In 2015 American climber Tommy Caldwell free climbed
The Dawn Wall of Yosemite’s El Capitan with Kevin
Jorgensen. Caldwell presented his life, achievements
and Dawn Wall project to a packed house.AG Outdoor | 57talk about his life pre- and post-alpinism and its affects on relationships
and what is perceived as ‘a normal life’. He retells his 2006 Everest
experience where his team forewent their summit push on Everest to
assist AG Outdoor’s very own Lincoln Hall after he, near death, spent
the night at 8700m. Brash elaborates on how he and Lincoln later became
friends, before Lincoln’s passing from cancer in 2012.
Breakfast turns into lunch and our table of two extends to a table of
10, including National Geographic photographer Corey Richards, guru
snow-sport shooter Rueben Krabbe and NZ alpinist and guide Lydia
Brady. Producers, fi lmmakers and athletes alike come and go; some I
have met, but most I haven’t.
The day is a blur of handshakes and greetings. Everybody is in ‘chill
mode’, for it is time-off between projects, time to relax and time to
connect or reconnect with likeminded people. Come evening we prog-
ress to the theatre for the premiere fi lm showings, and to feed our now
insatiable appetite for inspirational storytelling of wild places. And so
the torrent continues.
My fi fth morning launches into the fl ow with a coffee at MacLab
where I once again fi nd myself in long conversation, this time with
world-class paraglider and star of The Rocky Mountains Traverse movie
Gavin McLurg. I missed a dawn mountain run with Honnold, which
may have been a blessing in disguise, with rain and snow now falling
from the sky.
Next I’m off to a book reading, before swinging by the adventure fi lm
making classes run by adventure cinematographer Keith Partridge, of
Touching the Void fame. I sit in on pitches, ideas and storyboarding, all
the while thinking, ‘I need to be a part of this; I need to make something
worthy’.
Jim Harris from 5Point Film Festival talks to me of his transition
from fi lmmaker to fi lm festival coordinator after an accident left him
paralysed from the sternum down... however, he doesn’t seem very
good at abiding by ‘paralysis rules’, as he is already walking around with
the aid of crutches.
My schedule is interspersed with workshops and photo-walks
throughout the mountain town, all revolving around continual screen-
ings of some of the most dramatic and inspiring adventure fi lms ofBy the end of my fourth day I am exhausted. I have
been ‘going with the flow’ but ‘the flow’ is no
meandering brook, but rather a raging river...