Everest Unmasked

Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.

Faces Nord

March 12, 1987. The young French mountaineer Eric Escoffier prepares his equipment, very reduced in material and food. He leaves the next day and intends to chain three north faces in the Alps: Eiger, Matterhorn and Grandes Jorasses. The ascent of the first summit, the Eiger is slow, difficult and full of pitfalls. It takes 17 hours to reach it. Without recognizing the terrain -he prefers to improvise- the mountaineer continues through the Matterhorn. When night falls, anxiety is felt on Zermatt's side. Help is organized to pick him up. Despite his refusal to return, Escoffier is finally hoisted. Christophe Profit, a few hours earlier, managed the chain of three summits.

La Voie Terray

Terray. This name sounds like a challenge and evokes deep respect in the memory of every mountaineer. For all, Lionel Terray remains forever the "Conqueror of the useless", the example of a generous and mature mountaineer, far from any egocentrism and any ambition. Not only a pioneer and witness to the history of mountaineering, Terray is also remembered as a man and a master more than an athlete. Forty years after the tragic death of this extraordinary mountaineer and guide, who liked to think of himself as a "simple mountaineer", his former friends and the youngest generation of mountaineers come together in this film to celebrate and remember his legacy.

Jim Bridwell, The Yosemite Living Legend

Jim Bridwell was one of the best climbers in the world in the 70s, 80s. The documentary chronicles Bridwell's career from those early days to his final ascents in 2001. The film traces Jim Bridwell's journey through numerous interviews with other legendary free climbing personalities such as Leo Houlding and Ron Kauk. See him climb some of Yosemite's historic routes with today's young climbers paying homage to this true legend of free climbing. In an unpublished document from 1981, he is seen in one of his famous Zodiac ascents in El Capitan with and Fred East.

El Valor Del Miedo - Cerro Murallon

Loslassen

Film about the alpinist Roger Schäli and the Arwa Spire summit.

Les Amants des Drus

Brette, A Year On The Road

Brette Harrington, 24, is a rising talent in the climbing world. From overhead free ascents to long alpine solos, she excels in all disciplines of the sport. Join Brette on a journey around the world, from frozen waterfalls in the Canadian Rockies to climbing great walls at El Capitan Proving Grounds to the Chiara di Luna monument in alpine Mecca Cerro Torre in Patagonia.

Dodo's Delight - The Adventures Of The Dodo

Trio For One

Daulagiri (8167m), Naga Parbat (8125m) and Broad Peak (8051m) are among the 14 peaks in the world. Jean-Christophe Lafaille has set himself the goal of reaching these 3 peaks in the space of two months. This film takes us on a surprising journey that begins in Nepal and ends in Pakistan, while exploring the soul of this committed mountaineer… Ed Viesturs and Katia Lafaille accompanied Lafaille on his adventure.

Shishapangma, Un Solo En Hiver

Jean-Christophe Lafaille is the first mountaineer to attempt the solo ascent of the steep Himalayan face of "Shishapangma". As one of the 14 highest peaks in the world, Shishapangma peak rises over 8000 meters. Jean-Christophe defies the merciless conditions of the Himalayan winter. Without oxygen and exposed to extreme cold, Jean-Christophe, aware of the objective danger, is determined to achieve this long-held dream by reaching the summit by the magnificent British South West face course of 1982, with a new course on the first 1000 meters. He will reach the summit on December 11, some, like the Pole Krzysztof Wielicki, challenge him for the first. Jean-Christophe will be very upset and some of his relatives will be worried to see him then lock himself into an increasingly obstinate quest, some of whom were already guessing the outcome.

Les Conquérants De l'Impossible : Portrait De René Desmaison

This episode is part of the series "The Conquerors of the Impossible (2/3)". From the 1950s to the 1980s, René Desmaison achieved a large number of "firsts". A specialist in normal routes (west face of Les Drus, Pilier du Freyney, Shroud...), he experienced a tragedy at the Grandes Jorasses, where his exceptional resistance allowed him to survive against all logic. He is the first to claim the practice of the mountain as a high level sport. A man of contrasts, his apparent strength hides great shyness and an unalterable enthusiasm despite the years. Beyond mountaineering, it is the spirit of adventure that has always inhabited him. A whole life devoted to mountaineering.

Die Schweiz von oben

The Ghost of the Neolithic

In summer 2003, when the heatwave hit in Europe, in Switzerland, the glacier below the Schnidejoch pass, released a mysterious object: a piece of a Neolithic quiver.

Stars at Noon

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

In the Shadow of Karakorum

In 1954, a German-Austrian expedition led by Mathias Rebitsch set off for the difficult-to-access Karakoram Mountains, geographically north of the Himalayas. They come across the Hunza, a people who live in the valley of the same name and believe they are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great. The documentary conveys impressions of the poor life of the Hunza people, the harvest, a court hearing, festivals and the children's everyday school life. Finally, the expedition sets off again and sets up its main camp on the moraine ridge of a glacier, where they measure the glacier and the earth's magnetic field. Finally, some men from the research community set off for a sub-peak of Batura.