The Future of Climbing
Scenes like those on Everest, with summit queues and piles of refuse, are not untypical of those witnessed in many climbing areas. On many climbing walls, Thousands of people look for that perfect selfie to post on their Instagram feed. Increasingly, access to climbing areas is becoming more regulated. At the same time, indoor climbing is reaching unprecedented levels of popularity too. What impact will all this have on the future?
One of the climbers in the film sees the development of rock climbing as nothing more than a reflection on society itself. The slogan, ‘I am not a follower’ seen on narrator Cédric Lachat’s camper van, summaries the dilemma – the tragedy even – in a nutshell. Lachat pokes fun at the inconsiderate behaviour of many climbers in sensitive conservation areas. En passant, he discusses the various facets of climbing with fellow climbers.
Accomplished filmmaker Guillaume Broust (whose film The Pathan Project we screened in 2019) has an uncanny knack of capturing climbers in their natural surroundings quite perfectly. This time, Broust combines this with a keen eye for picking out the opportunities and threats to climbing. How quickly a niche subculture became a sport, even an industry, is truly remarkable. This is exactly what the film had in mind.
[Mariska Kastelic]
On Wednesday 5 November in Apollo Kino this film will be screened in one block together with Samuel Volery: the Slackline Legend.
On Thursday 6 November in Royal this film will be screened in one block together with Zahir.
