Always Above Us

The North Face: Always Above Us. Leading the life of a climber involves a tremendous amount of sacrifice and hardship, but for team athletes Conrad Anker and Kris Erickson, there's no living without it. In 1999, on an expedition in Tibet, team alpine climbers Conrad Anker and Kris Erickson lost their good friend and exploration companion, Alex Lowe, to an avalanche that narrowly missed Conrad himself. To preserve Alex's honor, Conrad and Kris establish and send the Nutcracker, a new ice climb route in Hyalite Canyon, Montana. Their story, and climb, are captured here by Sherpas Cinema.

Calagonone Climbing Experience

Those who’ve been to Cala Gonone, who have swum in the emerald green waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, who’ve explored the harsh Supramonte inland, who’ve climbed the weathered limestone that dominates this beautiful and wild landscape, know that Sardinia always leaves a mark. A deep one. Those who know this all too well are two of the most expert climbers, Spain’s Patxi Usobiaga and America’s Joe Kinder, featured in this beautiful short film directed by Francesco Piras. This is, yes, a climbing film, but above all its a documentary where action is nothing but a pretext to discover and experience a unique reality.That of Sardinia and its people.

Adam Ondra - first ascent of Change

Last summer, Black Diamond athlete Adam Ondra made a highly productive trip to Hanshalleren, a massive granite cave outside the small town of Flatanger, Norway. Adam not only made short work of the cave's established hard routes (including onsighting two routes graded 5.14c/8c+), he made the first ascent of Thor's Hammer (5.15a/9a+) and bolted a futuristic project out the steepest section of the cave. On October 4, Adam managed to link this 55-meter-long beast, establishing Change, the world's first route graded 5.15c/9b+. Along with his recent first ascent of La Dura Dura in Oliana, Spain, Change stands as one of, if not the hardest route in the world.