I am not a rock climber but love to hike, and when Kelvin and I were in Patagonia (which seem SO LONG AGO!) in February, we heard from some fellow hikers about two recent great documentary films, The Dawn Wall and Free Solo, featuring American climbers (Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold) who are legends for their incredible climbs most notably of Yosemite's El Capitan (many similar granite peaks are scalable in South America). I adore Yosemite National Park and made several trips there amidst residency (including a solid hike with friends Erin and TJ of Half Dome in 2007), and I watched both sport-themed films in recent weeks with extreme awe and inspiration for these athletes' dedication and focus (but with absolutely no additional interest in pursuing any actual rock climbing). Seeing such spectacular national park scenery during this pandemic also filled a void of the lack of travel (and the adventure documentaries filled the void of the lack of sports-watching).
The Dawn Wall (Netflix) chronicles the life and climbing achievements of Tommy Caldwell, a Colorado native who once suffered a traumatic capture at the hands of Kyrgyz rebels on a climbing trip (and escaped), lost part of a finger in a home accident, and still managed, with his partner Kevin Jorgeson, to climb his way up (in 2015, and over 19 days, pitching portable tents on the side of the rock face in which to sleep!) El Capitan's sheer and uncharted face called the "Dawn Wall." It is an incredible story of love, perseverance, teamwork, and athletic achievement, and made me emotional at the end. I highly recommend this film if you need a pick-me-up!
Then, last week, Kelvin and I watched Free Solo (on Disney +), which is a film based on Sacramento native Alex Honnold's preparation and incredible ascent of the 3000-foot near-vertical El Capitan as an individual free climb on the Freerider route (without any harness or ropes!), with the risk of falling to his death amidst the attempt with any one misstep. Despite having heard about the climb in the news (he completed it in June 2017 in just under four hours), watching the film and hearing about his childhood, life, relationships, unique brain chemistry, and singular focus, was really eye-opening. You will be shocked and amazed and by the jaw-dropping footage of this incredible ascent! Our hiking companions in El Calafate, Argentina, actually told us that they saw/met Alex Honnold at a vegan restaurant in town the night before we hiked together on the second day!
Iver is an excellent climber, who started escaping from his crib around 13-14 months and had to be moved to a full bed. He loves climbing rocks at Trinidad beach.
We may have another expert climber on our hands! This morning, when we hadn't heard from Niall by about 6:45 a.m., I headed into his room to turn off the sound machine to see if that would prompt him to wake up on his own happily. I didn't see him in his crib, and, shocked, I looked behind me to see his grinning face turning off the machine himself! He'd sneakily successfully climbed out of his crib even wearing a sleep sack! We got more than an additional year of crib use for this little guy compared to his monkey-brother! I don't know if this will be a pattern or if it was a one-time thing, but I think our days of Niall staying put in the crib are going to be over relatively soon, and we'll have to either take off the side to convert it to a toddler bed or put him in a regular bed and deal with possible room escapes... wish us luck! Maybe next up is... El Cap? :)
The Dawn Wall (Netflix) chronicles the life and climbing achievements of Tommy Caldwell, a Colorado native who once suffered a traumatic capture at the hands of Kyrgyz rebels on a climbing trip (and escaped), lost part of a finger in a home accident, and still managed, with his partner Kevin Jorgeson, to climb his way up (in 2015, and over 19 days, pitching portable tents on the side of the rock face in which to sleep!) El Capitan's sheer and uncharted face called the "Dawn Wall." It is an incredible story of love, perseverance, teamwork, and athletic achievement, and made me emotional at the end. I highly recommend this film if you need a pick-me-up!
Then, last week, Kelvin and I watched Free Solo (on Disney +), which is a film based on Sacramento native Alex Honnold's preparation and incredible ascent of the 3000-foot near-vertical El Capitan as an individual free climb on the Freerider route (without any harness or ropes!), with the risk of falling to his death amidst the attempt with any one misstep. Despite having heard about the climb in the news (he completed it in June 2017 in just under four hours), watching the film and hearing about his childhood, life, relationships, unique brain chemistry, and singular focus, was really eye-opening. You will be shocked and amazed and by the jaw-dropping footage of this incredible ascent! Our hiking companions in El Calafate, Argentina, actually told us that they saw/met Alex Honnold at a vegan restaurant in town the night before we hiked together on the second day!
Iver is an excellent climber, who started escaping from his crib around 13-14 months and had to be moved to a full bed. He loves climbing rocks at Trinidad beach.
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