Some might think “Masters of Stone” is the ubiquitous early American climbing film, but I’d argue Painted Spider is more deserving of the title. Both dropped around 1991, and tried to capture a vision of what the climbing community was, and had some overlap in cast.
The film moves between locations and styles, and I’ll try and capture anything notable from each below.
As is tradition, the film opens with 4 minutes of montage and sponsor cards, followed by an important history lesson from Dick Leonard and Dave Brower, capturing everything from “the leader must not fall”, to development of nylon ropes, and dynamic hip belays. From there, a quick history of Astroman is given, culminating in following Merry Braun and Deanne Grey up. This scene is particularly standout for me as at one point Merry girth-hitches an extra cam to the rope and take Deanne off belay so she can pull it up to her current stance, and its not terribly clear whether Deanne had gone in direct first. Anytime you hear “I’m taking you off belay” mid-pitch, it gets your attention.
“The latest development in free climbing” is the phrase that opens the next segment, referring to…… sport climbing, it being like bouldering on a rope – purely physical. What follows is one of the few shots I’ve seen of Ron Kauk doing the whole of Midnight Lightning, with some wild beta, and Don Welsh punching up A Steep Climb Named Desire. From there we move to more sport climbing, done by; boulderer (ironic) Scott Frye on Mickey’s Beach, Ron Kauk at the Emeralds, and Dale Goddard waxing poetic about the convergence of talent and effort.
In a short reprieve from sport climbing, Bird Lew cruises up Panic in Detroit nearly effortlessly. Immediately thereafter, its back to bolts, with Hans Flourine in Smith Rock against an overly-threatening soundtrack worthy of a low-budget Terminator knock-off.
Moving off stone, we see the 1991 US Nationals, explaining very well the job of the routesetter, in this case Christian Griffith – create separation. Spandex abounds, and at least one off-color joke about disordered eating is made by an athlete in isolation. Seeing a climber in competition get short-roped is a tale as old as time, having watched it happen very recently at the Pan Am, and on full display at the ’91 Nationals complete with some serious protest. If you ever feel the need to complain about USAC or IFSC production values, watch this and understand how good you’ve got it. One facet of the old days I appreciated compared to the modern era: multiple tops aren’t resolved with countbacks, but with “Super Finals”.
In the penultimate act, we get a real treat – Peter Croft explaining, and demonstrating, his free solo prowess. Hearing him describe how he thinks about risk and security as he floats up The Rostrum is a staggering show of mastery and some of the earliest long free solo footage I can recall.
As the film closes, its worth noting that we briefly follow up with a pair climbers headed off to climb in Cayonlands in the opening shot while the narrator rambles about the common thread that joins all climbers. The organization of the film makes it for a nice pair of common bookends that reinforce its message, but I just never cared much for that sort of inspirational “we’re all in it together” trope.
Painted Spider offers a broader, more diverse selection of cast and locations than other pieces of the period. While the constant voice-over is a bit camp and dated, its not nearly as dated as the hyper-machismo of the first Masters of Stone installment we’ll review next time. Overall its a bit of a time capsule, with its decidedly 90’s soundtrack, glory shots of solid stemmed SLCDs, and excessive use of adjectives – but its legitimately well produced with multiple camera angles for every bit of action, even if some of the panning and zoom is rough, and is well edited for continuity between shots so you get a feel for the whole route.
The Verdict: Watch It! Think of it as Progression before Progression was a thing – it offers a diverse cross-section of climbing of the era, and it I’ve seen more VHS copies on eBay than I can shake a stick at.
The Who: Bobbi Bensman, Merry Braun, Peter Croft, Hans Flourine, Scott Frye, Dale Goddard, Deanne Gray, Jason Karn, Ron Kauk, Bird Lew, ALison Osisus, Diane Russell, Bill Sinoff, Don Welsh, Jim Zellers, and “The Competitors of the 1991 National Sport Climbing Championships at City Rock”
The Where:
Yosemite – Astroman, Midnight Lightning
Canyonlands – Primrose Diherdal (Free)
Smith Rock – The Backbone
Cave Rock – Shut up and Climb
Donner Summit – A Steep Climb Named Desire, Panic in Detroit
Mickey’s Beach – Endless Bummer
American Fork
The Emeralds – Aqua
CityRock Gym