Warren Harding

In 1970 Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell started up the Wall of the Early Morning Light (also known as the Dawn Wall) in Yosemite National Park. Arguably the most controversial rock climb in the park's history due to multiple storms and a proposed rescue by the park service. This propelled the climb into the mass media creating a contention with the local climbing community. In this short documentary interview, you can hear the straight talk from the man himself, Warren Harding, about the climb.

Warren Harding was the driving force behind the first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley in 1958. This ascent opened the golden age of big wall climbing in America. The film is a rare documentary interview with the legendary climber and his memories of one of the most publicized adventures in rock climbing history to date. In a second documentary interview of the series, titled 'Warren Harding - Recollections of the Wall of the Early Morning Light-1970', Harding remembers his Dawn Wall ascent together with Dean Caldwell in 1970.

Stumbling upon her father's hi8 tapes, a daughter discovers a world of delinquent oddballs and wino nomad-poets who dedicated their life to an absurdist art form: rock climbing.

Narrated by acclaimed actor Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State, Jarhead, An Education) and produced by Emmy Award-Winning Sender Films with Big UP Productions, Valley Uprising deftly recounts the history of Yosemite’s bold tradition: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity, and the laws of the land.

From John Muir in the 1860s to the super athletes of today, "Vertical Frontier" tells the saga of the free-spirited climbers who were inspired by the big walls of Yosemite. This comprehensive history of Yosemite climbing includes footage from classics such as El Capitan and interviews with dozens of Yosemite personalities such as Long, Bridwell, Steck, Hill, Croft, Robbins, Kauk, Chouinard and Potter. A formidable film -- a great piece of history.