The Best Climbing Movies on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+

Published March 22, 2023 04:10PM

Life is busy, and if you’re anything like us, a certain amount of distraction is in order. So if you’re looking for something that will enrich your knowledge of climbing lore or perpetuate your psyche or demonstrate just how poorly Hollywood understands climbing, consider some of these climbing movies available on popular streaming services.

Note: This list will be updated as new films are added and removed. Each of these services requires its own paid subscription.

Outside Watch

Outside Watch is a new player in the outdoor film game and they’ve got a TON of short and long-form content. We’re not going to list all of it (this page would struggle to load) but we’ll list some of our favorites. Access to Outside Watch is FREE (so exciting!) for all of Outside+ subscribers… That’s right, by supporting Climbing’s editorial work, you also get access to these movies.

The Dawn Wall

Description: In January 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their effort to climb The Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible 3,000-foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, California.

The pair lived on the sheer vertical cliff for weeks, igniting a frenzy of global media attention.

But for Tommy Caldwell, The Dawn Wall was much more than just a climb. It was the culmination of a lifetime defined by overcoming obstacles. At the age of 22, the climbing prodigy was taken hostage by rebels in Kyrgyzstan. Shortly after, he lost his index finger in an accident but resolved to come back stronger. When his marriage fell apart, he escaped the pain by fixating on the extraordinary goal of free climbing The Dawn Wall.

Blurring the line between dedication and obsession, Caldwell and his partner Jorgeson spend six years meticulously plotting and practicing their route. On the final attempt, with the world watching, Caldwell is faced with a moment of truth. Should he abandon his partner to fulfill his ultimate dream, or risk his own success for the sake of their friendship?

Editor’s note: The Dawn Wall ascent was likely the biggest mainstream climbing news story until Alex Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan. We loved the film for portraying Caldwell and Jorgeson’s story honestly and accurately, and without sensationalizing the climbing for a mainstream audience. Want more Dawn Wall coverage? Read our feature about Adam Ondra’s repeat of the route.

Reel Rock Archives

Description: This visually stunning series follows the world’s top climbers, alpinists and mountaineers to the wildest places on earth in their pursuit of the next big adventure. Stories of triumph, failure and redemption unfold on stages of sheer stone.

Editor’s Note: This is a frickin treasure trove. Here are nearly 30 shorts from the first five seasons of Reel Rock, plus King Lines. Will Gadd at Helmken Falls? Check. Ashima Shiraishi crushing with her legendary coach Obe Carrion? The Wide Boyz getting into wide places? Check. Ondra doing La Dura Dura? Margot Hayes doing La Rambla? Hazel Findlay scaring the bejesus out of her viewers? Sheck, check, check, check, check.

Sufferfest (parts 1 and 2)

Description: Part 1: Follow Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright on an ambitious human-powered adventure to summit all of California’s 14,000-foot peaks via technical climbing routes, with no ropes! New to the sport of biking, and having underestimated the scope of the challenge, Alex and Cedar soon spiral down a rabbit hole of sunburn, suffering, and a seemingly endless test of their mental and physical endurance.

Part 2: Any terrible idea is worth repeating… especially if like Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright you have a terrible memory and seem to remember your last “Sufferfest” as not that bad! Follow Cedar and Alex up a hilarious and endearing journey to climb 45 of the most iconic towers in the four corners of the U.S. by bike.

The Trilogy

Description: On July 12, 2018, professional climber, Sasha DiGiulian, set out to become the first woman and second person in history to complete the Rocky Mountain Trilogy, a compilation of three of the hardest 5.14 big walls in the Canadian Rockies. The imposing climbs, on Castle Mountain, Mount Louis, and Mount Yamnuska, respectively will take Sasha 2 months of continued effort with the ultimate goal of ascending each sheer wall in a single day push, with zero falls — a combined average of over 9,000 vertical feet of climbing at a lung-busting average elevation of 7,000ft. Setbacks with climbing partners, a shoulder injury, and mounting wildfires, DiGiulian is faced with ever-increasing obstacles and forced to balance her goals with her safety. This is not only an extraordinarily unique physical journey, but a universal introspective story of overcoming fear, the importance of self-confidence, and in finding friends when and where you least expect them. Pushing through the uncomfortable moments and riding the ups and downs of life, DiGiulian drives herself through mounting fatigue and a closing weather window to strive for her historical goal.

Blocbuster

Description: Presented by Moon Climbing: Climber David Fitzgerald is on a mission to climb two V15 boulder problems, Bügeleisen Sit Start and Big Paw, in Blocbuster, from Puzzleglass films.

Editor’s note: An aesthetic and contemplative film about the process of working limit projects.

Exposure Volume 1

Description: In this first installment of the Exposure Series, we’ll follow professional climbers Dave Graham, Nalle Hukkataival, Matt Wilder, Cheyne Lempe, Mason Earle, Angie Payne, and Cody Roth as they seek out and attempt to climb some of the worlds most challenging boulders, mountains, and traditional routes. Experience the emotional hardships, physical pain, and mental battles as these athletes attempt to redefine their boundaries in the world of rock climbing. Their dedication and commitment to the sport will take them from the windy peaks of Patagonia to the harsh desert of Utah.

Exposure Volume 2

Description: Exposure Vol II follows athletes Daniel Woods, Jimmy Webb, Alex Megos, Alex Puccio, and Dmitry Sharafutdinov as they push limits of difficulty in rock and competition climbing. This years film brings you stories from around the globe from dark training facilities to the granite bouldering paradise of Switzerland, in aheart-pounding, forearm pump-inducing journey to ascend the impossible.

Filling the Void

Description: Filling the Void was created to bring more awareness to the need for land preservation in the Southeast. Unlike climbing areas out west, most Southern climbing is on private property that needs to be purchased and protected to reduce the risk of deforestation and housing developments. The film was made to promote fundraising and encourage climbers to support their local coalitions. The film also showcases first-ever footage of some of the classic routes at the crag.

Safety Third

Description: For most climbers, it’s safety first. But Brad Gobright is definitely not most climbers. Fueled by day-old donuts and unhindered by a fear of falling, this young talent is pushing the limits of scary trad and free solo ropeless climbing. Having survived a few big scares, Brad is determined to make his boldest ascent yet — a first-ever free solo of a heart-stoppingly exposed and difficult route.

Stumped

Description: Maureen Beck may have been born missing her lower left arm, but that hasn’t stopped her from going hard. She takes whippers on 5.12 and crushes overhanging boulders, while shot-gunning beers. But she is not here to be your inspiration. “People say, ‘Look, a one-armed climber, now I have no excuses.’ I’m like, dude, you never had any excuses in the first place.” Maureen is here to crush the gnar — with one bloody stump helping her get to the top

The Artist

Description: If you’re a climber, you’ve likely felt the force of Boone Speed without having ever met him. The truth is that Boone, for many of us, is a living legend. From his routes and standard-raising ascents to his photos documenting this game we play in the vertical, Mr. Speed has helped sculpt what this sport is today. This film, made by Mike Call, is the story of climbing’s consummate artist.

The Network

Description: Chuck Fryberger’s The Network connects both past and present and tangles the viewer inside the spider web of connections that makes up the world of the professional rock climber. Join 6 time world cup champion Kilian Fischhuber as he and the best in the game explore areas old and new for adventures, lifestyle, and some of the sickest moves in the world.

Beneath The Ice

Description: A story of curiosity, exploration and climate research inside the Greenland ice cap. Canadian adventurer, Will Gadd, uses his ice climbing skills to lead a scientific expedition into a previously unexplored territory beneath the ice sheet.

Core

Description: CORE goes to the heart of climbing. Join an international cast of the sport’s most dedicated athletes as they stick it when it matters most. Shot in 35mm Ultra High Definition, get ready to see every detail of some of the nastiest pieces of rock ever climbed. A close examination of each character offers perspective beyond just their achievements on the stone. From Helsinki to Hueco, Africa to Italy, the enclosed forests of Tuscany to the vast open space of the American West, this film is a study in the landscapes and lifestyles that define our sport.

Editor’s Note: Another Chuck Fryberger classic. I mean, you get to watch Nalle do Livin Large!

Far Away

Description: Far Away follows Jenny Fischer and Kat Whipple, two female climbers as they employ their niche offwidth climbing skill set to establish a first ascent in a remote mountain range in China. Far Away shows us how climbing is more than just the experience on the wall.

Queen Maud Land

Description: A dream team of six elite climbers mount an expedition to one of the world’s last great climbing frontiers: the remote frozen towers of Antarctica. Jimmy Chin, Conrad Anker, Savannah Cummins, Anna Pfaff, Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright take on Queen Maud Land – a stunning, rarely visited wilderness.

Return to Mount Kennedy

Description: On March 20th of 1965, Bobby Kennedy became the first human to stand atop a lonely peak in the Canadian Yukon that had just been named to honor his assassinated brother, JFK. His climbing guide was Jim Whittaker, a mountain icon who at 28 had become the first American to summit Mt. Everest. From that solemn trek, Jim-the shy outdoorsman and eventual CEO of REI-and RFK ignited a friendship over their shared love of wilderness. In the following years their lives would intertwine, both men having a profound effect on the other. But their shared path would end with an assassin’s bullet. In June of 1968, Jim would look on as Bobby was taken off life support. 50 years later, Jim’s son Bobby Whittaker- a legend of the grunge scene- decides that he and his brother Leif must ascend the mountain. Leif, the experienced alpinist, will guide Bobby, as they test their relationship on dangerous ground. When they are joined by RFK’s son Christopher Kennedy their trio is complete. Mt. Kennedy’s long shadow has loomed in all of their lives for decades. Now, half a century after their fathers’ climb, three sons will forge their own paths and find a vantage point above the shadows.

Editor’s note: Not your typical beta video, but it’s a pretty cool flick we guess.

The Fledglings

Description: What happens when professional climbers Cedar Wright and Matt Segal become absolute bumbling beginners at an obscure and adventurous air sport called paragliding? The Answer: Hilarity Ensues. Follow Matt and Cedar on a perilous, beautiful, light-hearted, sometimes intense journey to fly off of the highest peak in Mexico with less than a year of experience. Just because you are a beginner doesn’t mean you can’t dream big.

Editor’s Note: What happens when pro climbers try other sports? They (not pictured) get hurt. But before they get hurt they have a lot of fun. A grand romp with two of climbing’s great personalities.

The Scene

Description: What makes a city a climbing mecca? The Scene takes an in-depth look at four epicenters of hard climbing and training, and the characters who define them by their own relentless commitment to the sport. The Scene is all guts, no fluff. Just serious rock climbing.

Editor’s Note: Yet another Chuck Fryberger classic, this one features Rob Pizm, Steph Davis, Nalle Hukkataival, Dave Graham, Alex Johnson, Anna Stohr, Kilian Fischuber, Ramon Julian Puigblanque, Dani Andrada, and dozens of other top climbers. Dated? A little. But the soul is spot on.

No Days Off

Description: Pro climber Sasha DiGiulian believes that the power of sport can connect communities and ultimately play a positive role in affecting change in the world we share. She feels it’s her responsibility to take an active stance on issues facing our planet rather than simply acknowledging them. “No Days Off” follows Sasha as she looks to spotlight issues affecting our world and how we can all do a better job in areas specific to the environment, conservation, eco-tourism, sustainability, and bringing diversity to the outdoors.

Amazon Prime

Prime Video has the largest selection of climbing movies listed here—though it’s closely rivaled by Outside Watch when ranked by free-for-members content. This 14-film list is not conclusive.

Meru

Description: Three elite climbers struggle to find their way through obsession and loss as they attempt to climb Mount Meru, one of the most coveted prizes in the high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing. Meru is the story of that journey, an expedition through nature’s harshest elements and one’s complicated inner demons, and ultimately on to impossible new heights.

Valley Uprising

Description: In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service. And up on the walls, generation after generation has pushed the limits of climbing, vying amongst each other for supremacy on Yosemite’s cliffs. Valley Uprising is the riveting, unforgettable tale of this bold rock climbing tradition in Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity and society.

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

Description: Hailed as one of the most prolific, influential climbers of all time, Fred Beckey’s adventures began in Washington’s North Cascade range with his brother Helmy in the 1930s. In 1942, the Beckey brothers cemented their place in alpine lore when the teenagers survived an incredible second ascent of Mount Waddington—considered the most difficult climb in North America at the time. This success marked the beginning of Fred’s epic tear of first ascents around the world, during which he became the consummate “Dirtbag” climber: defined as one who forgoes material comforts and defies societal norms in pursuit of a nomadic mountaineering lifestyle. Director Dave O’Leske spent the past decade filming Fred Beckey with unprecedented access, getting to know the mythical man in the mountains of China, across North America and in his Pacific Northwest home.

Fine Lines

Description: It’s not about adrenaline or thrill seeking. There is something far deeper that drives the world’s most elite group of mountain adventurers to take life threatening risks. For nearly three years, director Dina Khreino interviewed these world-class athletes, listening to what compels them to leave behind families, friends, and everyday comforts, to risk everything for a fleeting glimpse into the unknown.

Editor’s note: While Fine Lines does not contain new climbing footage, it’s an interesting look into the philosophies of some of the top names in our sport.

Shivaay

Description: Shivaay, the father of a young girl who went missing from the streets of Bulgaria, defies all odds and exposes the child trafficking mafia. But will his efforts help him find his own daughter who is being forced into the horrific trade? How will a mountaineer from the foothills of the Himalayas fight against the powerful Russian mafia, in the quest to rescue his beloved daughter?

Editor’s note: Shivaay’s opening scene, in which the protagonist jumps off a cliff, only to catch himself on a pair of ice tools—in jeans, no less—went viral among the climbing community in 2017, joining the pantheon of Vertical Limit and Cliffhanger in the pantheon of ridiculous climbing movies.

The Beckoning Silence

Description: The climber Joe Simpson was 25 when he had an accident that nearly killed him. He wrote a book—Touching the Void—about his extraordinary battle to survive. Now he is going back to the mountain that first inspired him to climb. To tell a story that has haunted him since he was a boy.

The Fatal Game

Description: When mountaineer, Mark Whetu, summited Mt. Everest with climbing partner and friend Mike Reinberger it was late in the day and after a freezing night camping on the summit of the worlds highest mountain, Whetu was faced with a terrible decision: to leave Reinberger or stay with him on the mountain forever.

The Dark Side of Everest

Description: In the past five decades, nearly 10,000 men and women have tried to climb Mount Everest. Less than 500 have succeeded. Those that do are granted new views of the world and of themselves. But for every 60 climbers that leave base camp in an average season, only four will reach the summit… and two will die. Why is it that so few make it to the top? The answer lies in a struggle with the elements.

Into Thin Air: Death on Everest

Description: The real-life tragic story of a Mount Everest climbing expedition in which eight people lost their lives. Based on the #1 best-selling book Into Thin Air by John Krakauer.

Wampler’s Ascent

Description: Stephen J. Wampler scales El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Stephen has a severe form of Cerebral Palsy and overcomes adversity and physical challenges by doing 20,000 pull ups over 6 days to summit El Capitan.

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

Description: This Oscar-winning documentary tells the story behind Japanese daredevil Yuichiro Miura’s 1970 effort to ski down the world’s tallest mountain.

Wolfgang Climbing Team

Description: A group of Belgian climbers ford rivers, float on chunks of ice, and jam out on their mandolins and pennywhistles as they hunt for new, bigwall climbs. From the Canadian Arctic, to Greenland, to the Venezuelan jungle, things get crazy to say the least.

(Note: this is a series, not a film. Episode 1 is free on Amazon Prime, but Episodes 2 and 3 must be purchased for $1.99)

Eye to Eye with Everest: Death on a Mountain

Description: “The world’s highest mountain, Everest, is notorious for claiming many lives. This fact is put to the test when visually-impaired Thomas Weber asks two cameramen to follow him and his guide Harry Kikstra on a legendary climb. The cameramen, Milan Collin and Kevin Augello, struggle initially to acclimatize to the Himalayan terrain. As the climb progresses, the group faces untoward accidents, and get embroiled in the story of famous Australian climber Lincoln Hall. This documentary captures the unforgettable events around that historic climb.” – Docubay.com

Ocean to Sky

Description: Okay, spoiler alert — no actual climbing occurs until over an hour into this documentary. But Ocean to Sky provides an additional perspective on Edmund Hillary. He, his friends, and his son embark on an epic journey to summit peaks in the Himalayas (a plan Edmund and his late wife had made). This time, however, they’ll start their journey to the mountains by traveling up the Ganges — the Ganga — in jet boats until they arrive at the base of the Himalayas. Another spoiler alert: Hillary’s friend Dr. Jim Wilson is the surprise star of this movie. Be sure to watch if you’re interested in seeing cheeky old white adventurers (who at times say problematic things in problematic accents) recount their expedition and love of Sir Edmund Hillary (and India’s love of the man as well, as the group travels upriver).

Conquest of Everest

Released in 1953, this historical recounting — including real footage — of the early expeditions on Everest. It’s a dry documentary. If you’re looking for a more dramatic (less of an historian’s) perspective on those early Everest expeditions, we suggest you look elsewhere.

180° South

Description: Equal parts road-trip, surfing, climbing, and conservation movie, this film follows photographer and adventurer Jeff Johnson as he tries to recreate Yvon Chouinard and Doug Thompkins’ trip to Patagonia as young men and then climb to the top of the Corcovado Volcano. A great look into Yvon Chouinard and Doug Thompkins.

Editor’s note (and slight spoiler alert): This is another film where very little climbing actually ends up happening. If you’re looking to feel gripped watching a climber approach a crux, we suggest you look elsewhere.

Ultimate Survival Everest

Description: Ben Webster, Shaunna Burke, Andrew Lock, and Hector Ponce de Leon attempt a summit of Mount Everest. This series follows the team and examines the very real conditions groups meet on the mountain.

Everest: Beyond the Limit

Description: This TV show follows an array of climbers as they try to summit Everest. How original.

Editor’s note: This series ran from 2006 to 2009. All three seasons are free on Amazon Prime.

The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985)

Description: More Messner, along with his partner Hans Kammerlander. A lot of dry talking, a lot of dry philosophy, a few ridiculous scenes, more dry narration than is healthy, and, oh!, it’s directed by Werner Herzog. The film aims to find out “the fascination that drives [mountaineers] up to the peaks like addicts.” If you want unadulterated Messner philosophy (and very little actual climbing), here you go. If you can get through this in one sitting without a few cold ones, we’ll be very impressed.

Netflix

Netflix has come up in the world of climbing films. When we first started composing this list, they had only Dawn Wall. Now, they don’t have that, but they’ve got three of the best climbing films released in the last year.

The Alpinist

Description: In The Alpinist, directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen tell the life story of Leclerc, the late Canadian alpinist hailed by just about everyone as the one pushing the sport’s razor edge. Which he did. It wasn’t lost on the producers that this film, which will go big, is arguably the opening and closing of Leclerc’s entrance into the limelight. That’s undeniably a heavy burden. In 2018 Leclerc died in an avalanche alongside Ryan Johnson, after making the first ascent of a new route in Alaska’s Mendenhall Towers. Leclerc was 25 years old.

From our review: “If Free Solo was about obsession, the Dawn Wall about depression and triumph, then The Alpinist is about falling in love… with mountains.” Read our full review here

14 Peaks

Description: Before Nirmal “Nims” Purja came along, the fastest known completion of all 14 8,000-meter peaks was seven years, 10 months, and six days—a record established by South Korea’s Kim Chang-ho without supplemental oxygen in 2013. After Nims Purja, the record is six months and six days—a time that even with oxygen (which Purja used) is going to be hard to beat. 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible, directed by Torquil Jones and executive produced by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (of Free Solo fame), chronicles Purja’s blitz across the Himalaya, which he called “Project Possible 14/7,” while also contextualizing his accomplishments in the wider story of his life.

The Summit of the Gods

Description: Based on Jiro Taniguchi’s popular manga, which was in turn based on a novel by Baku Yumemakura, The Summit of the Gods is somewhat unique for an anime. While all its characters are Japanese, the animation was a French production and the dialogue is in French. The frame narrative, set in the early 1990s, follows the journalist Fukamachi Makoto’s hunt for George Mallory’s camera. The camera could prove whether the English mountaineer reached Everest’s summit on his ill-fated 1924 climb before dying, meaning the highest point on earth was reached nearly 30 years earlier than previously believed. (Note: The events in the film occur before Mallory’s body was discovered, without his camera, in 1999.)

Our reviewer: The Summit of the Gods also showcases the struggles of a modern climbing journalist who searches for meaningful stories in a world full of contrived “firsts.” It covers the classic climbing relationship: a driven, skilled (and somewhat reckless) climber paired with a slightly less motivated, more risk-conscious one. It depicts the lengths (and risks) that competition and rivalry can catalyze in climbers. I couldn’t help but look at the subtle rivalry between Habu and his contemporary, Hase Tsuneo, another soloist, and see figures like Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold, or Alex Honnold and Dean Potter.

The Climb (L’Ascension)

Description: (Comedy/adventure) A young Senegalese-French man from humble roots sets out to climb Mount Everest to impress the woman he loves—and slowly becomes a media sensation. This film is based on the real-life story of Nadir Dendoune.

Broad Peak

Description: A dramatization based on real events: Broad Peak tells the story of the legendary Polish mountaineer, Maciej Berbeka, who made the first winter ascents of Manaslu and Cho Oyu before meeting his match on, you guessed it, Broad Peak.

Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake

Description: Survivors’ firsthand accounts and actual footage fuel this emotional docuseries about the deadly 2015 earthquake that shook Nepal.

Disney+

Disney’s new relationship with National Geographic has breathed some high-altitude air into the platform’s formerly meager climbing inventory. Now, in addition to Free Solo, the platform hosts some of the most acclaimed climbing films of recent memory, including Max Lowe’s Torn.

Free Solo

Description: Free solo climber Alex Honnold prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: scaling the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without a rope.

Editor’s note: It’s certainly the most famous climbing film ever made… and, despite crusty detractors, some of our editorial staff still thinks it might be the best.

Torn

Description: When Alex Lowe, one of America’s most celebrated alpinists, died with fellow climber and cameraman David Bridges in an avalanche on Shishapangma in 1999, he left a wife and three kids behind. In the weeks and months following Lowe’s death, his friend and climbing partner, Conrad Anker, who had narrowly survived the very avalanche in which Lowe disappeared, gradually stepped into Lowe’s shoes, marrying his widow, Jennifer, adopting his sons, Max, Isaac, and Sam, and striving to strike that balance between family and climbing that Alex Lowe had, up to the day of his death, been struggling to achieve.

Directed by Alex Lowe’s oldest son, Max, a new National Geographic documentary tells the story of Alex’s absence. “Torn,” which won Best Feature Film at the 2021 Banff Film Festival, is at once an homage to Alex Lowe—the climber, the father, the husband, and the friend—and a celebration of the family that survives him.

Editor’s note: Torn is less of a climbing film than a film about the things most climbers prefer not to think about: the strange and haunted space that a death in the mountains leaves behind. As our reviewer put it: “It’s a powerful meditation on what Conrad Anker calls ‘the value proposition of risk,’ yet it’s also an honest portrait of how death in the mountains ends up defining the people who live on in that death’s shadows.”

Lost on Everest

Description: Lost on Everest shines light on what happened to Sandy Irvine and George Mallory on their fateful Everest bid in 1924. Led by climbing author and journalist Mark Synott (author of a really great book called The Impossible Climb) and National Geographic photographer Renan Ozturk, the team tries to retrace Mallory and Irvine’s steps and, if possible, get ahold of Mallory’s lost camera.

The Last Tepui

Description: Two parts research expedition, one part climbing (or even less emphasis on climbing it can be argued), The Last Tepui documents a team of climbers and scientists who enlist the help of Alex Honnold to climb a sheer 1000-foot Tepui (cliff) in Guyana to study new organisms. They must help the famed biologist Bruce Means, who is near 80 years old, up to the top of the mesa.

Hulu

Hulu, alas, only has no real climbing films at the moment. So if you just picked up a Hulu account so that you can watch, well, whatever you picked it up to watch, be sure to check out these absolute jokes while you’re there.

Fall

Description: “Fall is an edge-of-your-seat ride of whompers, pröösiks, hand-wenching, vulture attacks, free-fall and free-ball rappels, one-armed max hangs, and finally, an epic trundle for the ages. Four stars.” Or so says our reviewer, Rex Dangerman, Sports and Fitness Editor at New York Adventure Magazine, who pretty much covered the bases on this one: Review: ‘Fall’ is an Excellent and Super-Duper Accurate Climbing Flick. None of our editors will ever admit to watching this film…

The Ledge

Description: The Ledge centers around a fictitious version of Monte Antelao—the highest mountain in the Dolomites, in northeastern Italy. The plot follows the classic into-the-woods horror genre: two girls get to know a group of guys over a campfire. One of the guys turns out to be a murderer. Sophie (played by Anaïs Parello), is brutally killed after being chased through the woods. Kelly, who had gone to bed, awakens to shouts. She scrambles out of bed, searches the area, and arrives at the scene just in time to see the gore. For the men, there’s one major hiccup: Kelly caught the whole thing on camera. A pursuit ensues, out of the woods and up the face of Monte Antelao.

Editor’s Note: The Ledge is a great film until you start to nitpick. Aside from all-too-convenient big-wall gear, if you watch closely, you’ll notice that the same sloper miraculously appears at three different locations on the route. Or that, when Kelly first starts ascending the climb, she’s in her hiking shoes, then randomly in one climbing shoe, then back again. There’s some super safe hand-over-hand belaying, interesting lowering techniques, almost zero clipping into safety points, even when gear is on hand, and so on.

For rent on Amazon Prime

The Last Mountain

Description: When British alpinist Alison Hargreaves died on K2 (8,611 meters) in 1995, her son Tom was only 6 years old. A quarter of a century later, Tom perished during an attempt on Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters), scarcely more than a hundred miles away. It was a twisted coincidence that only the inscrutable machinations of nature could whip up. Their deaths left behind a father/husband (Jim Ballard) and a daughter/sister (Kate Ballard). The Last Mountain, a new BBC documentary from director Chris Terrill, examines the void the two climbers formed in their wake.

Our Reviewer: Current and archival footage is wielded without chronology, creating a sense of intimacy and timelessness that isn’t often found in similar climbing documentaries. This isn’t a film that was made at one point in time, it’s a tome of footage compiled over a lifetime. Watching The Last Mountain truly feels like following every step of the Hargreaves-Ballard journey in real-time, and that makes it worth a viewing.

Unfortunately, where the film falls short is covering Ballard’s relationship with his late climbing partner, Daniele Nardi, who perished alongside him on the Spur.

North Face

Description: Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps: the Eiger North Face. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation’s Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Eiger, the film follows two reluctant German climbers, Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser on their fateful climb.

Editor’s note: This film is amazing: climbing fiction at its finest. Watch it.

Eiger Sanction

Description: A former CIA assassin, now a college professor, (played by Clint Eastwood) comes out of retirement to avenge the death of a colleague and recover stolen chemical warfare secrets. He does this on the North Face of the Eiger, of all place.

Editor’s note: Another classic, if mostly because it got so much wrong and because a young John Krakauer criticizes the film in his great collection Eiger Dreams.

The Climbers

Description: The Climbers is a cinematic retelling of the first Chinese climbers to summit Mount Everest. The perilous journey takes its toll on the mountaineers forcing them to make life or death decisions at every turn.

Assault on El Capitan

Description: In July of 2011 42 year old Ammon and Kait his 22 year old his girlfriend set out to climb the never repeated route of Wings of Steel on Yosemite s El Capitan Wings sat unclimbed since the first ascent in 1982 Shrouded in controversy and with a bounty waiting for the second ascent team there seemed to be no better person to climb it than Ammon. But was Kait the best choice for a partner This climb would test of their ability and their relationship The story of Wings of Steel is part legend and part myth The first ascent team spent 39 days climbing the controversial route The result death threats physical assaults and a slander campaign that polarized the Yosemite climbing community for over 30 years Combined with footage shot during their ascent and told through interviews with the first ascent team their detractors climbing historians and Ammon and Kait the truth about the most controversial climb in Yosemite history is finally told.

Editor’s note: The story behind the first ascent of Wings of Steel is crazy, and the story of Ammon McNeely’s repeat of the route is crazy for completely different reasons. This film, covering a lesser known—and even shameful—piece of Yosemite climbing history is well worth a watch.

The Rapture of Free Soloing on Acid

Description: This film follows the legendary climbing photographer and Stone Master, Dean Fidelman. Fidelman was at the forefront of the free climbing revolution in Yosemite Valley and Joshua Tree during the 1970s, making photographs with John Bachar, Lynn Hill, Ron Kauk, John Long, and many other talented climbers. Over the past four decades, Fidelman has continued to document the evolution of rock climbing as a sport and culture. This documentary takes a look at his impact and influence as a photographer and climber.

Wild New Brave

Description: In 1970s America, the legends of free climbing start out as young outcasts who didn’t want any part of a respectable American dream. They wanted to create a world for themselves where the ultimate self-expression was a climb to nowhere. Up was down, poor was rich, and what everyone else found meaningless was worth dying for.

The Nahanni Whisperer

Description: Four young climbers dream of climbing the Lotus Flower Tower, a legendary big wall in the Cirque of the Unclimbables in the furthest outreaches of Northern Canada. To reach their 800-meter wall, however, they first have to raft 550 km of the Nahanni river.

Drawn

Description: What does it mean to “see?” Shapes and shadows? Lines and color? When his friend dies in an avalanche, artist, rock-climber and dad Jeremy Collins goes to the ends of the earth to find closure and “see” his way up four new climbs. Drawn follows the journey from death to life while Collins goes North, South, East and West enduring challenge after challenge told in his trademark hybrid style of hand crafted animation meets on the fly live action.

Warren Harding: Recollections of the Wall of the Early Morning Light-1970

Description: Straight talk from Batso. His ascent of the Wall of the Early Morning Light in 1970 was doubtless the high water mark of his rock climbing career. The notoriety surrounding this climb originated partly from the 27 days Warren and his partner, Dean Caldwell, spent completing the climb. At the time it was the longest period anyone had ever spent on a rock wall.

Gone Tomorrow: The Story of Kentucky Ice Climbing

Description: Ice climbing in Kentucky?! This adventure documentary takes the audience for a bourbon-fueled ride deep into the bushy hollers of Appalachia with a crew of harmless misfits as they race to search out and climb new ice routes before they’re gone, with a few surprises along the way. When most folks think of Kentucky. horses and bourbon are probably the first two things that come to mind.

Vertical Frontier

Description: The character-driven history of the art, the sport and the philosophy of rock climbing in Yosemite.

On the Verge

Description: In the mountains behind the sleepy coastal town of Powell River, BC, a small group of rock climbers has spent decades quietly pioneering routes on some of the largest granite walls in Canada. As the last stands of old-growth trees harbored in these valleys come under threat of logging, the climbing community faces the uncertain future of a place that has come to define their lives and legacies.

The Huber Brothers: Life On The Edge

Description: In June 2011, free-climbing legends Alexander and Thomas Huber set their sights on a treacherously steep route in the Tyrolean Alps: the south wall of the Loferer Alm on the fabled Karma route. A new project was born.

Kilian Jornet: Path to Everest

Description: When he was a child Kilian Jornet, the world’s greatest ever mountain runner, made a list of all the races he wanted to win and all the mountains he dreamt of climbing. The documentary tells the story of how Kilian Jornet, the world’s greatest ever mountain runner, succeeded in completing the historic double ascent of Everest in one week, alone and without oxygen in May 2017.

El Cap Report

Description: Inspiring stories of the men and women who climb El Cap in Yosemite National Park.

High and Hallowed

Description: High and Hallowed is the story of the greatest American Himalayan climb, Everest’s West Ridge in 1963; the film examines the lasting impact of this climb and asks if anything can, or will, ever compare in terms of sheer boldness, commitment, and adventure.

Autana

Description: Leo Houlding, Jason Pickles, and Sean “Stanley” Leary go deep into the Amazon to attempt a first ascent on the magnificent Cerro Autana.

Adaptive

Description: Jim Ewing is a veteran rock climber and senior rope engineer at a rock climbing rope company. On Christmas Day in 2014, Jim fell over 50 feet to the ground in a climbing accident, a near-death experience that led to the subsequent below-the-knee amputation of his left leg. Before walking on a prosthetic, Jim was already climbing again, and before long, he began dreaming about his bucket list.

Blocheads

Description: Never before have there been so many indoor walls; so many climbers obsessed with training; so many beasts of superhuman strength. That talent is not going to waste. We follow the fearsomely strong “Blocheads” as they quest for new lines and push the limits of human ability. It’s a story of adventure, rocky passions and mutant fingers. It’s the story of a search for bouldering gold.

Shifting Dreams

Description: Shifting Dreams is the story of Caroline Ciavaldini’s move from world class competition climber to trad climber and alpinist. The film takes a look at Caroline’s early years and her intense commitment to competition climbing, her all consuming focus on winning and how the death of her mother led to her seeking changes in her life.

Into the Light

Description: Majlis al Jinn is a huge cave located in Oman and it’s an epic challenge for the climbers Stefan Glowacz and Chris Sharma. After a 170-meter, free-hanging descent, they climb back into the light together from the deepest point of the cave.

Blood Moon

Description: Follows Robbie Phillips, Calum Cunningham, and Alan Carne as they attempt to open a new climb, ground up, on a 700-meter big wall called Tsaranoro Atsimo in Madagascar. The walls of Tsaranoro are as wild and bold as the country, the rock beautifully carved as if by providential hand, and the story is that of a real adventure—friends taking the risks that come hand in hand with pushing boundaries.

Wadi Rum

Description: Set in the expansive landscape of Jordan’s distinctive national park, Wadi Rum documents the unlikely story of two Israeli climbers, an affable Bedouin Muslim, and a professional American climber as they work together to complete a climbing route up Wadi Rums’ largest rock formation.

A Passion for New Routing

Description: Michel Piola discovered rock climbing at the Salève, a huge cliff outside Geneva that has been a training ground for a number of leading mountaineers. After 30 years of route development, he is without doubt one of the great new routers and has left a lasting impression on the world of climbing. The choice and style of his lines has made his routes extremely popular among large numbers of climbers.

To Be First: The Quest for Yangmolong

Description: Among the last unclimbed peaks on earth there stands a little-known mountain in a remote region of China. A climbing expedition makes three attempts over the span of three years to summit the 6060-meter Yangmolong Mountain. Threatened by local villagers and challenged by unpredictable weather and dangerous rock and ice falls, the climbers must decide whether to give up or commit fully to the quest.

Footprints on the Ridge

Description: Tales of the Tatras Peaks. An extreme climbing adventure on the ridge of the Slovakian Tatra Mountains. Western, High, and Belianske Tatras. They are connected by a gorgeous, logical and long ridge line formed by more than 130 peaks and towers.

The Other End of the Rope (Al Otro Lado de la Cuerda)

Description: Nine of the outstanding climbers come together in this striking documentary about the ethics, values and the very nature of climbing. The brothers Ravier, Christian Ravier, Ekaitz Maiz, Mikel Zabalza, Arkaitz Yurrita, Eneko César, and Unai Mendia will show the unknown side of climbing in the Pyrenees.

Solo: Climbing to Live (Solo: Escalada a La Vida)

Description: This climbing documentary analyzes the concepts of fear, death, and life. Jordi Salas (Pelón) is a free solo climber. He performs alone without using any ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, relying entirely on his ability instead. His mind controls everything. He continues to learn throughout his progression while getting up close with life, even though it may seem paradoxical. Featuring Chris Sharma and Dani Andrada.

Solo BASE

Description: Solo BASE Follows the path of David Fusté along with his friend Turko. The pair are not just BASE Jumpers. Instead they climb without ropes, using the parachutes in their backpacks as their only form of protection. David also has much respect for nature and the animals, being vegan and living his life as part of the environment itself.

Art of Freedom: The Himalayas

Description: Jerzy Kukuczka was the first Pole to conquer the crown of the Himalayas—all the 8,000-meter peaks. Reinhold Messner beat him only by a few days by climbing the jewels of Himalayan mountains. Poles reigned the highest mountaintops of the world for more than 20 years. Watch the legendary climbers in this fascinating feature about extreme winter climbing during the early ’80s.

The Climb

Description: Two men. Two goals. On mountain. Hotshot mountain climbers forge an uneasy friendship. A daring rescue just earned flamboyant Derrick Williams (Jason George) the climb of a lifetime, but safety man Michael Harris (Ned Vaughn) doesn’t blaze trails and rarely takes life to the edge. The climb in the Chilean Andes escalates into a test of wills, character and sacrifice that pushes both men beyond limits.

Editor’s note: This is a Christian movie aimed at teenagers. If you’re looking for a great climbing movie, this is absolutely, positively, verifiably not it. If you’re looking for a climbing movie that isn’t great and is didactic, it might be for you.

Skiing Everest

Description: Skiing Everest (2020) is the first documentary about the small elite fraternity of high-Altitude skiers who climb the highest peaks in the world in pure Alpine Style, carrying their skis and declining to use supplemental oxygen.

Addicted to Altitude

Description: In the late 20th century, Slovak Himalaya mountaineering experienced world successes, but also failures. Through the eyes of one generation of climbers, the two-part Addicted to Altitude documentary shows the evolution of Slovak Himalaya mountaineering from the very first expeditions to the brave attempts on the highest mountain in the world.

Two on K2

Description: Follow Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and her husband Ralf Dujmovits as they try to summit the K2, Gerlinde’s last remaining peak for completion of the “Crown of the Himalayas” and see what love means above 8000 meters.

The Summit

Description: The Summit (2013) tells the story of the deadliest day (in 2008) on the world’s most dangerous mountain, when 11 climbers mysteriously perished on K2.

Touching the Void

Description: In 1985, two young climbers, Joe Simpson (Brendan Mackey) and Simon Yates (Nicholas Aaron), set out to be the first to reach the summit of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They succeed, and the two embark on the treacherous descent down the mountain, only to meet with disaster when Simpson breaks his leg in a fall, leaving Yates to lower him the rest of the way with ropes. When a storm threatens both their lives, Yates must decide whether to cut the rope and risk Simpson’s likely death.

Dying For Everest

Description: Released in 2001. Mountaineers are dying to reach the summit of the world’s highest ‘serial killer’ – and for some climbers, no price is too high. When double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt Everest he was plunged into a storm of controversy after it was learned he had passed an incapacitated climber, Englishman David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely death high in the death zone.

Gripped: Climbing the Killer Pillar

Description: Bret takes an inexperienced climber, Rose, on a big route in the High Sierras, but then Bret falls and gets injured. With no way to retreat off the wall, the only way down is up and their fate is in Rose’s hands. It’s climb or die.

Editor’s note: Gripped garnered attention from the climbing community for it’s so-bad-it’s-good trailer prior to release. It’s best enjoyed in a watch party or with a group of friends who are looking to laugh.

Free Solo

Description: Free solo climber Alex Honnold prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: scaling the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without a rope.

Editor’s note: It’s certainly the most famous climbing film ever made… and, despite crusty detractors, some of our editorial staff still thinks it might be the best.

Alex Honnold: 3 Classic Films

Description: Three Alex Honnold short films (that aren’t Free Solo) for the price of one: Alone on the Wall (2008, 24 minutes), Honnold 3.0 (2012, 34 minutes), and A Line Across the Sky (2014, 40 minutes), plus an excerpt from The Sharp End (16 minutes of bonus content). These three films + bonus content provide a pretty robust outline of Honnold and his credentials (as if we didn’t know them already) in his pre-Free Solo fame. Check out Reel Rock’s description of the films here.

The Alpinist

Description: In The Alpinist, directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen tell the life story of Leclerc, the late Canadian alpinist hailed by just about everyone as the one pushing the sport’s razor edge. Which he did. It wasn’t lost on the producers that this film is arguably the opening and closing of Leclerc’s entrance into the limelight. That’s undeniably a heavy burden. In 2018 Leclerc died in an avalanche alongside Ryan Johnson, after making the first ascent of a new route in Alaska’s Mendenhall Towers. Leclerc was 25 years old.

From our review: “If Free Solo was about obsession, the Dawn Wall about depression and triumph, then The Alpinist is about falling in love… with mountains.” Read our full review here

The Ledge

Description: In this thriller/drama, two groups of friends meet on a climbing getaway only to encounter the darker side of one of the members. Check out our review here (note: there are some plot spoilers). If you’re looking to see a few bad climbing sequences mixed with some good technique (the lead actor, Brittany Ashworth, actually climbs) in a cliched drama, you might want to stop here.

The Wall – Climb for Gold

Description: Janja Garnbret, Shauna Coxsey, Miho Nonaka, and Brooke Raboutou attempt to train for and place in climbing’s first ever Olympic appearance (Tokyo 2020). This is a must watch not only to get a glimpse into the journeys of these four climbers but to see what it’s like to train at an elite level. There’s plenty of drama beyond the simply physical competition as well.

Mountain

Description: Footage and images of mountains, mountaineers, and pretty much all mountain-related sport set to music and narrated by Willem Defoe. This is like Planet Earth but solely for mountains and mountain-lovers. From the same directors as Sherpa, this film aims to capture why we love, fear, are captivated and enthralled by mountains and the pursuit of climbing. Perhaps a little arty and/or pretentious, this film is still a must-see.

Sherpa –Trouble on Everest

Description: This film documents the Sherpa community and what they have gone through since foreigners started traveling to Nepal to summit Everest.

“Over here, we climb the mountain, but it’s a holy place,” says Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa, a Sherpa and one of the stars of the film. “Western people approach it as a physical challenge; to see how close you can get to death.” This statement provides the context for how this community has been treated and what they have gone through as Everest expeditions have become increasingly popular and commodified.

Editor’s note (and slight spoiler alter): “Jennifer Peedom, the director, and her team went to Nepal in 2014 to document the climbing season and observe the Sherpa leader Phurba Tashi, who was to hike to the summit of Mount Everest for a record 22nd time. While they were on the mountain, a gigantic ice block crashed onto one of the routes, killing 16 Sherpas.

“Several days later, foreign climbers (who pay upward of $100,000 each) wanted to continue their trek. Many Sherpas demanded that the season be canceled to honor the dead. That dispute lies at the heart of the film.” – NY Times

This film is a must-watch for anyone who climbs, let alone intends to make an Everest expedition.

Everest (2015)

Description: Everest is a drama about the same 1996 Everest summit attempt that Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is. However, it is not based on the book. With a slew of stars — Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson (the list goes on) — the film tells a pretty different story. Krakauer himself had some things to say about the movie upon its debut: mainly, “It’s total bull.” (Krakauer wasn’t sought to consult on the film). The movie was released in 3D, which may have been worth the price of admission. There are likely some positives besides the landscape depictions — a critique of the commodification of Everest expeditions, for one. But, to add to the list of negatives, Sherpas are ignored as they are in so many other Everest dramatizations. “At the end of the film,” The Guardian says, “audiences may feel they have laboriously made the summit, and come back—without getting much of a view.” Still, it might be worth a look if only to join in on the criticism.

K2 – The World’s Most Dangerous Mountain

Description: “[This film] follows seasoned climbers Carla Perez and Adrian Ballinger as they attempt summiting ‘the savage mountain’ without the aid of supplemental oxygen — an expedition fraught with challenges that threaten not only their chance to reach the top, but also their lives.” – Mountainfilm.org

Conquering the World

Description: Starting in 2010, former rugby player turned adventurer Richard Parks attempted to reach the highest mountains on all seven continents. This documentary, originally put out by the BBC, follows his journey. If you can’t guess from the title, this is yet another uncomfortably colonialist seven-summit story.

The Sanctity of Space

Description: Photos taken of the peaks of the Tooth Traverse (particularly the Mooses Tooth) by photographer, cartographer, and mountaineer Brad Washburn enthralled climbers Renan Ozturk, Freddie Wilkinson, and Zach Smith. This also ignited a mission to link up all the peaks to climb the Tooth Traverse in its entirety, something never done before. This documentary follows their incredibly difficult journey and also dives into the life of the pioneering figure Brad Washburn. (Note: Watch this one. Also, check out Freddie Wilkinson’s words about it here.)

Messner (2004)

Description: “Reinhold Messner looks back over his career with surprising candor and personal revelation, the career of a man whose restless quest for self-knowledge through extreme adventures made him the greatest mountain climber of modern times.” – (Amazon Prime description)

Mount Everest: The Peak of Mankind

Description: This documentary is about the world’s tallest mountain and how humans have interacted with it since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first summitted. Those climbers faced a certain set of challenges, but now that technology and Everest tourism has only increased, what new challenges do people encounter if they intend to embark on an expedition? And what does it say about us that this desire is still there, despite all the negatives?

I-VIEW

Description: Italian alpinist Simone Moro has many accomplishments under his belt, including a number of 8000-meter winter first ascents. But at a certain point in his career, he took an interest in helicopters and developing helicopter rescue systems in the Himalayas. This documentary follows that part of Moro’s alpine journey.

Sir Edmund Hillary: Everest and Beyond

Description: Sir Edmund Hillary was a bee-keeper, mountaineer, war veteran, explorer, philanthropist, husband, father, and the first person to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest. From his childhood in South Auckland, New Zealand, to the plane crash that killed his wife and daughter, this intriguing drama portrays the life, loves, and losses of one of the most famous explorers of all time. (Note: This is a multi-part drama series, not a documentary.)

The Best Climbing Movies Streaming Online Right Now

Table of Contents

Outside Watch

The Dawn Wall

Reel Rock Archives

Sufferfest (parts 1 and 2)

The Trilogy

Blocbuster

Exposure Volume 1

Exposure Volume 2

Filling the Void

Safety Third

Stumped

The Artist

The Network

Beneath The Ice

Core

Far Away

Queen Maud Land

Return to Mount Kennedy

The Fledglings

The Scene

No Days Off

Amazon Prime

Meru

Valley Uprising

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

Fine Lines

Shivaay

The Beckoning Silence

The Fatal Game

The Dark Side of Everest

Into Thin Air: Death on Everest

Wampler’s Ascent

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

Wolfgang Climbing Team

Eye to Eye with Everest: Death on a Mountain

Ocean to Sky

Conquest of Everest

180° South

Ultimate Survival Everest

Everest: Beyond the Limit

The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985)

Netflix

The Alpinist

14 Peaks

The Summit of the Gods

The Climb (L’Ascension)

Broad Peak

Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake

Disney+

Free Solo

Torn

Lost on Everest

The Last Tepui

Hulu

Fall

The Ledge

For rent on Amazon Prime

The Last Mountain

North Face

Eiger Sanction

The Climbers

Assault on El Capitan

The Rapture of Free Soloing on Acid

Wild New Brave

The Nahanni Whisperer

Drawn

Warren Harding: Recollections of the Wall of the Early Morning Light-1970

Gone Tomorrow: The Story of Kentucky Ice Climbing

Vertical Frontier

On the Verge

The Huber Brothers: Life On The Edge

Kilian Jornet: Path to Everest

El Cap Report

High and Hallowed

Autana

Adaptive

Blocheads

Shifting Dreams