Turkish Delight

Mike Call’s new film, Herakleia ($29.95, momentumvm.com), uses a standard convention — a bouldering posse goes on an FA frenzy — but adds an otherworldly setting. When Call’s crew (Isaac Caldiero, John Cardwell, Lauren Lee, Boone Speed, et al.) rolls into the Turkish farming town of Herakleia, they’re energized by the granite blocs piled lavishly around Mount Latmos. In these grassy hills reside ancient ruins, olive trees, wildflowers, and wizened herdsmen. (At one point, a mustachioed old local offers Lee a blatant butt-spot, to everyone’s amusement.) With animated historical interludes courtesy of Jeremy Collins, Herakleia leads us through the team’s notable ticks (up to V13), until a charter plane flight unveils “The Farside,” a 36-square-mile pile of virgin granite. By the end, the film reveals Mount Latmos as a potential epicenter and implores climbers to harvest its bounty.