By Raya Milushev

Amidst the explosion of popularity in rock climbing that has taken place over the last few decades, most recently culminating in the addition of the sport to the Olympic roster in 2020, for me, it was actually watching films that first sparked my own interest in climbing. Two years later, what started as vague intrigue is now full-blown obsession and, combined with my long-standing love of hiking, finds me regularly fleeing St Andrews at the weekends to go and touch rock in the Scottish highlands. As the weather slowly gets warmer and the days get longer, I have decided to share my favourite outdoorsy films in hopes of inspiring some big sends this semester. And no, you won’t find Free Solo on this list…

1. The Dawn Wall (Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, 2017)

Having said that I won’t include Free Solo, there’s no way I can omit the film which catapulted Tommy Caldwell, free soloist Alex Honnold’s partner-in-crime, to widespread fame that stretches beyond the climbing world. The Dawn Wall follows Caldwell’s seemingly impossible self-inflicted project to scale a 3000ft wall of almost flat vertical rock on the formidable El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. A testament to the power of film, this is where my interest in climbing started and what got me into my first pair of rental shoes and up my first 5+. However, aside from my own personal investments, it is a quintessential climbing film. Not only does it showcase awe-inspiring climbing and incredible scenery, being set in one of the world’s outdoor climbing Meccas, but it explores the psychology behind high-level climbing. It highlights how heavily intertwined Caldwell’s personal life and passion for climbing are and interrogates the motivating factors behind voluntarily taking on what was perceived as an insurmountable and extremely painful challenge (the Dawn Wall project preoccupied Caldwell for over six years).

2. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (Torquil Jones, 2021)

Turning from grand feats of rock climbing to grand feats of mountaineering, 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible focuses on Nirmal Purja’s attempt to scale the fourteen highest peaks in the world, which are the only fourteen above 8000 metres, in record time. Purja’s life is fascinating, having been born in Nepal but sent to school and university in the UK, and later serving in the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Special Boat Service in the army and navy before turning to mountaineering as a career. The film highlights how this background makes him a particularly strong mountaineer. The logistical challenges, hoops and loopholes that the team have to deal with also highlight how difficult a task he has undertaken, but Purja’s unwavering positivity, enthusiasm and humour emphasise how mental fortitude is just as important as physical strength for such undertakings. Few mountaineers would have a huge party at Annapurna base camp and undertake the summit of one of the world’s most dangerous mountains hungover – whether this is a testament to Purja’s ease in the mountains and certainty in his capabilities, or whether it suggests recklessness and over-confidence is up to the viewer to decide.

3. The Alpinist (Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, 2021 - includes major spoilers)

The Alpinist takes a much more serious approach than 14 Peaks, swapping out casually hungover ascents with sobering evidence of the real dangers of the mountains. Marc-André Leclerc’s climbing style of choice is one of the riskiest sports within mountaineering: solo alpine climbing. He undertakes several ascents in winter and on ice, allowing the film to present the hair-thin balance between the extremely impressive nature of his climbing and the unfathomable risks involved. He is shown to be a real fanatic, to a level that can be quite difficult for the average rock-climber, and even for the climbing-enthusiast film crew themselves, to comprehend. The obsessive nature of their subject resulted in his months-long disappearance to go and climb instead of filming because he refused to let his climbing be confined to shooting schedules. The likes of Alex Honnold have expressed admiration of such a “pure” approach to climbing, while director Peter Mortimer is less impressed. But to me, the film’s true importance comes from the fact that it is one of the few adventure films I have come across that is forced to deal with the death of its own protagonist during production. Outdoor adventure films are designed to inspire, and this is no exception, but the fact that it refuses to purely glamourise Leclerc’s endeavours and does not shy away from showing the true consequences of high-risk sports is, to me, extremely laudable.

4. The Wall: Climb for Gold (Nick Hardie, 2022)

Perhaps the least risk-fuelled and vertigo-inducing film on this list, The Wall: Climbing for Gold presents the flip side of climbing. Leading up to Tokyo 2020, Olympic hopefuls have to swap out granite for plastic and awe-inspiring landscapes for sweaty converted warehouses in the battle for the coveted title of first ever climbing Olympic champion. Though viewers already know the outcome, watching four of the world’s best climbers – Janja Garnbret (Slovenia), Shauna Coxsey (Great Britain), Brooke Raboutou (USA) and Miho Nonaka (Japan) – train their bodies and minds is fascinating. Not only does this climbing film provide a different perspective from those romanticising the outdoor dirtbag lifestyle, but it also gives insight into how elite athletes coped with the pandemic. All competitors had to put their dreams on hold for a year with the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, and had to figure out how to train in bouldering, lead climbing and speed climbing without having access to indoor competition-style climbing walls. These challenges of course make victory that much sweeter for the first female Olympic climbing gold medallist.

5. Dodo’s Delight (Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, 2017)

Back to insane outdoor sends to finish up because, though I love indoor climbing, touching real rock is what it’s all about. In Dodo’s Delight, four climbers and their bad-ass (there is genuinely no other word to describe him) octogenarian ship’s captain chart unclimbed territory in Greenland and Baffin Island. Though the film, like many outdoor documentaries, captures beautiful remote landscapes that most viewers will never have the privilege of seeing for themselves, this is not what puts the ‘delight’ in Dodo’s Delight. Accompanied by a catchy and hilarious theme tune, the film’s real charm comes from the sparkling personalities of its characters and their humorous, playful and humble attitude to their groundbreaking feats. They truly represent what climbing is all about: having fun, not taking yourself too seriously, and showing true appreciation for your incredible surroundings (though, admittedly, all three of these can be easier said than done when halfway up a sketchy trad route).

Whether you’re a casual nature-walker or a hard-core climber, these films offer something for everyone, and hopefully will inspire you to get out and get sendy!

ST.ART does not own the rights to any images used in this article.