After years of mass tourism in the Alps, a rethinking is slowly taking place. Whether researchers, artists or philosophers, many are trying to approach the essence of the mountains in new ways.
Following in the footsteps of Frison Roche, 7 climbers explore the main Hoggar massifs in Algeria. Their main objective is the ascent of the Garet El Djenoun summit via the north ridge, a long climb symbolic of a certain difficulty and a significant commitment, due to its location in the desert. They also attempt the Diedre Agresti, a daring route from the 70s, opened in around ten days on artificial, and unequipped; it is a path that has never been repeated; the objective is to do it free and almost only on wedges, with difficulties up to 7b/c in a sometimes very delicate rock... Excerpts from the film shot in 1970 by Henri Agresti on this same route, allow us to compare the technical and material means of the time to those of today. They also discover the beauty of the Algerian desert, its silence, its rock paintings, the customs of the Tuaregs, etc... a fascinating journey.
Kampf um Tibet
Tibet Les nourritures spirituelles
Tibet - Les nourritures terrestres
At an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters, Sking is one of the most isolated villages in the Himalayan region of Zanskar. In just three months, from August to October, the Zanskaris have to harvest and store all their food for the coming year. All the women-young and old alike-work nonstop, from dawn to dusk, and worry about the arrival of winter. Filmed from the point of view of a subjective camera by a young female ethnologist, Land of Women offers a sensitive and poetic immersion in the life of four generations of women during harvesting season. We share their rare intimacy and gradually grow attached to them.
Filmed chronicle by mountain filmmaker Mario Fantin, of the 1964-1965 expedition of the Italian mountaineer Guido Monzino to the summits of Hoggar in the Algerian Sahara with the ascents of Garet el Djenoun, Tizouyag Nord, Saouinan and Iharen. The mountain ranges of the Hoggar desert turn out to be more complex and interesting than most mountaineers suspected at the time.
Less than two years after his serious road accident, Eric Escoffier brought together the "Turbo" team (Frédéric Ancey, Michel Fauquet, Christine Janin and Stéphane Schaffter) with whom he will attempt to climb Everest without oxygen and without prior acclimatization in the Himalayas, the project being to complete the Paris-Everest-Paris loop in two weeks. It is also a medical experiment: the athletes spend a week at Mont Blanc, at the Vallot observatory between 4000 and 4800m, then a week in a hypobaric chamber in Grenoble. Doctors (Dr. Richalet, Herry and Bittel) perform tests throughout this training, which will learn about how the body acclimatizes to altitude and allow applications in the management of mountain-related illnesses . On September 2, 1989, they arrived at Everest base camp in China. They attempted the ascent via the North Col but could not carry out their project, prevented by bad weather.
After reading the book "Guide to Hoggar Climbing," guide Pierre Agresti and his wife Isabelle Agresti set off into the Hoggar massif in the Algerian Sahara and tackled the west face of Garet El Djenoun. After a first attempt in 1967, they successfully reached the summit in 1970 and, with an old camera, made a film that remained unused for 25 years. In 1996, they decided to bring the past back to life through the ascent and encounters with the Tuaregs in the rock salt mines of Amadror. The film was shown in competition at the Trento Film Festival in 1997.
Avoir 16 ans et toutes ses Andes
Dhaulagiri - 1ère hivernale française 1987
Annapurna, premier 8000 à ski
For decades, an elite handful of climbers have competed for the coveted speed record on the 3,000-foot Nose of El Capitan, risking big falls to shave mere seconds off the fastest time. When a record held by superstar Alex Honnold is broken by little-known climbers Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds, Honnold drafts fellow climbing legend Tommy Caldwell to establish a new mark that will stand the test of time. Honnold pushes for perfection while Caldwell, a family man, wrestles with the risk amid a series of accidents on the wall that lay bare the consequences of any mistake.
Un Pic pour Lénine
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.
Tibet: The Survival of the Spirit
Brilliant Moon chronicles the life of the writer, poet, and meditation master Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Tibet's most revered 20th-century Buddhist teachers. Spiritual guide to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Royal Family of Bhutan, his life and teachings were an inspiration to all who encountered him. Richard Gere and Lou Reed provide the narration for his dangerous journey out of China, the subsequent spread of his influence and the search for his reincarnation after his death.
Avid for steep slopes, Marco Siffredi (1979-2002) obeys only one rule: not to fall. This gifted kid with hair sometimes blond peroxidized, green or blue clashed in his valley: Chamonix, mecca of mountaineering. His thing was to go up and down on a snowboard. . 90 minutes September 8, 2002, altitude 8848 meters, rare oxygen, his head already brushing the sky and his snowboard running, Marco Siffredi, 23, rushes from the summit of Everest in the Horbein corridor and its slopes at 50 degrees . A year earlier, he had already made the first descent of the mountain on a snowboard. But there remains another corridor… more direct. It's not a challenge, just a reason to be... However, that day, at the top of the roof of the world, his trace is lost...
In July 2024, Liv Sansoz and Bertrand Roche (aka Zébulon) made history in Himalayan mountaineering by climbing K2 (8,611m) without supplemental oxygen, then paragliding from the summit. The couple achieved a highly coveted first, and for Zébulon, the feat was all the more impressive as he had already completed the first tandem paragliding flight from Everest in 2001. More than just a climb, this film is a love story where Liv and Zeb share their doubts, emotions, and determination, carrying a shared dream where every step is taken together, united to the very end.