Rocky Mountain Highball - Review

I feel like I may have a bias for this film; I like highballs. I like the feeling of air under my feet and that sense of calm that envelopes me once I venture above the safe zone. Granted, the feeling isn’t the same for everyone but for those who do enjoy the sensation, this film is going to be a winner. If you are expecting hardcore, in your face climbing porn - look somewhere else. Rocky Mountain Highball is a documentary style climbing film that explores “why some climbers choose to push themselves to boulder at the vertical limit” The film is the brain child of Scott Neel, the director. Over the course of 2 years (that’s right, 2 years) and with the help of his producers Andy Mann and Alden Short they shot over 35 athletes on more then 70 boulder problems. With commentary from legends like John Gill, Pat Ament, John Sherman, Jim Holloway and climbing from Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson, Lisa Rands and many more this film has just as much historic value as it does entertainment value.

With RMHb having been in production for quite some time a lot was expected of this film. They not only had the mission of showing the some of the best highball bouldering in Colorado but they also had to ensure they accurately told the history of highball bouldering  and explain why these climbers take such obvious risk. Being a subgenre of an already semi-obscure sport I can imagine this was somewhat of a daunting task. They handle that crux in the best way possible; they went right to the source. To me, this was one of the most valuable aspects of the film. Having the commentary from legends like John Gill and John Sherman give the film more value then your average climbing flick. Scott Neel does an excellent job of editing together more then 30 different interviews to tell the history of highball bouldering using Colorado as his canvas.

The deeper purpose of this film is to explore the ‘why’. Why do climbers push themselves past that comfort zone? Every climber has different reasons why they take that inherent risk that comes with highball bouldering and the film does a great job of illustrating and contrasting this. One of my favorite aspects of the film was that they had great audio from climbers while they were actually on the climb. You hear everything: obscenities, labored breathing, climbers talking to themselves, the whole nine. This really helps put the viewer in the mind of the climber. Scott also interviews most of the climbers immediately after the climb to get a fresh perspective on what was going through the climbers mind.

The film just isn’t a history lesson or psychological exploratory piece. When it comes down to it, it’s a climbing film. Plain and simple. And the footage is more then capable to backing up that title. There are more then 70 boulder problems featured in the film, a feat that is astounding for any climbing movie.  The fact the collection of problems, classics and first ascents, are varied in difficulty is another plus. Easy, moderate and hard - they’re all there and they’re all tall. There is something alluring about a climbing film that has problems that aren’t off the charts in difficulty. Most of the problems themselves are amazing and even the ones that aren’t aesthetically perfect they can still be respected for the commitment it takes to conquer them. Young and old, male and female, the climbers that ascending these proud lines are just as diverse as the lines themselves, another aspect you don’t get to see in the majority of films these days. I am not sure if the footage was HD but it looked good, maybe not as good as some other climbing films I have seen recently but it wasn’t lacking either. The shots looked well thought out and the cuts flowed nicely too. I didn’t like how there was a little bit of black and white footage that seemed randomly inserted, maybe there was a theme to it but I don’t think I caught it. My only other complaint was the audio tracks, they just weren’t my cup of tea and some of tracks didn’t seem to fit with the climbs and sometimes it battled with the audio from the climbers on the boulder.

I have seen A LOT of climbing films and I would be hard pressed to select a definite favorite. I think they have to be taken in the context they were made and in that sense this movie is a success. Scott, Alden and Andy did a great job of, explaining “why some climbers choose to push themselves to boulder at the vertical limit.” This could have ended up being a video guidebook for highball’s in Colorado but I feel it is much more then that.  Nonetheless I can’t help but wonder who is going to be the first to send them all…

Tom over at All Climbing has his review up

Sock Hands has his thoughts up as well

Trailer

Tags: Boulder, Bouldering, Review, Rocky Mountain Highball