Queen Maud Land

A dream team of six elite climbers mount an expedition to one of the world's last great climbing frontiers: the remote frozen towers of Antarctica. Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker tackle a new route on the 3,600foot Ulvetanna; Savannah Cummins and Anna Pfaff summit the towering Holtanna; and Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright make a harrowing and hilarious blitz of 13 different spires spread across the ice field, including one pitch that Honnold calls "the scariest I have ever led." Queen Maud Land the name of this icy region showcases a stunning, rarely visited wilderness, and the suffering and vision needed to climb at the bottom of the world.

I was shocked when I first discovered that The North Face et al. had produced a recreational film on the seventh continent. Antarctica is not like anywhere else on this planet. It is a microcosm of the survival of the whole of complex biological life in this Anthropocene moment. It is the last place on the planet where, after one hundred years of modern human awareness, has withstood human industry. As human population expands and Earth experiences greater climatic vulnerability in the short term threatening survival of most complex life, it is imperative that Antarctica remain untouched by industry. As an outdoor recreation professional, naturalist, and artist, I am both ashamed of The North Face and all crew of this documentary glorifying neocolonial conquest of this sacred space, and fearful of the precedent it sets in this present moment we are experiencing. As 2048 nears and the fate of Antarctica is once again put to trial, it is industrial projects like these that threaten Antarctica’s future and by proxy via microcosmic case study, our own. How could any conscious person consume this as entertainment at least, or think this acceptable behavior at its face value, I cannot conceive. As outdoor professionals, we have a responsibility to be stewards and advocates for our planet and specifically not to capitalize upon created opportunity which, by the terms of the Antarctic Treaty this film clearly is a violation, and to uphold sacred values to preserve the ice continent, so that we may preserve our children’s future.