Let it be known, I have an innate fondness for southern sandstone.  Its comfortable, its humbling, and its oh so satisfying to pull on. Even though it was shot in 2009, this film is a bit of a time capsule, with early model FranklinBlack Diamond Mondo pads, and…. can it be?  Voodoo Pads!  I know that fact won’t excite anybody but the weirdos reading, but it takes me back.

This film catalogs the crew sending boulders at a number of different sites on glorious sandstone, a handful of sport routes into the 5.12/13 range, and even the odd trad route.  It even captures a few first ascents in recently opened areas, showing that not all the plums have been picked in the less trodden parts of Arkansas.

What isn’t in this film is top pros pulling on V-Impossible stuff a la Sharma’s Witness the Fitness.  No, this is a film made by a group of friends, and initially that drew me in completely.  Sure the camera work is shaky, and the soundtrack eclectic hip-hop, but there’s an honesty to this film.  With the banter amongst the cast, the heckling, the attainable grades, this is one of the few films I’ve watched recently that really makes me want to be there.  Not to stare at the unattainable, not to watch the Gods of climbing, but to hang out, pull on the stuff shown, and trade jabs while sharing a laugh.  Maybe its the COVID lock-down talking, but this really centered what I’ve actually been missing. As the film progressed the non-climbing antics got past where this 30-something usually treads, but early-20-something me would have been having a ball.

Verdict: Skip It.  Unless you live in the south east or have a fondness for it, this film will probably fall flat with you.  Even as much as I love the area, having to sit through bizarre interstitials that vary from hokey skits to drunkenly setting one’s hair on fire with a torch (after the compulsory trim with pruning shears) started to distract me. I still liked it for the climbing, but after weighing my love for the style, I’m aware its not for everyone.

That said, if you think its a film for you, Patrick Weldon has been kind enough to upload it, in its entirety to YouTube.

Elliot Bell
Daniel Carnahan
Jason Cook
Zachary Eubanks
Cole Fennel
Scott Fitzgerald
Stark Ligon
Andrew Gertsch
Patrick Kabanuck
Chris Robertson
Jeremy Tyler (Walton)
Patrick Weldon
Ort Kabauck
Nick Cross
Joshua McKinnon

Strawberry
Lion Heart
Grandaddy
Black Mamba
Flux Capacitor
The Crippler
Mystery Machine
David Bowie – FA
Deception
Dissumulation

Glory Hole
Dirty Virgin
Worms 3D – FA
Trouser Snakes
Gate Keeper
Interpretation of Dreams

Lincoln Lake
Globular Cluster
The Mystic
Father Frank

Desoto
Zen in a Blender
Midnight Frightening – SA

Dardanalle
Huck Finn
Runaway – FA
The Wave
Huecos and Dynos

Stark Naked (Sport)

Sam’s Throne
The Black (Sport)
Persecuted by Squares (Trad)
Dead Dog (Sport)
Euro Classic
Straight Outta Hueco

Fontaine Red
A Dream Come True
Electrallica
The Font Dyno
Le Beak

Fruit of Sin (Sport)

Stack Rock
Sanctified (Sport)
From Colorado with Love (Trad) FA(?)

Candy Mountain
River Styx (Sport)
Get Rowdy

Cave Creek
Brick Attack