SteepEdge Blog

The legendary Masters of Stone is back in all it’s in all its over-dramatic, lycra-clad glory – and we’ve got the entire six-film series on SteepEdge.

“Every climber steps into the ring with two opponents: gravity and his own limitations.”
[Rocket fires. A denim-clad John Bachar launches in to a clifftop saxophone solo]

“Climbing’s a game and everyone plays by a different set of rules. Some take it easy and, some take it hard, but everyone plays to win.”
[Rocket screams through the sky. Man with mullet throws for a hold. Rock music blasts.]

“Nobody sane becomes a climber. Climbing is sore fingers, shredded hands and the mental pain of failing again and again until you succeed or walk away in disgust.”

When the first Masters of Stone film hit screens in 1991, its pace, psyche and quick-change ‘chapter’ style were like nothing that had come before and set a tone that climbing films have been following ever since. A pumping soundtrack, dramatic commentary and constant high-level action raised viewer’s heartbeats way above anything they’d seen before. The sweaty-palm era of climbing films had begun.

Looking back now, the mullets, lycra and over-dramatisation of the early films might seem a little cheesy, but the climbing isn’t. Hard climbing is hard climbing no matter what you’re wearing and the films are shot through with a sense of fun and a level of psyche that makes them hugely entertaining and watchable.

Right from the start, director and Emmy award winning cameraman Eric Perlman set out to show what the best climbers in the world could do. He started off with Ron Kauk, John Bachar and Todd Skinner and over the course of many great films featured many more of the world’s top climbers, such as Dean Potter, Steph Davis, Alex Honnold and Kevin Jorgeson. From speed soloing on El Cap, 5.14c redpoints and explosive bouldering to mind-blowing rope jumps and gladiator-style deep-water soloing, the films are packed with fast-paced action.

Masters of Stone 1

The first in the series, Masters of Stone 1 features almost an hour of hard rock action in the USA. With no filler, this is all action rock climbing at its best, with an all-star cast, including Ron Kauk, John Bachar, Peter Croft, Dan Osman, Todd Skinner and more, climbing some of the hardest rock routes of the time.

Masters of Stone 2 – Hard Rock

From the overhangs of Rifle, Colorado to the desert boulders of southern Baja, from the towering walls of Yosemite to the wilderness pillars of Nevada, Masters of Stone 2 – Hard Rock takes us on an odyssey of adventure climbing to the cutting edge of the sport: Dan Osman’s death-defying unroped solos and hideous climbing falls, Hidetaka Suzuki’s free ascent of El Capitan’s 3000-foot-high Salathé headwall, Ron Kauk’s explosive boulder gymnastics and Rick Lovelace’s speed-solo ultra-marathons where each move puts his life on the line – these are just a few of the stunning performances in this classic.

Masters of Stone 3 -Third Rock from the Sun

Features non-stop climbing action from the cutting edge of the sport. America’s toughest boulder problems at Hueco Tanks and Yosemite. 5.14c redpoints at the hottest climbing cliffs in southern France. Zone 3 soloing. Women’s climbing. Mega free-climbing. Training tips from the best. Freeway climbing. Bandaloop cliff dancing. Live body rope testing with 100+ foot falls. Starring Ron Kauk, Dan Osman, Todd Skinner, Fred Nicole, JB Tribout and lots more.

Masters of Stone 4 – Pure Force

A perfect mix of the old and new: Ron Kauk and John Bachar cranking out 5.14 and 5.12 routes, Dan Osman at his heart-stopping best and Chris Sharma and Katie brown busting out the 5.13s. Oh, and Tommy Caldwell, JB Tribout, a load of BASE jumping and the ‘Masters of Steel’… Dan Osman is also back in action with crazy speed soloing (it has to be seen to be believed!).

Released in 2000, Masters of Stone 5

Features Dean Potter speed climbing on El Cap and attempting record-breaking high-lines. Steph Davis free-soloing 5.12 cracks in the desert and blind climber Erik Weihenmayer trad climbing (watching Eric give paraplegic Mark Wellman a piggy-back to the crag tells you a lot about these guys). All finished off a superb and mind-bogglingly-crazy tribute to Dan Osman. This is not a film to miss.

Masters of Stone 6 – Breakthrough

No Lycra here – this is bang up to date and a great watch, with Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine setting a new speed record on the Nose of El Cap, Kevin Jorgeson highball bouldering at Lake Tahoe and Sean Jones on Half Dome. Mix that with BASE jumping way too close to the ground, parkour on rock, free-soloing, ALEX HONNOLD, roped free-falling and much more and you’ve got another classic film from Eric Perlman!

Watched Masters of Stone? Got incredibly psyched, gone out climbing until your fingers bled and now need something else to watch? Don’t forget that SteepEdge is host to the world’s best climbing films – both old and new. We’ve got recent hits such as Life on Hold and Al Lee’s Autana and an extensive back catalogue of films, such as Everest The Hard Way, Kukuczka and the absolute classic Stone Love. There’s also the Free Movies section for ‘bite-size psyche’. We keep up-to-date with the latest goings on, and the most random creative outputs. We recommend you waste your lunchbreaks here…

So then, the weather (I know. Still on this tack.)

Here in Sheffield we are heading for a white Easter. As well as making egg hunts finger numbing; the forecast has rather smothered any spring ambition. We’ve got a four-day weekend coming up and limited options left, other than pushing it up a level on the plastic and usurping the office ‘Wad’ hierarchy; SteepEdge ambition knows no bounds.

It does mean, naturally, there’s more time to watch films on SteepEdge (not Game of Thrones guys, resist. A dwarf or Dawes…)

We’ve been keenly reviewing our recent additions, so to give you a round up, here’s our top new films on Steep Edge:

(The best way to stay updated with what we’ve got is to register for our enews- honest reviews, free stuff, nice pictures.)

Push It

This is Jen Randall’s first feature film. It’s outstanding. Brilliantly edited, imaginatively shot and, despite a directorial narration, refreshingly lacking in ego. Films about female climbers are uncommon. Films by female climbers are almost non existent. We are very excited to support Jen in what we expect to be a groundbreaking trajectory! Featuring Mina Leslie-Wujastyk crushing in Magic Wood, Natalie Berry cruising at Malham, Vicki Mayes trading in Dunkeld and Jen herself, with her newfound partner Jackie Sequeira, attempting the big dream of El Capitan.

“Push It does away with the myth that only ground-breaking achievements are worth picturing…It’s an open invitation for everyone to keep pushing it.”
‘Up That Rock’ Review

Line of Sight

In his first ever production, Lucas Brunelle blows open our conception of risk with his deft footage of Alley Cat cycle races across the World. The film is a culmination of ten years of racing, put into context by Benny Zenga’s direction and final edit. Brunelle rides with two cameras strapped to either side of his head, one pointing forwards and the other back, weighing in at ten pounds. He has to keep a straight line of sight while chasing the racers through traffic to achieve an unbroken perspective. A witty soundtrack punctuates the relentless rhythm of the film, but further blurs the line between video game and adventure film as, torn between admiration and condemnation, you can’t take your eyes from the scene. Line of Sight is exactly that: one man’s unwavering pursuit of a very compelling story.

Stone Monkey

This was the original window to the mind of a legend. Alun Hughes caught Johnny Dawes at the height of his powers in the 1980′s, pushing the boundaries of how we understand (or don’t understand) movement. Dawes is still considered to be a revolutionary in the ‘art’ of rock climbing, and this film goes some way to depict the arc of his efforts that transformed climbing, and thrust a then underground sport into the national consciousness.
A maverick, deeply intuitive, and of course a showman, Stone Monkey reveals the humour and genius of this ‘character’. Carefully constructed? Instinctive and charming? What Hughes managed to edit into this award winning film is a compelling picture of a man in his extreme element, perhaps at the edge of it.

“The Great Wall saga and the unfinished story of the Indian Face is one of the most hallowed tales in British climbing. The line between genius and insanity has never been so blurred.” Leo Houlding

Endless Winter

Mark Harris and Mitch Corbett attempt to discover how ‘California cool’ arrived on Britain’s ‘bracing beaches’. From pioneers on the 50′s holiday beaches of Cornwall, to surf’s inextricable relationship to cultural shifts (‘No I don’t wanna work, I wanna go surfing!’). A great insight into how a sport develops into an identity for its enthusiasts, common to so many adventurous pursuits that engage with the elements, be in rock, sea, snow or wind. With awesome animation by Simon Ball, Endless Winter goes where no other surf movies have gone before, not only in location, but humour, observation and photography.

“The aim of Endless Winter is to give credit to the charming, hardy and occasionally barking mad characters of the British surf scene”  The Directors

UpsideDown Wales

Taking climbing seriously this year? How’s that going for you? Swell if it’s going well, but in case it’s not, here is George Smith with a fruit salad of a climbing film to refresh your mind, if not your palate (theres no accounting for taste). This is a truly bizarre, but brilliant film, with hilarity and self depreciation at every corner of every cave in Wales. A warped insight into the dank mind of overhang climbers, creatively edited together by a lucid dreaming team of Smith, Alun Hughes and Ray Saunders.

“George Smith is guilty of his own brand of lunacy. By his own admission, he’s the kind of guy to take a guide book, ignore the lines and look for the gaps between them.” UKC Review

Get out on Rock

An exhaustive step by step tutorial that allows you to make the move steps from indoor walls to the intimidating world of ‘real climbing’, undesigned, outside. This comprehensive film is a brilliant resource,
promoting rock climbing to those who wouldn’t get introduced by parents, clubs or friends, and de-veils the secrets, complications and elite reputation of trad.

Neil Gresham and Libby Peter introduce the essential skills progressively whilst also taking you on a tour of some of the UK’s classic venues including Swanage, Stanage, the Roaches, Dinas Cromlech and Gogarth; whatever rock type takes your fancy, they will demonstrate the best techniques and systems.

Get Out on Rock is a no nonsense, no glamour approach to the nuts and hexes (sorry) of the sport, suggesting all venues are accessible to anyone, given the right preparation.

Birdman of the Karakoram

‘Great things are done when mountains and men meet, this is not done by jostling in the street’

Birdman of the Karakoram begins with a poetic nudge from William Blake, which John Silvester follows quite literally, flying through the biggest concentration of the worlds highest mountain peaks and glaciers at 7,000m, with filmmaker Alun Hughes strapped to the front of his tandem paraglider. Together they create a mythical piece of exploration history, as the pioneering Birdman of the Karakoram charts highly technical new routes in an extreme and remote landscape.

“The most engaging parts show Silvester wrestling and cajoling the wing above his head in scenery that is beyond spectacular with the nauseously green Al Hughes trying to hang onto his breakfast as he records Silvester in his element..” Calm and Fearless review

Best Forgotten Art

Available for the first time to download, Best Forgotten Art is, as you would expect of Johnny Dawes, poetic and persuasive. Rolling prehistory under the feet and around the jammed hands of gritstone crack climbers, Johnny refutes the ‘baloney’ surrounding the development of this revered technique, interviewing the seers said to have invented it. Along the way he demonstrates his incredible agility, and his pioneering insight into the curious movement required by gritstone.

Featuring John Allen, Joe Brown, Johnny Woodward, Boone Speed, Chris Plant, Arthur Dolphin, Airlie Anderson, Ruth Jenkins, and Leo Houlding, all crushing their appendages into gaps on the grit, while Johnny jumps into handjams with startling alacrity. The film finishes up with a group attempt on Ray’s Roof. Sandbagged much?

Hope you have a great weekend, wherever you are. Enjoy the SteepEdge entertainment with your Easter Eggs,  Just don’t don’t get square eyes as well as round bellies…