Don Whillans and Joe Brown climbing Cemetery Gates (E1) on Dinas Cromlech in the Llanberis Pass. They made the first ascent 32 years before. They were good friends since they met in 1951. Tragically this was Don's last major climb as he died a few months later. Don Whillans, was a leading climber of his generation. Whillans climbed the Bonatti Pillar of the Dru and made the first ascent, along with Chris Bonington, Jan Długosz and Ian Clough of the Central Pillar of Freney on Mount Blanc. In 1962, with Chris Bonington, Whillans made the first ascent of the Central Tower of Paine, Patagonia. Later, with Dougal Haston, he made the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna. Whillans was known for his humour, safety and heavy drinking.
Portrait of British mountaineer Joe Brown, who demonstrates his climbing technique and discusses his philosophy of climbing. The film was shot in and around Llanberis, where he lived, and on the cliffs of South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey. Brown is regarded as the outstanding pioneering English rock climber of the 1950s and early 1960s. He established an unprecedented number of classic new routes in Snowdonia and the Peak District that were at the leading edge of the hardest grades. He made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 and and other big achievements in the Alps and Himalayas.
Climber Philippe Ribière was born in Martinique. Abandoned and subsequently adopted by a large family in France, Ribière underwent numerous surgeries to improve the functionality of his limbs. Yet today, he is the first sponsored climber with a disability, an elite athlete, and the founder of the "Handi-Grimpe" association. Returning to Martinique with the ambition of climbing the famous Diamond Rock—an uninhabited island located two kilometers off the coast, whose shape inspired its name—holds deep symbolic significance for him.
Vertical Opera is a documentary film directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, with climbers Patrick Edlinger and Jean-Paul Lemercier in the Gorges du Verdon. The film opens with a training sequence of Patrick Edlinger then he links the routes with Jean-Paul Lemercier "L'Ange en décongelation" (7a), in which he falls voluntarily to demonstrate the usefulness of the rope, then "Le Septième Saut" (7b+). Finally, the final scene, an anthology, consists of a close-up of Edlinger who climbs free solo and barefoot the route "Débiloff", still in the Verdon, above hundreds of meters of void, all to lyrical music. It is "Wie Furchtsam Wankten Meine Schritte", the aria for alto voice from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata BWV 33, music not unrelated to the subject of the documentary: "How faltering and fearful my steps were".
Movie about David Lama climbing the Patagonian mountain Cerro Torre for the first time free, a mountain that has been dubbed the most difficult to climb in the world.
Eric Escoffier, la Fureur de Vivre
Patrick Berhault - Il Gesto e La Grazia
Follow Ben Moon as he ticks some of the Peak's most classic boulder problems, including Ben's Extension (f8A), Pinch 2 (f8A+), and Pump Up The Stamina (f8B+). Filmed and directed by Ben Pritchard with appearances from Jerry Moffat, One Summer has become a fly on the wall account of hard bouldering in the early 1990s.
The first ascent of the Matterhorn was made on July 14, 1865 by Edward Whymper, Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz and two guides from Zermatt, Peter Taugwalder father and son. Douglas, Hudson, Hadow and Croz are killed on the descent after Hadow slips and drags the other three men down the north face. Whymper and the two Taugwalders, who survive, are later accused of having cut the rope that connected them to the rest of the group so as not to be dragged into the fall, but the ensuing investigation finds no evidence of their guilt and they are acquitted. The Matterhorn is the last great peak in the Alps to be conquered and its ascent marks the end of the golden age of mountaineering. One hundred and fifty years later, a team undertakes the same expedition in order to unravel the mystery.
Rotpunkt documents the advent, the agony and the art of the redpoint through Alex Megos’s efforts to redefine the boundaries of the form. The film traces the redpoint—which transformed rock climbing from an engineering problem into a brilliant test of mental and physical strength—from its origins with a ragtag bunch of tights-wearing revolutionaries in rural Bavaria, to its golden era with Wolfgang Güllich, to its new ideal in the German phenom Megos as he battles to unlock new levels of human potential.
Bouldering champion, Angie Payne, leaves everything she knows beyond as she ventures deep into the French Polynesian jungle with veteran climber and explorer, Mike Libecki. Their objective: to put up a first ascent on the south face of the Poumaka Tower. Directors Andy Mann and Keith Ladzinski capture blood, sweat, and tears as the team climbs through mud and fear, into the unknown.
The amazing story of the epic first ascent of 'The Prophet' on El Capitan, Yosemite. Following the UK's top big wall climber Leo Houlding as he revisits his 10 year project; 'The Prophet', an exceptionally steep, loose and difficult route on the east face of Yosemite's El Cap. Leo describes the route as 'the wildest climb I've ever been on'. This has to be seen to be believed, crazy climbing. Extended cut 48mins.
A diary of the Monzino expedition on the west coast of Greenland, carried out in July-August 1961. It included Guido and Franco Monzino (cousin of the manufacturer, who died in a car accident a month after the expedition), Mario Fantin, Jean Biche and the other guides of Valtournanche Pession, Antoine and Leonardo Carrel, Cerrutelli, Sartelli and Cap. Barberis, commander of the 'yacht'. It reaches the 74th parallel by plane and then travels along the coast of the island by boat. At a certain point the itinerary of the expedition underwent a forced change because the Italians had heard by radio of a mountaineering disaster affecting a group of Belgian climbers. They change course and in a generous race of human solidarity bring help to the victims.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay made history as the first people to reach the top of Everest. Now, 50 years later, three sons of Everest's most celebrated climbers return to the mountain to challenge it again. Join their journey as they brave the elements and face death to climb 29,000 feet of wind-blasted rock and ice. And, relive the dramatic history of Everest from great triumphs to deadly tragedies, enduring rivalries and the unsung role of the Sherpa people—as National Geographic exposes the untold stories that lurk in the mountain's epic shadow and takes you on the ultimate Everest experience.
Every climbing reward comes at the cost of a potential risk, but when you are a climbing pioneer, driven by the unknown and unexpected, you are willing to risk whatever it takes for the chance to find the perfect first ascent line. This is a story of exploration and discovery, a journey of friendship and solitude, a quest to fuel an obsessive passion. Starring Paul Robinson, Jimmy Webb, Daniel Woods, Chris Sharma and Niky Ceria.
King Lines follows Chris Sharma on his search for the planet's greatest climbs. From South American fantasy boulders to the sweeping limestone walls of Europe, Sharma finds and climbs the hardest, most spectacular routes. Off the coast of Mallorca he discovers his most outrageous project yet, a 70 foot arch rising from the Mediterranean Sea...
Trapped near the summit of K2, the world's second-highest mountain, Annie Garrett radios to base camp for help. Brother Peter hears Annie's message and assembles a team to save her and her group before they succumb to K2's unforgiving elements. But, as Annie lays injured in an icy cavern, the rescuers face several terrifying events that could end the rescue attempt -- and their lives.
En Roues Libres
Nasim is a free climber, the only woman able to open new routes in Iran. She’s facing a double mountain to climb, both physical and cultural, as her passion collides with the strict policies concerning women freedom in her country. And she has a dream: open a new route in the Alps.
Join Savage Films on an adventure in search of the best highball boulders on the West Coast of North America. Phenomenal cinematography takes you to five new world-class locales: Red Rocks NV, Leavenworth WA, Squamish BC, Cody WY, and Castle Rocks ID. Western Gold provides a thrilling view of the bouldering experience when climbers commit to harder moves higher and higher off the ground. From the hardest to the tallest the West Coast has to offer, get ready to see something new.