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thinksinpictures
Feb 3, 2004, 2:27 PM
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In a relative sense, I'm pretty new to climbing (two years maybe?) and fairly young (22), but I think that climbing history is fascinating. Technological advancements, evolution - and devolution - of a serious set of ethics, heroes throughout the ages... has anyone ever produced a serious and extensive documentary on climbing history? And if not WHY? Most of this fascinating history has occurred relatively recently, as in since the advent of photography and videography, so we even have good visual media for such a project.
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jkarns
Feb 3, 2004, 2:34 PM
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In reply to: In a relative sense, I'm pretty new to climbing (two years maybe?) and fairly young (22), but I think that climbing history is fascinating. Technological advancements, evolution - and devolution - of a serious set of ethics, heroes throughout the ages... has anyone ever produced a serious and extensive documentary on climbing history? And if not WHY? Most of this fascinating history has occurred relatively recently, as in since the advent of photography and videography, so we even have good visual media for such a project.
1. There's no money to be made in this, and it would be a huge endeavor to make.
2. While a lot of the prominant sends of the last 5-10 years have been film, very few of the old ones were.
3. Climbing history was a lot richer 20-40 years ago.
4. The primary market for climbing videos is pebble wrestlers. Trad climbing, and even sport, is really not that interesting to watch.
5. What does exist on film is owned dozens of individual filmmakers. Getting permission from each one would be difficult.
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dsafanda
Feb 3, 2004, 2:51 PM
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In reply to: has anyone ever produced a serious and extensive documentary on climbing history?
Yes. "Vertical Frontiers" is an excellent documentary on the history of Yosemite Big Wall climbing and Camp4. It includes the use of some seldom seen old footage of the golden years as well as some recreated scenes.
http://www.pelotonproductions.com/home.htm?content_main.htm~content
On a related note; anyone interested in the history of rock climbing should consider a donation to the effort to build a Yosemite Climbing Museum.
More info can be found here...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?m=30028&f=0&b=0
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noshoesnoshirt
Feb 3, 2004, 4:16 PM
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check out "Climbing in North America" by Chris Jones. a very good read.
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thinksinpictures
Feb 3, 2004, 4:34 PM
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In reply to: 1. There's no money to be made in this, and it would be a huge endeavor to make.
In reply to: 2. While a lot of the prominant sends of the last 5-10 years have been film, very few of the old ones were.
In reply to: 3. Climbing history was a lot richer 20-40 years ago.
In reply to: 4. The primary market for climbing videos is pebble wrestlers. Trad climbing, and even sport, is really not that interesting to watch.
In reply to: 5. What does exist on film is owned dozens of individual filmmakers. Getting permission from each one would be difficult. |
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jer
Feb 3, 2004, 4:46 PM
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I know this is not a video documentary, but a few years ago (98?) Fred Knapp wrote a 3 part piece on the history of climbing in Rock & Ice. I found it fascinating, and have enjoyed going back numerous time to read his research. You might look those up.
Jer
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fredbob
Feb 3, 2004, 6:03 PM
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The fact that people are beginning to ask these type of questions and climbers are beginning to take steps to preserve their history indicates that such a project may find an audience at some point in the future.
The establishment of a museum in Yosemite and the forming a various "collections" of photos, gear, oral histories, etc. (by institutions) are essential in the process of developing a real understanding of climbing history in the US. Books such as Roper's Camp 4, Climb, and other histories (titles elude me right now) are equally important in both preserving history and making it available to people.
These type of efforts will provide each new generation of climbers with a historical perspective and perhaps spark a deeper interest in the subject. It is probably not far fetched to predict some graduate student doing a thesis on some aspect of climbing history.
After all, understanding where we came from can help us see where we are headed and maybe where we fit into the scheme.
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fredrogers
Feb 3, 2004, 6:10 PM
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This could be a profitable project if it was done really well. It could have a timeless appeal to armchair climbers and I bet it could have some appeal to the general public as well. I also see the potential for it to be a Ken Burns style doc. Plus many of the players are still alive and climbing out there. Bridwell, John Long, Royal, John Gill, etc. So they're available for interviews. I think it just takes someone with talent and determination (plus a lot of time and money) to make this happen. It would be a huge project but if you worked on it in small volumes (e.g. Yosemite climbing, Gunks climbing, Alpine, Ice) then maybe it would work.
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xkyczar
Feb 3, 2004, 9:52 PM
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Maybe a Stacy Peralta approach, as in "Dogtown and Z-Boys" or "Riding Giants", would work. Something accessible to a wider audience. Climbing may not look as exciting in film as surfing but it's the exposure of the driving personalities that make Peralta's films so good.
Anyone know if Peralta climbs?
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changlama
Apr 28, 2004, 7:14 PM
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In the Shadow of the Chief tells the story of a rain-soaked morning in May 1961 when, amidst the snow-capped mountains and verdant forests of Squamish, British Columbia, two young climbers—Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper—started up the ‘unclimbable’ Stawamus Chief. Within two weeks news of their attempt had spread and soon 12,000 cars crowded the base of the Chief with onlookers convinced they were about to witness a deadly fall. Braving relentless heat, mosquitoes and a barrage of reporters, it seemed at times doubtful that Ed and Jim would finish the climb.
Using never-before-seen archival footage, the film takes a unique look at a part of Canadian sport history and the spirit of the community that rallied behind them.
In the Shadow of the Chief, by first-time filmmakers Ivan Hughes and Angela Heck, premiered at the Whistler Film Festival in December 2003 where it received the People’s Choice for Best Film at the festival and sold out two screenings.
The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival awarded it the Best Film Overall-Festival Grand Prize and the Best Canadian Mountain Film prizes. In delivering the award, festival juror Simon Yates (Touching the Void) called it “a clear winner and one of the best historical climbing films I have ever seen.”
More inf on the film can be found at;
www.fringefilmworks.com
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fredbob
Apr 28, 2004, 11:47 PM
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I can't believe I missed this; it was playing in Newport Beach just last week! A little more publicity would have attracted a lot of local climbers.
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slavetogravity
Apr 29, 2004, 12:06 AM
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In reply to: 4. The primary market for climbing videos is pebble wrestlers. Trad climbing, and even sport, is really not that interesting to watch. .
Could not agree more. Bottom line, climbing is about as exciting to watch as paint dry. For the general public golf is a WAY more interesting spectator sport. It's no wonder climbing was yanked from the X-games, and replaced with synchronized whisky chuggen' ski-doo jousting. Look at that Hollywood travesty Vertical Limit. I think the ratio of footage of people climbing up compared with footage of people falling down was about 1/1000. Yes climbing is fascinating stuff, boring to watch, but fascinating.
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jgill
Apr 29, 2004, 4:02 AM
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Some years ago there was a nice program on British TV about the history of rock climbing in Great Britain. I think Chris Bonnigton may have been the narrator. I believe he repeated one or two of O. G. Jones climbs for the camera (Kern Knotts Crack, perhaps), and there was some early footage from the Abraham Brothers - famous climbing photographers - taken in the 1920s. 8^)
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