Climbing Narcissist » Progression

Extras From Big Up Productions’ Progression DVD Now Available For Download

Narc — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:28:37 +0000

Big Up Prodctions is well known for producing high quality feature-length climbing movies, but in my mind their DVDs also stand out for all the bonus footage that they include. A lot of my favorite climbs on the Dosage V DVD were in the extras which is saying something considering the quality of the movie itself.

In that same vein, Big Up’s most recent release, Progression, is similarly packed with high quality extra footage. A recent post on their blog details the 80 minutes of extras that was included with the DVD release:

1. South Africa: 20 more minutes of Rocklands’ finest. Problems include “Splash of Red” v10, “Brown Shadow” v11 FA, “Ray of Light” v13, “El Corazon” v13 2nd ascent, “The Power of One” v13, “The Hatchling” v11, “Mooiste Maise” v13/14, “Sky” v14 FA,

2. Pachamama: Sharma’s early efforts on his new 5.15a. Originally released online.

3. Magic Mushroom: More footage of Tommy Caldwell working on what was to become possibly the world’s hardest bigwall.

4. Puurs World Cup: Highlights from the 2008 lead climbing World Cup in Puurs, Belgium. Maja Vidmar leads the women and Ramon Julian playfully campuses through the finals route and dominates the men.

5. Smart Went Crazy: Matt Segal getting scared and first ascenting a dangerous Eldorado line, “Smart Went Crazy” 5.13+ r/x

6. Gancho Perfecto: More footage of Adam Ondra working Sharma’s 9a at Margalef (blood-curdling screams and all…)

7. Tis the Season: Highlights from the Fall 2008 New York bouldering season. Originally released online.

8. Bishop: Kevin Jorgeson on “The Swarm” v14 and “This Side of Paradise”. Wills Young and Alex Johnson are also up in the mix.

9. Hoover Dam: Sharma and friends taking a break from the Clark Mountain project and exploring the Hoover Dam for some deep water soloing.

10. Grit: Some home-grown footage from Kevin Jorgeson’s camera featuring Alex Honnold sending “The Promise” e8 as well as getting a no-hands on “End of the Affair” e8.

Those that only purchased the HD Download version of Progression missed out on the extras, but Big Up has made them available for everyone to download on their website for $5.95. Having seen the extras, I would say that the Rocklands, Magic Mushroom or Tis The Season segments alone are more than worth the $6.

For more information, head over to the Big Up website.

Extras From Big Up Productions’ Progression DVD Now Available For Download from Climbing Narcissist

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Review: Big Up Productions’ Progression DVD

Narc — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:55:50 +0000

Time after time, year after year, Big Up Productions finds a way to up the ante with each climbing movie they release. Without fail, each movie is somehow better than the previous release which is no small feat considering the popularity of each of their movies. Their latest release, Progression, continues this strong tradition.

Progression follows the same tried and true formula as other Big Up movies, namely it follows the world’s best climbers climbing on some of the most difficult routes in a handful of the world’s most beautiful crags. The camera work is top notch and Big Up utilizes several interesting methods to capture the action in a lot of cool, different ways. They also do a good job of weaving a story throughout each of the segments, something that doesn’t seem as forced as other climbing movies.

A few surprises in the movie include an engaging segment on World Cup comp climbing as well as a rare glimpse of Chris Sharma showing some of the pressure he was feeling working Jumbo Love. Slightly exasperated, Sharma lamented the stress he felt he was under to finish the line…and then he of course sends. A fitting way to end the movie.

Progression comes in two versions, an HD download ($19.95) and a DVD ($29.95). I was sent a copy of the download for this review, but I also bought a copy of the DVD. I wanted to be able to watch it on a bigger screen, but I was also interested in checking out the extras. Featured in the extras is a very long segment of Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson bouldering at Rocklands, SA (presumably from Reel Rock Tour ’08?), Tommy Caldwell trying to free Magic Mushroom on El Cap in a day, Sharma’s Pachamamma segment, Adam Ondra tossing a wobbler after falling from the last hard move of some absurdly difficult sport route and a handful of other clips that didn’t fit with the movie. To me the Rocklands and Magic Mushroom footage alone made the DVD well worth the extra $10.

To borrow a line from Borat Paul Robinson after he sends Amandla (V14) in the Rocklands segment, Progression is a “great success”. If you are only going to buy one climbing movie this year, Progression is a pretty good choice.

In case you need more convincing, check out the trailer below or this interview I did with Josh Lowell when the film was released.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpu8cQGn1LY

Review: Big Up Productions’ Progression DVD from Climbing Narcissist

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Interview With Josh Lowell About Progression, Big Up Productions’ Latest Release

Narc — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:30:07 +0000

Big Up Productions is back with their latest release, the highly anticipated Progression. Featuring the long awaited footage of Chris Sharma’s send of Jumbo Love (5.15b) at Clark Mt and a slew of other sweat inducing climbing from Yosemite, Bishop, England, South Africa and Europe, Progression figures to deliver in the way that previous Big Up titles have.

In addition to the usual offering of a DVD for $29.95, there is also an option to download the movie in HD at a reduced price of $19.95. While it doesn’t come with any extras, this is certainly a welcome option for those that want it (and can spare the 1.7 GB of hard disk space). Not surprisingly a variety of first day issues cropped up with the downloads that were mostly a result of an overwhelming response, but it looked like the guys from Big Up were on hand to help take care of people.

I’ll try to have a review once I have a chance to watch the movie a couple of times, but I highly doubt I will be anything but impressed. If you’ve already had a chance to see the movie, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

To coincide with the release of the movie I caught up with Big Up’s Josh Lowell to ask him a few question about the movie and the movie making process:

In a nutshell, what is Progression about and how does it differ from the Dosage series?

Progression is about moving climbing forward. All the different ways that climbing is advancing, and the people who are out there pushing it. It’s similar to the Dosage series in that it documents cutting edge ascents, but it’s in the form of a film instead of a collection of videos. There’s narration that keeps things moving, and it has a bigger, cinematic feel to it.

If people already saw the Progression clip in the Reel Rock Tour, will they be seeing something different if they buy the DVD?

The version of Progression that is playing on the REEL ROCK Tour is about 15 minutes shorter than the version on DVD and HD Download. The Full version includes a segment with Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson, and Tommy Caldwell bouldering in Rocklands. It was featured in last year’s RR Tour, so we didn’t want to show it again on the tour, but it’s great footage that fits in well with the themes of Progression and hasn’t been released on DVD or Internet before.

The extras of past Big Up movies have been really great, what can we expect in the extras of Progression?

Progression has over an hour of extra footage. There’s a 25 minute South Africa featurette that has tons more hard bouldering with Daniel and Paul. So much footage from Rocklands, but no way to fit it all into the main feature. Then there’s a 15 minutes segment showing Tommy Caldwell on Magic Mushroom. This is probably the hardest big wall free route in the world. Tommy did the FA last year with Justin Sjong, swapping leads over 5 days, then he went back to try and free it in a day leading all the pitches. We had a cameraman with him the whole way up documenting the attempt. He ended up falling three times on the last hard move of the last hard pitch and getting shut down. But a week later he went back and did it. This route was pretty underexposed for how crazy it is, and the extra footage gives a real clear idea of what it’s really like to be up there. It’s a lot of long takes, really raw feeling, no music, just watching Tommy doing really crazy technical movement. There’s a very short segment on Magic Mushroom in the main feature, but it’s kind of overshadowed by the Mescalito project, so it’s good to get a chance to see more of it in the extras. Then there’s lots of additional stuff from the World Cups, Adam Ondra, etc, plus some clips that have come out on the web but not on DVD, like the Pachamama clip and others.

Are you concerned about piracy being a problem with the digital download??

Well, piracy is always an issue. If you really want to, you can download all our movies for free. There’s nothing you can do about the torrents, so we figure we might as well at least compete with them, by giving people the option to purchase downloads from us in a high-quality, convenient, secure way. In the long run it’s good for us, good for the climbers, good for the sponsors, and good for climbing to have as many people as possible see the content. We just need to be flexible in adapting our models to fit changing times so we can keep doing this stuff!

The finished product always makes it seem effortless, but what is the hardest part about filming these climbs all over the world?

The hardest part is the editing and all the finishing details. Shooting is usually fun and exciting and sometimes even easy. But week after week in front of computers watching the same stuff over and over and wrestling with creative decisions and technical details is tough.

How do you see the success of the Reel Rock Tour affecting the way you make, market and distribute movies in the future (if at all)?

The Tour has been growing fast every year, and it’s definitely an important part of the formula for everything we’re doing. We work closely with Sender Films to make sure that we have amazing fresh material for the tour every year. We’ve structured it so that the exact format is flexible, so we can mix-and-match a program that has a good balance of core action along with more story-driven content. We want Reel Rock shows to feel authentic to hard core climbers but also accessible to new climbers or other outdoor / adventure-oriented people. The tour is a great platform for promoting the new films and a great way to get them in front of new audiences. People are also drawn to the experience of going to see the films in a theater, with a party atmosphere and the group energy of the crowd. It takes a lot of work to make the tour run and thrive, and our Tour Director, Joss Corkin has done an amazing job, working with local organizers all over the US, Canada, and other countries. This year we should have well over a hundred shows. As DVDs eventually go the way of the CD, we’re trying to stay ahead of the curve by embracing other forms of distribution, including the tour, television, and internet platforms, including the movie downloads.

I’ve seen a handful of people asking about releasing your movies on Blu-ray, can you explain the difficulties behind doing this?

We do get some requests, from people who want to see the full HD quality of the original footage, but from talking with the distributors and looking at basic Blu-Ray numbers, it’s clear that a very small percentage of people have or actually use Blu-Ray players. It just never really caught on. Newer DVD players do a great job up-resing for HD televisions, so the quality gap is not as big as it used to be. And they don’t make it very tempting for independent producers to release on Blu-Ray either, since the discs cost a lot more to produce and you also have to pay an up-front license fee for the use of the technology. We definitely understand the desire to watch the movies at full quality, but we think the HD downloads are a more practical solution.

Big thanks to Josh for taking the time to answer these questions!

Check out the trailer and then head over to Big Up’s website to snag your copy if you are so inclined.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpu8cQGn1LY

Interview With Josh Lowell About Progression, Big Up Productions’ Latest Release from Climbing Narcissist

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Big Up’s Progression: Sneak Peak From Kevin Jorgeson

Narc — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:45:55 +0000

Appearing in hotly anticipated climbing movies has its privileges apparently as Kevin Jorgeson was able to get a sneak peak of the upcoming Big Up Productions release Progression. In a recent post on his blog Jorgeson shares several screenshots from the movie along with his plans to work this Fall with Tommy Caldwell on a first free ascent of Mescalito on El Capitan:

Tommy and I will be teaming up on Mescalito this fall, so training is in full swing right now. Long days with routes, bouldering, cardio and cross-training leave me wrecked when it’s all said and done. My mantra through it all though is, “It’s easier than El Cap! Come on!”

It’s a bit intimidating thinking about trying to keep up with Tommy on a big wall. No doubt about it. I’m looking forward to getting in the best shape of my life and then spending three months learning from the most experienced big wall free climber around. Psyched!

Check out Jorgeson’s blog for more

Big Up’s Progression: Sneak Peak From Kevin Jorgeson from Climbing Narcissist

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Footage Of Sharma’s Jumbo Love FA To Premiere Tomorrow In SLC

Narc — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:25:39 +0000

The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market tradeshow is where outdoor companies come to share their latest and greatest products, and the same holds true for climbing filmmakers. Big Up Productions will be debuting select cuts from their upcoming release, Progression, at a few different events during the week.

Wednesday night they will be debuting footage of Chris Sharma’s first ascent of Jumbo Love (5.15b) at Clark Mt., CA after the citizen’s competition at the Front Climbing Club. Here is what Josh Lowell had to say about the event at the Big Up Blog:

…we are eager to let folks in on where we’re going with it, and to get some feedback. As of now the plan is to show the footage of Sharma’s first ascent of Jumbo Love, which we filmed back in September. Only a handful of people we work closely with have seen this footage (not even Chris has seen the full cut). So if you want to be among the first to check it out, be sure to come to The Front, drink some beers, and join us for this little teaser screening. And let us know what you think while there’s still time to make changes on the edit!

Thursday at 1:30 Big Up will have another sneak preview at the climbing wall inside the show:

On Thursday at 1:30 we will present another sneak preview from Progression at the Climbing Wall inside the trade show. If you are in the building come by the wall area to see additional sections of the movie and meet some of the climbers. We’ll probably show KJ’s ascent of Ambrosia, which, again, has never been seen. Maybe also a look at Tommy Caldwell’s El Cap project, Mescalito…. we’ll see what we have ready by then, and what people are excited about, and I’ll be there to do a little Q&A session.

If you are not at the tradeshow your next opportunity to see this footage will be on the upcoming Reel Rock Film Tour which launches in September.

Footage Of Sharma’s Jumbo Love FA To Premiere Tomorrow In SLC from Climbing Narcissist

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Big Up’s Progression Update: Tommy Caldwell On El Cap

Narc — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:20:41 +0000

Big Up Productions has another update on what they are working on for their upcoming film Progression. Their latest blog entry details a futuristic free route Tommy Caldwell is working on El Capitan’s east face that features “At least 10 pitches of 5.14, 7 foot sideways dynos, and double-digit boulder problems stacked on top of each other 2,000 feet off the deck.”

Big Up’s Progression Update: Tommy Caldwell On El Cap from Climbing Narcissist

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Big Up’s Progression Update From Spain: Sharma, Ondra & Ojeda

Narc — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:11:45 +0000

Big Up Productions is hard at work in Spain filming their next movie Progression. As usual, Chris Sharma is one of their main subjects, but we will be treated to more of a European flavor as well. Adam Ondra and Daila Ojeda, both of whom made brief appearances in Dosage V, are also going to be featured. In their latest blog entry, Big Up has the inside scoop on some of the lines they have been filming.

They caught Adam Ondra making the first repeat of Sharma’s 50 meter 5.15a Papichulo, a route Ondra said felt as hard as another 5.15a he did recently, Open Air. Despite the fact that both Ondra and Sharma are both climbing at a very high level, it is interesting to hear about their differing physical builds and differing climbing styles:

Adam [Ondra] is 16 years old, long and skinny and smart and focused on his goal of repeating all the hard routes he can. He climbs incredibly fast and precise, and barely shakes out. On decent holds where Chris rests for 5 minutes, Adam gives two shakes and goes.

As for the man himself, Chris Sharma has a slew of potential 5.15 projects he is working. Next to Papichulo is another endurance route called Mamachichi that has a “potentially heartbreaking boulder problem on fingertip slopers at the top of the crag”. Sharma is also working a route called First Round First Minute that seems to be more in the style of routes like Dave Graham’s Coup De Grace (5.15a). Only 50 ft. long, First Round First Minute features a series of difficult boulder problems with few opportunities to stop and shake out. If he pulls off the FA of this route before an upcoming extended trip to Asia, it could be Sharma’s 3rd 5.15b FA in the past 6 months after Jumbo Love and Golpe De Estado. Big Up has also done some filming of Sharma on one of the other 5.15′s he opened recently, Demencia Senil.

Last but not least, Big Up filmed Daila Ojeda on her recent 5.14a FA called China Crisis. Be sure to check out the Big Up blog for all the details.

For more pictures of Sharma on several projects in Spain, check out this article at 8a.nu.

Big Up’s Progression Update From Spain: Sharma, Ondra & Ojeda from Climbing Narcissist

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Chris Sharma’s ‘Jumbo Love’ (5.15b)

Narc — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:37:00 +0000

Looking for more on Big Up’s latest movie Progression and Chris Sharma’s Jumbo Love? Check out these posts!

The dust has settled on Chris Sharma sending his project at Clark Mt., which gives us some time to reflect on important things like the name of the route and how hard it is.

The route is being called Jumbo Love, which follows the naming convention of other routes at Clark Mt.’s 3rd Tier/Monastery area. The other routes are Randy Leavitt’s Jumbo Pumping Hate (5.13d/14a) and Ethan Pringle’s Jumbo Glass (5.14c).

Jumbo Love begins with 60 ft. of 5.12d climbing followed by 100 ft of steep and bouldery 5.14c. THEN you get to the hard part which is followed by some easier 5.13+ climbing that takes you to the top of the cliff (literally!). Just think about that for a second. You have to navigate 160 ft of 5.14c climbing just to get to the hardest parts of Jumbo Love!

Taking this all into account, and using some of his recent FAs in Spain as reference, Sharma feels as though Jumbo Love is likely 5.15b. Normally, Sharma is not one to speculate on the grades of his climbs, but the Big Up Blog has some insights into how his views have evolved:

Since we’re talking about grades, which we usually don’t get that into around here, I might as well address another one of the obvious questions that will come up: Since when did Sharma start grading his routes? Of course he’s pretty famous for not grading most of his first ascents, but over the past year of living in Spain and climbing constantly on many of Europe’s hardest lines, he’s gotten really familiar with the top end of the rating scale for sport routes. He’s still driven entirely by his sense of aesthetics and personal progression, but these days he’s willing to suggest a number if it seems relevant. “It’s a lot easier to grade a sport climb than a boulder problem,” he told me, “because the moves on a route usually aren’t as weird or as body-type dependent as on a boulder.” In the case of Jumbo Love he also felt that calling it 9b would be simpler than leaving it ambiguous. “Sometimes if I don’t give a grade, people start speculating, and then it can get all blown out of proportion,” he explained.

Obviously, a route of such high quality and high difficulty is something that many high end climbers would aspire to repeat. Unfortunately, Clark Mt. is not exactly a roadside crag like Rifle:

Clark is in the middle of a desert wasteland, near Primm, NV. You have to drive over an hour up a horrendous 4WD road, then hike at least another hour in the blazing sun straight up the mountain. Since the pitch is 250 feet long and nearly 45 degrees overhanging most of the way, it’s not easy to work. No toprope rehearsal or trying the moves off a stepladder like Akira or Ali-Hulk. “You need to be fully committed to this route for a long time,” Ethan said.

Can talented American sport climbers like Ethan Pringle, Dave Graham or Daniel Woods get fit enough and spend enough time working the route to nab the second ascent? Will one of the super strong Euros like Patxi Usobiaga, Dani Andrada or Adam Ondra get super motivated when they see the footage and make a dedicated cross-Atlantic effort? Time will tell…

One final item to consider is the progression of high-end sport climbing. Many people consider Sharma’s 2001 ascent of Realization as the benchmark for 5.15a. The Big Up Blog proclaims that “it’s a safe statement to call it [Jumbo Love] the new benchmark for 9b [5.15b]”. This should give you an idea of how incredibly difficult it is to push climbing to a new level if it has taken Sharma 7 years of climbing at the highest levels to up the ante by a single letter grade.

Read the full post from Big Up on Jumbo Love by clicking here

More background on Sharma’s Clark Mountain Mega-project can be found here

Chris Sharma’s ‘Jumbo Love’ (5.15b) from Climbing Narcissist

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