The Friday Matinee!

Well, if it's Friday - checks calendar, woohoo, it is definitely Friday, then it can mean only one thing, yep, it's time for the Friday Matinee.

And this Friday, what with Christmas looming like the Titanic, we thought we'd have a quick whisk through some of the climbing DVD trailers for films, you might consider for the stockingof the climber in your life - it's certainly not an exhaustive list and we apologise if you've seen them before, but hey, check the footage and off you go...

On Sight

Alastair Lee's latest film took two prizes at Kendal including the Grand Prize for best overall film and it's an absolute cracker with some amazing footage. At the heart of it is the premise that on-sighting - climbing routes without prior knowledge - is a the very heart of climbing and, basically, what it's all about... OUTDOORSmagic Review

Echo Wall

Echo Wall is the story of Scottish climber Dave MacLeod's mission to climb a desperately hard route high on the north side of Ben Nevis. It's a study in sustained commitment and dedication with some dramatic footage and a brilliant soundtrack. OUTDOORSmagic Review.


Hard Grit

Slackjaw Films focus on scarily committed gritstone climbing was the seminal rock film of its day and is still rivetting viewing.




Touching The Void

If you haven't seen the film of Joe Simpson's Touching The Void, then where have you been. It's a brilliantly-filmed recreation of the book filmed on location in the Alps and the Cordillera Huyhuash of Peru intercut with commentary from Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates.


Committed 2

Committed Volume 2 is a new DVD from Hot Aches and follows five of Britain's top climbers atempting deperately hard routes including an E12... We haven't seen the full DVD, but the trailer looks promising....


Stone Monkey

One of the best climbing films ever, Stone Monkey is a profile of the extraordinary Johhny Dawes, one of the most brilliant natural climbers ever. Like Hard Grit, it's still well worth watching...

The Collective

It's not a climbing film, it's about mountain biking, but if you're into knobbly tyres, it's a jaw-dropping, beautifully-filmed, inspirational slice of two-wheeled action with a great soundtrack. The team behind it have followed it up with Roam and Seasons, but the originality and freshness of the original DVD makes it a must watch for mountain bikers. Lovely and lightyears away from the awful, thrash metal accompanied norm for the genre.

Last But Not Least...

How could we forget the greatest climbing film of all time - yes, we're talking Cliffhanger with Silvester Stallone, though Vertical Limit is, we feel, in with a shout - I mean, if only Joe Simpson had been carrying a few sticks of dynamite, eh? Climbing doesn't get any less realistic than this... Filmed in the Dolomite by the way, watch out for bits of Via Ferrata hanging around the edge of shots...


That's it for now and, of course, there are plenty more choices out there including Alastair Lee's rather impressive back catalogue - Storms The Movie is brilliantly funny in parts and Set In Stone is a lovely profile of Lakeland climber Dave Birkett. Then there's E11 following Dave MacLeod again.  And any number of American productions.

Have a good one :-)