With RMHb having been in production for quite some time a lot was expected of this film. They not only had the mission of showing the some of the best highball bouldering in Colorado but they also had to ensure they accurately told the history of highball bouldering and explain why these climbers take such obvious risk. Being a subgenre of an already semi-obscure sport I can imagine this was somewhat of a daunting task. They handle that crux in the best way possible; they went right to the source.
The deeper purpose of this film is to explore the ‘why’. Why do climbers push themselves past that comfort zone? Every climber has different reasons why they take that inherent risk that comes with highball bouldering and the film does a great job of illustrating and contrasting this.
The film just isn’t a history lesson or psychological exploratory piece. When it comes down to it, it’s a climbing film. Plain and simple. And the footage is more then capable to backing up that title. There are more then 70 boulder problems featured in the film, a feat that is astounding for any climbing movie. The fact the collection of problems, classics and first ascents, are varied in difficulty is another plus. Easy, moderate and hard - they’re all there and they’re all tall.
I have seen A LOT of climbing films and I would be hard pressed to select a definite favorite. I think they have to be taken in the context they were made and in that sense this movie is a success. Scott, Alden and Andy did a great job of, explaining “why some climbers choose to push themselves to boulder at the vertical limit.” This could have ended up being a video guidebook for highball’s in Colorado but I feel it is much more then that. Nonetheless I can’t help but wonder who is going to be the first to send them all…
