Everyday Activist - Valley Uprising

Posted on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 08:00 PM

Valley Uprising

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

Climbing has gained popularity over the last few decades. Valley Uprising documents the history of the sport in Yosemite National Park, since the 1950s. It won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival back in 2014. I missed it, because I have little to no interest in climbing other than watching the muscular, half-naked men ascend up the cliff face, which I am happy to say made it into the film; generations of them. Steph Davis and Lynn Hill, two kick ass female climbers, did their part to balance out a typically male sport. Sadly, a few of the climbers in the film are no longer with us. Last year in my review of Born to Fly, I mentioned Dean Potter’s death.

Despite the inherent risks of climbing, many of the people in the film aged gracefully. I had met Yvon Chouinard, in Banff. As a man in his 70s, he looks great and keeps mentally sharp. His peers were still alive also giving interviews for the film. The secret to aging well, lies in living a full life according to a finely tuned internal compass that can resist the seduction of a “normal life”. Many of the climbers in the documentary refer to climbing as their quest for freedom as they push themselves to achieve more.

“Normal life” has a way of catching up to even the freest of the free. Valley Uprising talks about the influx of tourists into Yosemite Valley and how park official have had to restrict access. People can no longer live in the park for months at time. The park rangers have all kinds of tactical training to enforce these rules, much to Yvon Chouinard’s chagrin. Alex Honnold, a young climber who has taken rock climbing world by storm, comments that times have changed. Climbers have to operate within the rules and share the park.

My favorite parts were some of the little stories and rivalries. Apparently, the script for the 1993 film Cliffhanger, was inspired by events experienced by some of the early climbers. John Long sold them the story, based on a plane that crashed in Yosemite. It had been full of marijuana that the climbers worked hard to liberate from the ice. They ended up selling a lot of it to the college kids and coming back to the valley fairly wealthy, especially by climbing standards.

Overall, it was a good film even for non-climbers to learn about the history and evolution of the sport in Yosemite Valley. In Calgary, we’re lucky to be so close to Banff as the Banff Mountain film festival brings so many of the film’s athletes for the general public to meet. Alex Honnold and I had a good chat about installing solar panels in rural areas at breakfast one day. Cedar Wright, Yvon Chouinard, Conrad Anker, Tommy Cadwell among others have all attended, one year or another. For the local climbing scene, Calgary has a number of climbing gyms, so if you want to fit in, just tell them you watched Valley Uprising. Available on Netflix Canada.

Calgary Showtimes: Valley Uprising >