Valley Uprising

well worth the time/$ to attend a screening. perhaps not the best doc I've ever seen, but pretty far up there, IMO. Probably worth it for the cinematography alone. enjoy it.

The trailer looks pretty rad. I missed the first tour go-by due to a climbing trip, will catch it in Feb..

I did my first 11c onsight in The Valley (Butterballs, 1985), but the best climb was a ropeless, hallucinogenic ascent of Snake Dike....

It's ok. It seems kind of mainstream-aimed, I guess the intended audience is all the gym-only climbers who have no idea of climbing history. I think if you're at all interested in actual (outdoor) climbing the movie will give you very little you don't already know. But climbing is a niche enough activity that it's still interesting to see it given the "big budget" feature-length treatment.

Hope you like Dean Potter, because he is pretty much the lynchpin of at least the entire 2nd half, even moreso than Honnold, who tends to dominate anything relating to climbing these days.

The yosemite park rangers certainly don't come out looking very good. There is a great Chouinard quote in the thing, "the rangers used to have a degree in biology, now they have degrees in marksmanship" and they show some footage of a park ranger training camp, which looks to lay heavy on riot-control tactics and heavy hand-to-hand combat. Something I never really thought about before, but true. A national park ranger now is not a naturalist but a cop, and with all the same pomp and bombast and smug righteous authority of any other pig. Try asking a park ranger to help you identify a flower or tree. Anywhere, not just yosemite.

Anyway the movie is alright.

wooden hand wrote:

.....

Thanks for the honest review. A really good film for me was of Honnold soloing the "Triple": Watkins, El Cap and Half Dome in a day. Dude was seriously on the edge a few times in that one, but you can see the honesty of his effort laid raw.

I agree, and think that was a more interesting climbing film. I've watched that Honnold 3.0 probably ten or fifteen times, where I can't really see watching valley uprising but maybe one more time, mostly for the early 1950's / 60's Royal Robbins segment.

Overall I think the last two Reel Rock years have been stronger than valley uprising. I think last year's segment on the Uli Steck / Simone Moro / Sherpa melee on Everest was excellent.

My opinion on valley uprising is only half-valid though because I am not a rock-climber and find traditional alpinism more interesting. I hope there's at least a short video coming some time about Honnold and Tommy Caldwell's Fitz Roy traverse. Though since it was just the two of them, I doubt it.

If you are a climbing history buff, even if not a rock climber, I would seriously recommend Lynn Hill's biography, co-written with Greg Child, a great alpinist in his own right. It would make a fantastic documentary/adaptation, given that she is perhaps the most important female athlete of all time. Inspiring and entertaining, a quick read which will enhance your appreciation of the sport as a whole.

http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Hill/e/B001HMPWQC