A beautiful docu-film on the world of modern mountaineering "Challenge for the summit" was released some time ago on the most famous streaming platform in the world "Netlfix".
The protagonists of this documentary are the two mountaineers, Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold. For those who don't know these names, we are talking about two characters who revolutionized the world of mountaineering, giving life to the new era of fast and modern mountaineering.
Now talking about the documentary as an entertainment product, the folks at Netflix have done a great job. The narrative of Ueli Steck's evolution is compelling and manages to make us understand the "slightly crazy" mentality of the mountaineer nicknamed "the Swiss machine". The whole narrative of the challenge that is created in Dani Arnold's mind is also equally spot-on.
The images are nothing short of extraordinary. It's an adrenaline-filled documentary that makes the hour and a half of content pass pleasantly and quite quickly.
The direction by Nicholas de Taranto, Götz Werner was done in a precise and workmanlike manner. The choice of the time frame of the documentary which sees a young Ueli Steck training with his friend Alex Honnold (film Free Solo) in the Yosemite mountains slowly gets closer to what will become one of the greatest mountaineers of all time. The "challenge" which initially arose in a good-natured manner on the part of Dani Arnold (who saw Ueli as a true legend) will instead become a kind of obsession which will, unfortunately, lead to strong conflicts between the two. Something which is ultimately part of competitive sport but which one would not want to see born in the mountain environment.
Many contributions from friends and family of the two made it possible to better understand the very different personalities of the two mountaineers and at the same time fascinated by the same goal. Climb impossible mountains faster!
I highly recommend it, if you haven't already seen it, for the pleasure of seeing beautiful images and curiosities about a reality of mountaineering, the modern one, which is good to know. It stimulates thoughts and reflections on the type of risk that is taken and sets in motion, therefore, considerations on how each of us interprets the mountains, the passion for the mountains and the activities that push us to experience it.
Author
Gabriele Sanzi