When the Mountaineers Make Their Cinema

Dying for Everest

May 2007 •English

On 15 May, 2006, double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt Everest. It was a remarkable achievement and Inglis was feted by press and public alike. But only a few days later he was plunged into a storm of controversy when it was learned that he had passed an incapacitated climber, Englishman David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely end high in the Death Zone.

Avoir 16 ans et toutes ses Andes

January 1991 •French

Dhaulagiri - 1ère hivernale française 1987

January 1988 •French

Dans les pas du Groupe

October 2019 •French

Stars at Noon

January 1959 •French

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Diamir - The Bewitched of Nanga Parbat

January 1982 •French

Mountaineering documentary on the Nanga Parbat expedition, in India, in 1982. Led by mountaineer Pierre Mazeaud, this international expedition brings together eight French people, two Germans, an Iraqi, an Austrian and an Englishman including Michel Afanassieff, Michel Berrueux, Walter Cecchinel, Kurt Diemberger, Hans Engl, Shah Jehan, Karim Imamdad and others. On July 14, 1982, Hans Engl reached the summit after twelve hours of struggle.

Ballade à Devil's Tower

January 1992 •French

At the peak of her career as a rock climber, Catherine Destivelle goes to the United States to get away from the competitions and to recharge batteries. There, Destivelle travels by car through Utah and Wyoming to make spectacular free solo ascents in Indian Creek, where she soloes 'Supercrack' (5.10d), in Dead Horse Point State Park, and on the iconic Devil's Tower, where she climbs unroped the second half of the classic 130-foot route 'El Matador' (5.10d).

La République nous appelle

January 1954 •French

The story of the ascent of the Aiguille de la République by mountaineers Jacques Fromentin and Michel Bastien. The Aiguille de la République, in the Mont-Blanc massif, culminates at an altitude of 3,305 meters among the Aiguilles de Chamonix group of summits. In the Fontainebleau forest, children learn mountaineering techniques on the bouldering climbing site. In 1954, rock climbing was also practiced in the Chamonix valley. The Montenvers train crosses the viaduct taking tourists or athletes to the Mer de Glace viewpoint. The two climbers take an approach step and reach the Envers des Aiguilles refuge. They then climb this steep and smooth wall, progressing along the ridge. On the platform, a rope throw allows them to climb up and sit at the top to dominate the panorama. Then the return: abseiling from the summit block.

Nanda Devi

January 1975 •French

In 1975, Raymond Renaud, Yves Pollet-Villard, Maurice Gicquel, Maurice Cretton, Jean Coudray, Yvon Masino, Walter Cecchinel, all teacher guides at ENSA in Chamonix, with the help of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, set out to cross the 2 peaks of the highest mountain in India. After 43 hours in a truck, 10 days of slow and difficult approach walking, helped by goats for the portage due to lack of sherpas, the base camp is set up on the Nanda Devi glacier. Two groups share the two eastern and western slopes, 3 kilometers separate them: the goal being to meet between the two summits by the ridge. But on the big day, with the monsoon, bad weather arrives with wind and snow, we will have to give up. Like the French expedition of 1951 which lost two mountaineers, Roger Duplat and Gilbert Vigne, to whom Paul Gendre and Louis Dubosc pay tribute.

Farther Than the Eye Can See

January 2003 •English

Blind climber Erik Weihenmayer and his team's highly successful ascent of Mount Everest along with four other remarkable milestones on the mountain. Time magazine called this the most successful Everest expedition of all time.

Hoggar 1973

January 1973 •French

In 1973, 6 guides from the National Ski and Mountaineering School (ENSA), including Charles Daubas and Walter Cecchinel, left by truck from Chamonix to Tamanrasset in the desert in Algeria with the aim of climbing some peaks of the Atakor massif including Adaouda and Tizouyag where they do the first of "La Voie de l'ENSA".

Sentinel - The West Face

January 1967 •English

1967: Two of the world's best climbers, Yvon Chouinard and Royal Robbins, tackle the west face of Sentinel Rock, an iconic 2,100-meter granite peak located in Yosemite National Park, considered one of the most difficult in the world. The film's atmosphere is immersive, driven by a sober narrative that highlights the intimate relationship between man and the wall. The technical difficulty of the route, the prolonged physical effort, and the isolation reinforce the heroic dimension of this ascent. The documentary also reveals the essential solidarity between the climbers: each progression requires rigor, inventiveness, and total trust in both the equipment and the partner. This film is considered a benchmark in the history of mountain cinema. It testifies to the pioneering spirit of the era and the evolution of climbing techniques, perfectly illustrating the transition to a more athletic and thoughtful approach to large rock faces.

Best Of E.O.F.T. No. 8

January 2012 •German

The best films of the European Outdoor Film Tour 11/12.

Spielberg

October 2017 •English

A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.

Entre Ciel et Neige

January 1960 •French

René Collet, skier member of the French team, guides a friend from the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. This descent is an opportunity to focus on the remarkable elements of the terrain: the cable car and its work still in progress, the surrounding peaks (Capucin, Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc). The two skiers stop regularly, here to observe climbers scaling the south face of the Aiguille, there to visit the Cosmiques Laboratory. They even take the time to rescue a skier stuck in a crevasse at the Séracs du Géant, before continuing their descent in style onto the Mer de Glace.

Rock Queen

February 1998 •English

Catherine Destivelle has deservedly become the most famous female climber in the world. She rose to prominence with historic climbs, such as the free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, and solo winter ascents of the classic north faces of the Matterhorn and the Eiger, climbs that have never been repeated by any woman. She also made history in sport climbing by winning the world championship title. In 1997, this time in Scotland, on the iconic Old Man of Hoy route, opened by Bonington, Patey & Baillie, Martin Belderson crowned Destivelle Queen of the Rock. She was four months pregnant when she made this 137-meter ascent, which was not difficult but on tricky rock.

Aventure à Bleau

January 1980 •French

Adventure in Bleau is a documentary about bouldering that takes place in Fontainebleau. Directed by Jean-Paul Janssen in 1980 and produced by Antenne 2, it is part of the series "Les Carnets de l'Aventure" and broadcast on the same television channel. It features different generations of the finest free climbing artists of the time: Patrick Edlinger, Catherine Destivelle, Lucien Bérardini, Jean Pierre Bouvier, and Bertrand Roche 'Zébulon'.

La Lumière du Rocher

January 1986 •French

Alain Robert en solo integral

January 1991 •French

Before tackling the ascent of urban buildings, Alain Robert was considered one of the best specialists in the "climbing" of cliffs. His passion nearly cost him his life in 1982, when a fall rendered him 66% disabled. At the time the doctors were convinced that he could no longer indulge in this passion. This does not prevent him, by dint of motivation and training, from climbing more than 170 buildings around the world to date, and from soloing technical routes at his maximum level, such as "La Nuit du Lézard". (8a+) in Buoux (France), where here is "L'Ange en Décomposition", in 1991, a mythical course in the Gorges du Verdon.

Touching the Void

September 2003 •English

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.