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Reedly
Social climber
The High Desert, CA
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I purchased a download of this some time ago and didn't get around to watching it until yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot. I liked the historical perspective of the route being established and the modern perspective of Ammon's ascent.
And Ammon's brother was interesting to see as well. Clearly those McNeely boys had a good upbringing with lots of opportunities for romping around in the hills and adventuring. Everyone should be as lucky.
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Psilocyborg
climber
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The overdramatic reaction was just as stupid as the climb. The world is full of stupid people.
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10b4me
Sport climber
www.tenbeephotography.com
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Mar 17, 2014 - 12:23am PT
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I watched this last night, at the SoCal premier. I thought it was a good movie. Peter, I thought your remarks, as well as those of CMac, Florine, Klaus, and Kauk, were reasonable, and rational.
Thank you.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Mar 17, 2014 - 01:51am PT
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Perhaps we can say all these years later and with all the changes since, a Wings of Steel incident could not happen again in the Valley today.
And this probably means anywhere, at least at this grand scale.
People as different from the rest of the climbing corps as Richard and Mark were, probably will have quite a bit more room to work on their conjectures. Crazed termitic locals might not try to hurt them and won't feel they have to protect anything by bullying and abuse.
And the obvious: Yosemite is really now in the hands of our greatest virtuosi while the original notion of adventure is sought quite some distance from the pizza deck these days. It is getting close to having run its course, even, in this world, as an essential mythologizing for man. We will be turning longing eyes to those peaks on Mars, other planets, and their moons.
It is only expected. Mountaineering and climbing as we know it, all began at the end of the seventeenth century when we emerged horrified by the first round of the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Reason. These remote realms--the Alps for instance--- were no longer the home of dragons and forces of evil but instead were now seen as the refuge and remainders of the earth that we had not ruined and which would in various ways restore us with the emerging concepts of freedom. This was the Romantic Conjecture and we still many of us engage it to justify our devotion, however grim and extreme, to its notions.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
From Panorama City, CA
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Oct 25, 2014 - 11:33am PT
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I finally watched the movie last night with plenty of commentary from my buddies also watching that have also been up on the Big Stone. What a trip. Having climbed the Dihedral Wall twice, I spent a fair amount of time looking at that slab, including a failed attempt where we got to rappel down the slab from the triangular ceiling bivi. This rap was in 69, the first climb was in 72 and the last in 77 solo. I could certainly imagine wanting to put some hooks to work there and I am sure I did imagine doing something there - hard not to - in a sea of improbability like that one. I guess Wings happened in 81? Apparently there is the issue of whether or not there is a 'line' there, and the 'outsider without permission issue'. Ha, the 'line' was almost in the sand. Never would have known about it without Supertopo. Cheers to all involved (almost all that is!). I did want to see more of the climbing though. Oh well, the route is there to do.......maybe just a couple pitches will be enough......
Edit; Ordered a copy of Wings of Steel from Amazon - $18.00. Should be fun.
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l-b-1
climber
new york
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just watched the movie. Gabe and Ammon are a delight to listen to amidst all that sh#t.
it's so funny to see what kind of a person this small chinned bald dude with the slimy voice is. other than being a name on ST that seems to have some issues and craves a lot of respect for some variations he did on el cap. it is unfortunate.
explains a lot of posts, like 1000 or what?
the world is a mindf*#k. it looks like the hardest thing in climbing is not doing well but keeping it in perspective.
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Great comments Peter Haan. Thoughtful, sharp. As usual, an excellent "perspective" on the whole deal.
Watched the movie a few months ago. Made for a great tribute to Ammon and Kait.
Not so much content about the controversy over Wings of Steel creation; the way it went up, the way it and its climbers were treated, and as I recall, nothing about the hole count versus the natural placement count. I'd have appreciated more detail from Ammon about how many enhanced placements he encountered versus natural ones. Ammon did keep pretty good track and the R&I article had a lot of detail about the numbers.
Steve Grossman had a couple soundbites; he comes off sounding over-harsh but the film makers give little context/background to judge his criticisms against. In fairness, if the movie were my project, I'd have been utterly gripped about fairly representing such different opinions--and anger, still, to this day--within one movie.
Also, I recall no mention of the various other attempts. Didn't Rob Slater make it up about five pitches, in two days (plus a fixed pitch or two)? And someone else quite a few pitches in just one day?
But, as with Valley Uprising, perhaps a movie works better if it tries to be inspiring and upbeat rather than digging deep into old, stale dirt and attempting an encyclopedic accounting of old scores.
Anyway, excellent movie about Ammon and Kait. What a great team and a fine effort in achieving the second ascent of what might the most continuously insecure aiding on El Capitan. A route where reaching the top is only the start of the real work: assessing--judging, to an El Kaftaesque inquisition--what you found en route.
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