Robert Nicod

The Yosemite National Park in California is one of the most interesting parks in the USA. In the east of the park isolated granite peaks rise to 3,900 metres above the valley floor: El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel. El Capitan is the largest mass of unbroken granite on earth and a legendary place for mountaineering and climbing. Every year the best mountaineers in the world challenge its impressive wall. The film, with interviews and significant images, follows the preparations and ascent of El Capitan by an elite group of mountaineers: Scott Burk, Leo Houlding, Jim Bridwell, Jean Mars Troussier and Valerio Fulco. Despite the technical difficulties of the climb, humour is one of the essential ingredients of this adventure.

Two young people begin the ascent of an impressive ice fall, in a mountain landscape frozen by winter. The boy who remains below, impressed by the hostile environment, or perhaps because he is paralysed with cold, begin to dream…In a futuristic setting, populated by gigantic machines, the two friends run after the disc that permits a super-computer Kubernis to comand time and space. Its humanoid servant, the frightening Concassor, chases the two bold people to reduce them to dust, but they climb a cliff which leads them into a maze of tunnels where a mysterious wise man saves them from the Cocassor. The return to reality, at the foot of the column of ice, permits the two boys to conquer the ice fall.

In the desert scenery of the National Yosemite Park (Carlifornia) the film portrays two kinds of climber. Plantier shows us his acrobatic skills in free climbing combined with perfect elegance. Bongard, on the other hand, is an ace in artificial climbing, which is a personal challenge that rewuires intelligence and tenacy if one wants to conquer a 1000 metres wall like El Capitan.

El Capitan, in the Yosemite Valley, is one of the most mythical places for the climbers. Every year, the mountaineering elite spread on its walls in search for the fascination of the emptiness. The film, with interviews and significant images, follows the preparations and ascent of El Capitan by an elite group of mountaineers: Scott Burk, Leo Houlding, Jim Bridwell, Jean Mars Troussier and Valerio Fulco. Despite the technical difficulties of the climb, humour is one of the essential ingredients of this adventure.

Catherine Destivelle and Monique Dalmasso free climb the challenging route Pichnibule (1.000 meters, 7b+) in the breathtaking Verdon Gorge. This progression, which is filmed as a woman climbing adventure, represents the first successful 7b+ climb for the French champion. The first climbing film by Robert Nicod, produced in 1985 by GammaTV and also featuring Alain Bultel and Marc Lecomte-Durouil, who appear in hammocks and with a small dog in the middle of the wall.

Two climbers, a photographer and an eagle in the western setting of Monument Valley, USA. The climbers, who are experts, reveal the secrets of their acrobatic skill. The photographer is the spectator who often involuntarily creates comical situations.