Movie: First Ascent (2006)


First Ascent DVDThis is the first DVD I’ve ever bought for myself. I’d only seen the trailer, but it hooked me. I don’t regret it. The movie is well filmed, and pulls off a remarkable trick: it manages to scorn sport climbing without being at all pretentious. Make no mistake, this is about first ascents of TRAD and SOLO routes – the only bolts featured are those that have been chopped. I don’t care, I don’t aspire to first ascents of any kind of route at any level of difficulty, but it sure is fun to watch these guys groping up the gnarliest 5.14 cracks imaginable, placing their own gear as they go. It’s gut wrenching to observe, especially the falls, but also supremely beautiful and satisfying.


3 responses to “Movie: First Ascent (2006)”

  1. I followed your link to watch the trailer too. Now I understand why you were hooked.

    Recently I watched “vertical frontier” which is about the climbing history of Yosemite, although it does have a lot of action shots, but I was really moved.

    I think I’ll check this DVD out, I still suck on rock climbing, but it’s great to see good climbers going up.

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