What is “Western” with respect to the United States? The mid-west is kinda the middle of the country. When east coast climbers talk about going west to climb, they mostly mean Colorado, Utah, or California. It was a pleasant surprise to me that “Western Gold” didn’t include any of these States.
Forget that version of the west, we’re talking about Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, and British Columbia. We’re talking about people you probably haven’t heard of (but should have) crushing from V5 up to V13 on boulders that are, on average, TALL. No scummy lowballs here, its all gorgeous stone that stands proud. Best of all, you can stream it on Amazon as part of your Prime membership.
For my personal tastes, this film mixes the climbing and the not-climbing in good proportions – the interviews and voiceover are meaningful, but don’t intrude on what we came to see. The lines they chose to shoot swing towards my personal preferences as well, stuff that’s got good movement and gets way off the deck. My jaw dropped when I saw the movement and beauty of a line like Make Believe at Red Rocks, something that’s I’ve never seen featured anywhere else but is now firmly on my to-do list ifwhen I make it out there.
Also to my personal tastes, seeing someone else with the free-with-subscription, Navy Blue ‘Urban Climber’ tee-shirt? Hit me right in the nostalgia.
The production value is high quality with well composed shots and omnipresent but appropriate music. The editors don’t just bring you all this greatest hits (I counted 30+ different problems), they also show the reality – bouldering is a lot of failure, a lot of falling. Those 30 problems are spread across a wide cast of over a dozen climbers, all with genuine, warm attitudes and just the right amount of stoke. I didn’t realize it at first, but the 90 minute screen time is much longer than most of my go-to favorites – I think with the constant change of scenery and faces, it prevents the monotony some other films suffer from when you’re watching the same four climbers in one or two locations.
With a full third of the boulders being easier than V8, and a focus on each area’s locals instead of visiting high-profile hardmen, this film feels more like a weekend at the crag with friends than some other less-relateable flicks that show an unattainable standard in every shot. In many ways, seeing real people doing “moderates” is more motivating – its too easy to waive off the latest V16 because its irrelevant to anything you’ll actually climb. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Verdict: Stream It – Western Gold is one I had on my shelf for a long time and never got around to, and that was a mistake.
The People
Jessica Campbell
Rob Lewis
Kyle O’Meara
Johnny Goicoecha – quiet crusher, doesnt spray
Alex Savage
Pete Lowe
Heather Lowe
Wolfgang Lowe
Charlie Barrett
Heather Robinson
Tom Moulin
Patrick Olson
Brian Bowman
Marc Nardacci
Flannery Shay-Nemirow
Asher Shay-Nemirow
Ryan Olson
Paul Nadler
Eric Natzke
Andrew Rothner
Elise Ebner
Jeremy Smith
Carmen Ing
Joe Maier
Gabriel Moch
The Problems
Leavenworth, WA
Taller V5
Was V8
Cremation of Care V10
Geronimo V8
Ivy V7
The Current V10
Ground Zero V8
River Arete V8
All of the Above V12
Castle Rock, ID
Green in the Face V13
Red Rocks, NV
Fear of a Black Hat V9
$600 V9
Make Believe V6
Abstraction V9
Ariana V6
Bloodtrails V5
All Nightmare Long V6
Big K V8
Angels Dyno V7
Book of Nightmares V11
Wet Dream V12/13
Stand and Deliver V12
Clockwork Orange V13
Cody, WY
The Wretch V7
Resolution C5
Snytonga V9
The OG V10
Squamish, BC
Doubt V5
Resurrection V9
No Excuse for Porn Hair V5
Defenders of the Faith V9
The Fridge V7
Darksided V11
Be On Four V7
Black Sabbath V7
Ride the Lightning V8
Animal Magnetism V7/8
World of Hurt V10
Teenage Lobotomy V6