Sasha DiGiulian may not be a household name, but in the world of professional climbing she is a rock star. Her career, filled with daring first ascents as a woman, is the focus of attention Here to climba new feature-length documentary about Max. We follow her rise from child prodigy to one of the biggest female stars in the sport and see the struggles she has faced on her way to the top.
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The essence: Sasha DiGiulian has made a name for herself in the world of competitive climbing, pursuing dangerous and daring climbs and setting many firsts for a female climber. Here to climb It finds her at the peak of her career, but follows how she got there, going from a child prodigy at a climbing gym to the top of the sport, and sees her struggling to make the most of her best climbing years. She faces bullying, self-doubt, injuries and struggles with self-esteem, and faces the ever-present dangers of the sport. Several fellow top climbers join her here, including Free only star Alex Honnold and veteran Lynn Hill.
What movies will it remind you of? It has something of the same flavor as well-known climbing documentaries like Free only either Merubut has his own personal style.
Performance worth watching: DiGiulian is the center of the story, of course, but the presence of some of her climbing partners provides important context, such as veteran Lynn Hill, who helped pave the way for female climbers like DiGiulian. There’s also DiGiulian’s contemporary, Angela Vanwiemeersch, who keeps the risks of the sport front and center in her thinking after her partner died on an expedition.
Memorable dialogue: “I love to climb hard and I also love to wear pink,” DiGiulain explains in the foreword to her account of her experiences with cyberbullying. “I love being outdoors, but I also love staying in a five-star hotel. Being true to myself and not having to turn down my shine is perhaps why I cause friction. But I am human, so I am always going to be affected by negative comments.”
Sex and skin: Aside from a brief clip chronicling a campaign DiGiulian did for lingerie brand Agent Provocateur — which is itself pretty mild — there’s nothing sexual here.
Our opinion: The best parts of Here to climb They are calm and slow.
That’s a compliment; when making a documentary about extreme sports there’s a temptation to overdo the subject matter, to embellish it with a heavy soundtrack, crazy photography tricks and manufactured drama. That sort of thing is unnecessary when it comes to a sport as dramatic as rock climbing, and it’s a relief to see the filmmakers let the real drama do the work on its own. The long, slow, calm shots of Sasha DiGiulian clinging to a sheer rock face aren’t boring – they’re meditative and mesmerising.
That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of buzz surrounding DiGiulian, though.
Elite athletes face constant criticism, and elite female athletes even more so. DiGiulian’s career as a climber has seen her achieve multiple first female ascents of difficult routes, but it has also seen her face cyberbullying over her appearance, public questioning of her motivations and public image, and the feeling that nothing she can do will ever be good enough as a high-profile woman in a male-dominated sphere. She just turned 30, but after multiple surgeries and a lot of pain, it’s clear that DiGiulian feels the specter of time receding as she tries to make the most of her prime years.
In the end, Here to climb It’s not a movie about a single big climb like a movie like Free only Yes, there are some great climbs, both successful and failed, but the core of the story is DiGiulian’s internal conflict at this critical point in his career. This makes for an intensely human story (DiGiulian is surprisingly relatable even if you’re not someone who’s ever laid hands on a climbing wall), but it does make the story feel a little adrift at times. The film culminates in a challenging climb of a major rock face in Mexico, but it doesn’t quite build to the triumphant climax it could be; in the end, it’s a moment that feels like it could use a little more drama.
Our calling: SKIP IT. Here to climb It’s a solid, well-crafted documentary about a top-level climber, but it might struggle to hold the interest of non-climbers for its full 80 minutes.
Scott Hines, editor of the much-loved Action Cookbook Newsletter,is an architect, blogger, and Internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky.
