers: each progression requires rigor, inventiveness, and total trust in both the equipment and the partner. This film is considered a benchmark in the history of mountain cinema. It testifies to the pioneering spirit of the era and the evolution of climbing techniques, perfectly illustrating the transition to a more athletic and thoughtful approach to large rock faces.

In 1975, Raymond Renaud, Yves Pollet-Villard, Maurice Gicquel, Maurice Cretton, Jean Coudray, Yvon Masino, Walter Cecchinel, all teacher guides at ENSA in Chamonix, with the help of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, set out to cross the 2 peaks of the highest mountain in India. After 43 hours in a truck, 10 days of slow and difficult approach walking, helped by goats for the portage due to lack of sherpas, the base camp is set up on the Nanda Devi glacier. Two groups share the two eastern and western slopes, 3 kilometers separate them: the goal being to meet between the two summits by the ridge. But on the big day, with the monsoon, bad weather arrives with wind and snow, we will have to give up. Like the French expedition of 1951 which lost two mountaineers, Roger Duplat and Gilbert Vigne, to whom Paul Gendre and Louis Dubosc pay tribute.