Do you like highballs?   Do you like Mike Call films?  Do you remember when Steven Jeffery was probably the most brutally powerful guy on the scene?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you’re in for a treat.  Today we review “The High Life”, a film from the VHS era.  How far back?  Well, its presented by Pusher, so that far back.   Want more proof of how long ago? Mike Call shot footage of Lisa Rands climbing a V4, and it made it into the final cut.

I’ll keep this review short, because the film itself is short – total tape time is less than 35 minutes, and the feature film is about 25 minutes followed by the credits and some bonus footage. Like many films that address highballs, small segments with climbers musing on the stock questions are dotted throughout; How high does something have to be to be highball? When does that end and soloing start? How do you justify the risk?

Highballs and super hard grades don’t often mix, so don’t expect to see anything north of V11, and in truth there are only 2 or 3 lines in the film that check in at double-digit V-grades. A few lines shown in the film get double points for being both relatively high and definitely over sketchy landings. Being VHS, resolution suffers, but that’s just a sign of the times. The music is definitely representative of the times as well. This film was relatively early in Mike Call’s career, and its not as polished as his later flicks like Best of the West, Perfecto, and The Road, but I do appreciate his vision to intersperse on-subject climber commentary with the action to tie everything back to a central overarching theme.

VERDICT:
If you are given the chance, See It. Good luck finding a copy, but if you do, there are worse ways to spend 20 minutes.

THE WHO:
Lisa Rands, Ivan Greene, Steven Jeffery, Mike Auldridge, Lance Bateman, Boone Speed, Matt Lund, Gina Howald, Brian Capps, John Cronin, Tim Wagner, Leo Houlding, Dave Graham, Steve Maisch, Jeff Baldwin, Mike Mott

THE WHEREWHAT:

Arthurs Rock CO
The Vice

Flagstaff, CO
Double Clutch / Williams Dyno

Shawgunks NY
Death Penalty

Ferguson Canyon, UT
Extreme Unction

The Horn, UT
Moby Dick

Ibex, UT
White Arete
The Few the Proud
Red Monster Left Arete

Joes Valley, UT
No Additives
Kellys Arete
Spam
Snakemouth
Sherpa’s Pie
Nerve Damage

Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT
Cattegurad
High Hopes
The Crippler

Fountainbleau
Cul de Chien

-Justin Meserve, actually does his writing homework when he is not out working scary highballs in Maryland and Pennsylvania.