world movie premiere – spray

i hit the boulder theater last night to catch the world premiere of brian solano’s newest climbing film spray. the theater was nicely packed for a cold snowy night in boulder, colorado. people really seem to love all things rock climbing in this town.

after a few promotional exercises for folks that included the access fund, timberland, and smart wool, the film started with a quick and casual survey of some known and undiscovered northern californian climbing and bouldering spots including the beaches of arcata, the limestone of the trinity aretes, the shores of mickey's beach and the alpine stone of donner summit. the film focuses on climbing areas right up against the very wet pacific ocean but occasionally travels inward to more inland areas.

one thing that will strike you about this movie is the emphasized pairing of music with climbing problems. at times you feel like you are watching segmented 4 minute music videos. the pairings work mostly. there were times however when i wished i could just hear the ocean and nothing else. someone should compile a cd of the movie’s tracks though. the songs would make for a great climbing road trip album.

spray follows four climbers but focuses mostly on joe kinder and chris lindner. joe provides the appropriate californian “taking it easy” vibe while chris provides the more serious philosophical perspectives. i found chris to be the more interesting of the two characters, but i understand why solano included joe.

my one criticism of the film is that i wish it had taken more risks with its story lines. i also wanted lindner and especially kinder to be complex characters. at one point lindner starts talking about how his father broke his back trad climbing and how that influenced chris’s decision to focus on sport climbing. i was intrigued by the possibility of this narrative but was a bit disappointed by its cursory treatment. similarly, i wish joe had been a bit more vulnerable and raw in his conversations. he gets close to this point when talking about how chris sharma inspired him by climbing surf safari (5.14) at age 14 but the exposure is brief. i guess i was hoping for a little less spray.

the best part of the film was watching lindner grunt and fail his way up his first ascent of “window of opportunity.” the scene was smart, compelling and worth the $13 admission charge. the crowd seemed to agree.

it’s hard to make climbing films that transcend the “porn” genre. or better said, it is extremely challenging to make sport-specific films that shed light on our complex and universal humanity. solano does an admirable job with spray. he’s a young filmmaker with great potential and i look forward to seeing more of his films.

if you get a chance, go check out the movie. you can order a copy of the dvd at the bs productions’ website.

wyoming tent

i shot film in wyoming. with the pervasiveness of digital, it's something i rarely do these days.

the process takes time. you shoot frames, develop film, and finally scan. in homage, i've decided i'm going to slowly post my selects from the cirque of the towers trip. here's #2.

the hottest climbing rope in wyoming

i'm just getting around to editing some photos i took in wyoming during my august '07 trip to the wind rivers. here's a photo of my friend andrew's hot pink climbing rope. the cirque of the towers is in the background. hot. very hot.

on mr. mccandless - a guest commentary by sean

i've been asking folks i meet to consider writing for my blog. there's a need for fresh ideas/content and i'm more than willing to turn over the pen. (if you are interested in writing, please drop me a note!)

this posting is from sean. 19 years old and originally from stanley, idaho at the base of the sawtooth mountains, sean considers himself an avid scrambler and occasional rock climber. he's a senior at denver university studying maps, er geography. --

Recent films such as Into the Wild have portrayed those seeking a purer existence removed from city strife and materialism as individuals destitute of rationale. Yes, Mr. McCandless is an extreme example, but I'm able to empathize more with his journey than that of urbane individuals seeking nothing beyond their morning commute.

I was once told, at the peak of my climbing frenzy, that the soaring mountains will be here much long than I will. Jaded in my drive to climb as often as possible, those words now resonate years later. However, intrinsic in that very sentiment is what I, and I believe Mr. McCandless, cherish so much about the wilderness. Unrelenting and irrevocable, the purity and ferocity of nature is shocking. Nothing is trivial and everything matters- the true allegory transcendence.

To paraphrase a friend, climbing and exploring are the sole activities that require the use of our primordial instincts: live or die. That is truly something unique.

Mr. McCandless was living a dream, spurred by the desire to adhere to life's fundamentals. In today's society, that's perceived as lunacy. However, from my home at 12,000' in the bitter cold Idaho Rockies, they are the ones who are crazy.

yea, i really like climbing

with the snow season upon me, i haven't been climbing a whole lot. the last two months have been relatively horizontal. i've also been working crazy hours.

this last week, however, i've managed to find the climbing gym a few times. the routes have been moderate, the body movements predictable.

these visits have reminded me why i like to do this thing.

taking a break isn't always so bad.

"it is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves"

rest in peace sir.

image: john waterson

uncharted: drake's (climbing?) fortune

i haven't seriously played videos games since i was a kid. my last console was an atari 2600 from way back in 1986(!). electronic gaming has come a long way since.


uncharted: drake's fortune was just released a month or so ago as a playstation 3 game. it's getting impressive reviews and includes some climbing. a cure for the winter climbing blues maybe?

from gamedaily.com: "uncharted is a third person adventure that borrows elements from tomb raider and fuses them with good old fashioned over-the-shoulder gunplay. throughout the course of your journey, you'll navigate past the aforementioned waterfall, climb ledges, hit switches to solve puzzles and ascend mountains."