Continuing on our highball theme from the last review (The High Life), we bring you a much more modern film about getting way off the deck – Rocky Mountain Highball.
Right off the bat what you will notice a few things stylistically that set RMHB apart from most of the films out there. First, it plays like a full length documentary, not the type that follows a single climber around (like King Lines or Specimen), but a legitimate indepth analysis of a single subject matter. Don’t expect non-stop sending – this film devotes an equal time split between the interviews of key figures and the climbing. It also is focused in making these tall boulders the stars – you’ll see only the names of the climbs and the climbers, but nothing else.
For anyone who loves learning about the OG climbers who put bouldering on the map, this film is a treasure trove. The list of interviewees include three of my heros; John Gill, Jim Holloway, and John ‘Vermin’ Sherman. These and other climbers help paint the picture of the evolution of highballing, the motivation behind a few of the classics, and a look into how the modern era of the niche is forming, with the advent of bigger and better crashpads – well, hell, the advent of crash pads in general. The climbs themselves are stunning, and while at first I thought the music was going to drown out the tense noises that come with being high off the deck, the climbers were either well mic’d during their ascents or their sometimes panicked breathing was dubbed over seamlessly. The film even manages to capture a few first ascents of tall, beautiful lines that were previously passed over for lack of skill, fortitude, or vision.
There are a few other things that make this film stand out as “different”. One of the most striking is the balance between the sexes. Men and women share a much more equitable airtime than usual, but no overt effort is made to highlight the inclusion of women. No talks of what it’s like to be a “girl climber”, etc. Additionally, the complete exclusion of grades or locations given for each climb draws the focus away from those hangups and lets the stone be the centerpiece purely for its aesthetic nature.
Next time you’re feeling sketched out high off the deck, just remember that John Gill did it harder, taller, in literal boots, all before the crashpad was even a thing.
VERDICT
See it – If you are a historian – buy it and share it. If you are new to bouldering and want to up your knowledge of its roots, borrow it from that guy.
Filmed By: Yama Studio
Availability: Buy It Here
THE WHO
ClimbersInterviewees:
Chuck Fryberger, Daniel Woods, Jason Kehl, Brandon Vogel, Paul Robinson, Lynn Hill, Kevin Jorgenson, Justin Wood, John Sherman, Matt Samet, John Gill, Jim Holloway, Mark Wilford, Scott Blunk, Mike Freischlag, Jutin Jaeger, Phillip Benningfield, Melissa LeCasse, Matt Wilder, Sarah Marnves, Steve Mammen, Pat Ament, Cameron Cross, Ben Scott, Tommy Caldwell, Herm Feissner
THE WHAT
Chicken and a 40
Merest Excrescences
Loman’s Highball
Fathom
Whispers of Wisdom
Mavericks
The Bulge
Sweet Arete
Childbirth
Immortality
Here Comes Sickness
Moss Boss
Timeline
Identity THeft
Dark Horse
Hollow’s Way
Jaws
Small Axe
Eastern Priest
Streaked Corner
The Ineditable
Mrs. Bitchy – FA
Firstborn – FA
The Last Dance – FA
Edge of Oblivion – FA
Vim – FA
Two Dead Birsds
Yellow Christ
Drunken Master
Fish out f Water – FA