Hundreds of climbers and outdoor types descended upon the campus of SUNY New Paltz this past weekend for a different type of class.  The annual Reel Rock Tour, now in it’s 7th year was showing it’s four films and the excitement couldn’t have been higher. This years films were: The Dura Dura, The Sharks Fin, Wide Boyz, and Honnold 3.0 and there was something for everyone in the selection of films.

The Dura Dura

Now living the good life in Catalunya, Spain with his girlfriend, sport climbing powerhouse Chris Sharma has all but conquered the realm of hard sport climbing. Looking to take the sport climbing torch and perhaps sport climbing crown, 19 year old czech wunderkid, Adam Ondra arrives in Spain to take on Sharma and send one his projects, what would ultimately be the worlds first 5.15c. Meanwhile, the top women fight there own battle, when Dalia Ojeda and Sasha digulian go head to head. This film was downright funny. Ondra takes Sharma’s signature screams and yells to a whole new level. The boy has a nasty temper, entering a fit of rage every time he fails to stick a hold, while an older more mellow Sharma is a bit more reserved.

The Sharks Fin

Renown mountain man Conrad Anker continues to fight his 20 year battle with the unclimbed Sharks Fin on the 6,310 meter Mount Meru in India. After a nearly successful attempt in 2008 with Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, Conrad vowed to return and gain passage to what some referred to as the center of the earth. Three years later in 2011, Anker decides to round up the team again and take another stab at it, but six months before the trip something terrible happens. While skiing in the Tetons, Renan has a accident severely injuring his brain. Ultimately dedication on Renan’s part and with much support from Conrad and Jimmy, they make the trip. As a lover of big mountains and high adventure, this film resonated the most with me out of the four. The raw footage and to the point story telling really grabbed my attention and got me stoked on mountaineering and film making. The grungy look and feel of much of the footage lent itself well to the overal tone of the film and is a style that I really enjoy. No high cost equipment or big shooting team here, you could certainly tell that this was shot by the team that was climbing the mountain, but with a name like Jimmy Chin on the expedition, I would expect nothing less.

Check out some great photos of the expedition over at The North Face’s Facebook page, also check out a live chat with the team tonight, courtesy of The North Face.

WideBoyz

With the American west being the epicenter of the off width climbing world, two lads from Great Brittian would be a seemingly unlikely team to throw themselves at some of the hardest off width route out there, but thats just what they did. After spending a considerable amount of time training their butts off in a off width training dungeon they built, Tom Randall ans Pete Whittaker hopped a plain across the pond to eat up some of the hardest off width routes in America. Oh, and they also got the first ascent of the hardest off width route on the planet, Century Crack. I may never have climbed and off width crack in my life, and maybe never will, but this was downright entertaining. The charisma of these guys is incredible, and their ability and determination is not something you see a lot of any more. The way they worked through the monster Century Crack was impressive and of course there was plenty of subtle humor to be had. There was a lot of interesting camera angles in this one and as a photographer I would love to have known how they achieved them. This was especially the case during the ascent of Century Crack when many of the shots seemed to be taken from deep within the crack.

Honnold 3.0

In this film, free solo superstar Alex Honnold takes on the Yosemite Triple in a day. His plan, to climb Half Dome, El Cap, and Mount Watkins, all in less that 24 hours. This feat would take most mortals days or weeks to accomplish. 95% of this will be done, free solo! Despite the gravity of what Honnold does on a regular basis, he keeps a calm and relaxed demeanor. His passion for big solo ascents is made absolutely clear in Honnold 3.0.

The film did a great job showing us a little deeper into the life of Honnold. Now living in an apartment, with his girlfriend(yea, he’s got one of those now, too) Alex seems to have adopted a bit more of a normal life, but that hasn’t stopped him from climbing the biggest lines in the Country, without a rope. Although Honnold is highly skilled at what he does, I still couldn’t help but be uncomfortable watching this film.

 

If this tour is coming anywhere near you, I certainly recommend checking it out. A huge amount of work has gone into making these films great, and at the very least, it is a great way to network with your fellow climbers. Heck, my friend Jason and I even approached Josh of Big Up Productions, and he was stoked to talk shop with us, so never hesitate to talk to people about what you love.

-Patrick

The Next Big Move

What trip to New Paltz would be complete without a day or three of climbing in the Gunks. Here Jason is leading the second pitch of Three Pines. Lots of fun to be had on this climb, but more on that later.