Offwidth, that unholy crack size too big for your fist, and too small to get your butt in. You gotta be a certain kind of special to seek out wide crack climbing. Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker are that kind of special – two Brits who heard the stories of offwidth in the US, and spent years training for “World Domination in Offwidths”.
The second film, “Slender Gentlemen”, is much like the first – set a goal, Herculean effort training, and an epic battle towards the send. This time, the Grail in mind are a pair of ascents of the infamous Cobra Crack in Squamish. Its a very different style of climbing, offwidth too big for a fist whereas Cobra is hardcore finger tip torquing. Just watching the training montage is enough to make my knuckles swell sympathetically. Once they arrive in Squamish, the struggle is real. Each has to suss out unique beta and pray to the weather gods that so often decide the outcome of trips.
British climbing flicks have a certain sensibility to them – hard work is expected, and its all about “how” you do it. Tom and Pete live up to the standard and represented their country well. Their training montages are inspiring, even the laziest viewer will do a couple crunches before bed after watching either of these films. As I have come to both expect and appreciate about Hot Aches films, its not all action – the films are packed with interviews that provide thoughtful insight and meaningful context. This is especially true for the “sweet science” of off-width climbing. As Bob Scarpelli says, “the brutality disguises the craft, and good offwidth climbers have an amazing craft”
The Verdict(s):
WideBoyz – Buy it. It’s an amazing insight into a unique facet of climbing that deserves more attention.
Wideboyz 2 – Borrow it. It’s worth seeing, but if I had to pick a film about Cobra Crack, I have to side with ‘First Ascent’
