And now, for something completely different.   Reunion at Taquitz isn’t really a climbing film in the traditional sense, but its a film with climbers in it, and I’m gonna review it.

Credit: Idyllwind Area Historical Society

This DVD is actually just home-video-quality footage of an hour long presentation given by many of the climbers that made Taquitz what it is.  Jane Levy wanted to celebrate her 50th anniversary of climbing in Taquitz, so she orchestrated a panel of climbers for an evening at the Idyllwild Area Historical Society (from whom you can order the DVD)

Even if they all seem like “old timers” to new climbers, they represent a number of generations in climbing, from the before the Golden Age up until the Stone Masters.  The personalities are great, the stories are wild (150′ bouncing falls with nary a broken bone), and the mood is light.  It’s mostly folks trading war stories with the room, and the appropriate guffaws at the jokes that come of it.  The atmosphere is relaxed, immediately swerving off the proposed agenda to swap out speakers to paint a full view of the early history of climbing.

There’s not a lot to review here – its less than an hour long, and its really just folks talking up on a stage.  There’s no action shots or soundtrack or editing, just one camera capturing a very special evening where some titans shared a room and shared their experiences.

Verdict: An Evening of History. The slideshow used to be a big thing in climbing.  Its how climbers from the era of Royal Robbins up through the early ’00s made a little extra cash to stay on the road doing what they loved – I was very fortunate to see Michael Reardon speak at a small show sometime around 2006.  Its a lost medium, but this film captures some of what its about.  It won’t be high on my list of “must watch” films for motivation, but it is a fun insight for those that couldn’t be there, and a look at when climbers were really bold on average.

The Who:
Royal Robbins
Joe Fitschen
John Long
Jane Levy
Don Lauria
Jerry Galwas
Mike Sherrick
Charlie Raymond.