Progression Obsession
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If a form of Tourette’s exists in which you repeatedly yell, “Holy cannoli!”, then I contracted it watching Progression ($19.95 for HD download, $29.95 for the DVD; bigupproductions.com), Big UP’s latest. It spotlights, with expert cinematography, today’s A-listers Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Kevin Jorgeson, Matt Segal, Chris Sharma, Patxi Usobiaga, etc. in the realms of sport, comp, big walls, highballs, headpoints, and more. To say these trailblazers are “raising the bar” would be misleading they’re javelin-tossing it into the stratosphere. Take, for example, Sharma dynoing to mono pockets twice in a row on his 250- foot, 5.15b Jumbo Love; Patxi Usobiaga training for 30 days straight; or Tommy Caldwell oozing up 5.13+ El Cap corners. With a lively narrative that humanizes these heroes, Progression leaves you breathless as well as wondering: what’s next?
Kristin Bjornsen
