There’s climbing in Ireland?
Yes, there’s plenty of climbing in Ireland, and Underdeveloped captures it at a very relateable level. It’s a relatively “low budget” film compared to some other offerings, and while some of the routes featured clock in as stout as E8, the majority check in easier. The film follows a close knit group of friends taking on area single pitch classics on a rope, with some bouldering (and the odd rope jump) sprinkled in to round out the experience.
Based on the footage presented here, I’ve determined that anything north of E6 is just free soloing with extra steps (remember – free solo trad is the truest form of climbing). Deck potential run-outs seem the norm, and the fall off Mushroom Boys is probably the longest groundfall I’ve ever seen someone walk away from. The trust these boys put in their rubber is unreal to me, but they make it work well into and past the territory I’d list as “bold”.
I was struggling to put my finger on what this film was, it felt very familiar but foreign. An hour in, I realized this film is a bit of an anachronism – its almost as if Rampage or Inertia was shot in Ireland, in 2008. Matt Samet praised it as a simple film in his 2008 review, and taking a step back it makes sense. It’s shot on a pair of borrowed cameras, its audio is 90% blasting music and what isn’t is uncontrollable laughter amongst friends, and it opens with a frantic montage. All of that rough-cut simplicity that was a staple of the early 2000s seems suddenly out of place in 2008.
“Underdeveloped started life as a collection of home videos and after 2 year of filming and 2 years of editing, that’s effectively what it still is. We tried to maintain the humility of the original videos. This film isn’t about glossy production, its not about hard climbs, and its not about big ticks, its just about climbing in Ireland”
Verdict: A Film for the Nostalgic – This isn’t the first film you should show your friends. Or the 30th. But its an important reminder that there’s more out there than a dozen pros on 5-star lines, and that the majority of us are just like the boys shown here.
The Who:
Ed
Boydo
Craigy
Crazy Sam
Beggsy
Jock
Johnny Mac
Andy
Jamie
Swaily
Ricky
The What:
Mournes
Mushroom Boyz E7 6c
Idlewild E6 6b
Crystal methods E8 6c
Tolerence E8 6c
The Burren
Jokerman E6 6b
Stigmata E6 6b
Siren E3 5c
Faith E7 6c
Unknown
The power of the hobo E7 6c
Fairhead
A bad skin day. E7 6c
GBH E3 6a
Wall of Prey E5 6b
Styx E6 6c
Halloween E5 6b
The complete scream, E8 6b
Extras
We’re all learning E7 6c, Mournes
Thrill issues of the jelly man E7 6c
Eazy now E6 6c
The Happiness that hurts E7 6c, Burren
Fairhead bouldering
Mournes bouldering
Glendalough bouldering