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B the Hiker

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A whole of mountain movies are streaming on Netflix at the moment!

K2: Siren of the Himalayas
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/200679
This engrossing documentary records the 2009 attempt by a team of expert mountaineers to scale K2, widely regarded as the toughest and most dangerous climb among the world's highest peaks.

The Alps From Above: A Symphony of Summits
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/200610
The motion-stabilized Cineflex-camera, developed by US secret services, brings razor sharp aerial close-ups and breathtaking panoramic images to life. Filmed exclusively with aerial shots, this is a unique cinematic expedition from the peaks of Mont Blanc to the Dolomites and traces the history and geography of the Alps.

Everest: IMAX
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/170272
Shortly after the worst tragedy ever to occur on Mount Everest (the deaths of eight climbers in 1996), noted climber David Breashears led an IMAX crew to the top of the mountain and provided the first 360-degree view from Earth's highest peak. The film recounts the obstacles the group faced, including avalanches, scarce oxygen, hazardous ice walls and a deadly snowstorm.

Touching the Void
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/181051
Mixing interviews with dramatic re-enactments of the event, this gripping docudrama retells the mountaineering trek gone awry of Simon Yates (Nicholas Aaron) and Joe Simpson (Brendan Mackey), who falls and breaks his leg while climbing in the Andes. Yates, who's tethered to him, attempts to lower him to safety but fails, forcing him to make a pivotal decision that may or may not save both of their lives. The question is, was it the right one?

180 Degrees South
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/81098
Inspired by pioneering outdoorsman Yvon Chouinard's freewheeling 1968 van trip to Patagonia, South America, a band of bliss-seeking surfer-mountaineers sets out -- in 2007, by boat -- to remake the journey in this adventure documentary. Jeff Johnson and his buddies hug the coast, stopping at the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island before arriving in Patagonia -- a region that's still breathtaking but is now besieged by environmental threats.

and a particular favorite of mine (although not a mountain movie per se)
Encounters at the End of the World
http://instantwatcher.com/titles/196205
Filmmaker Werner Herzog takes you on a wild and woolly journey to the South Pole in this Oscar contender -- from the National Science Foundation's headquarters on Ross Island to some of Antarctica's most remote and dangerous terrain.


Brian
 
Just watched this one last nite: Mount St. Elias
Sitting on the border of the Canadian Yukon and Alaska, Mount St. Elias is the second tallest mountain in either nation, and also one of the most difficult to climb. Standing at 18,000 feet, the mountain is subject to high winds, bitter cold and frequent storms, conditions made worse by the mountain's location near the Gulf of Alaska. But in 2007, two experienced mountaineers from Austria, Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann, teamed with an American colleague, John Johnston, to try something never done before -- climbing to the top of Mount St. Elias and skiing back down in the longest vertical descent ever attempted on skis. Filmmaker Gerald Salmina and a small camera crew tagged along to document the great adventure, and Mount St. Elias is a visually striking portrait of three men attempting the seemingly impossible in one of the most beautiful but forbidding locations on Earth. Mount St. Elias was an official selection at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival.
 
Inspired by pioneering outdoorsman Yvon Chouinard's freewheeling 1968 van trip to Patagonia
That particular trip forms the movie "Mountain of Storms" and it's a riot. You can get the DVD from Patagucci and there's a probably-not-entirely-legit-but-not-C&D'd-yet way to stream it if you search a bit.
 
A whole of mountain movies are streaming on Netflix at the moment!

Thanks very much for this list! I was recently looking for some hiking related movies on Netflix and they are not always easy to find.

About 2 months ago I saw "Mile... Mile & a Half" on Netflix. The movie is a documentary about hiking John Muir Trail. It's not a big production with fast-paced action full of suspense but the views of the Sierras are really great to see!
 
A couple of others in this general genre that I've enjoyed:
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga This documentary explores life along the River Yenisei in Russia, where the industrious inhabitants of a rural village truly live off the land.
People of a Feather Featuring groundbreaking footage from seven winters in the Arctic, People of a Feather takes you through time into the world of Inuit on the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay connecting past present and future.
 
"Touching the Void" was excellent in my opinion. Inspiring and thought provoking, beautiful to watch and a thoughtful, sensitive treatment of an event that was tempting to sensationalize. Highly recommended.
 
"Simon! Simon!!" Can't hear that name without thinking of "Touching the Void". Read the book and watched the movie a couple of times. Engrossing work.

I had the fortune several years ago to the Boston Museum of Science IMAX showing of the Brashear's "Everest" movie, where he did a book signing, too. Very cool movie and eventually named our future daughter after someone in the movie :)
 
I had the fortune several years ago to the Boston Museum of Science IMAX showing of the Brashear's "Everest" movie, where he did a book signing, too. Very cool movie and eventually named our future daughter after someone in the movie :)

Yeah, the Everest film is both beautiful and gripping. What a horrific and fascinating story.

Back to the K2 film, the statistic comparing the number of summits of that peak in a season versus Everest was eye-opening. I wonder what those stats are for Annapurna, which, per Ed Viesturs, is deadlier than even K2, with respect to deaths versus summit attempts.
 
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I love Netflix for stuff like this. I did not see "The Summit" mentioned, that is on there as well
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summit_(film)
Ladakh is featured allot in "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama", including a shot of Stok Kangri, my hiking high point (shameless plug ;)).
I really enjoyed the films above, especially Touching the Void, Symphony of Summits, Mile & Mile & a half, & Mt St Elias.
Also, an Idiot Abroad climbs Mt Fuji near the end of season 2.
At one point there was an Appalachian Trail documentary, not sure if it is still there. Has some great New England scenes. I think it was Nat Geo, too lazy to look it up.
 
I saw the Everest movie at the IMAX theater. I can still remember, hearing Ed Viesturs sucking for air going for the summit. pretty good stuff. Touching the Void was very good too. I'd love to see the K2 movie.
 
I was hoping "Mile, Mile and Half" would be on Netflix. It isn't, although I'm able to download it from my local public library, so all good!

Netflix has "Finding Traction" about Nikki Kimball's Long Trail run. Haven't seen it, but it's now on my list.

Valley Uprising was a simply wonderful movie!

Brian
 
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