Big Wall Films

Big wall climbing is the practice of pushing long, vertically continuous faces with rope systems, hauling and multi-day tactics; climbers go to granite fjords, desert monoliths and polar sea walls to string together sustained pitches and solve logistics as much as moves. On film the discipline translates into sequences that add scale to technique: fixed-line hauling, portaledge bivouacs, partner swaps and the slow arithmetic of linking hard pitches across hours or seasons. Places in this collection range from Yosemite Valley to Baffin Island, the Rätikon, Madagascar’s Tsaranoro massif and underground walls like Macocha.

The catalog leans into the practical side of big-wall work. Watch Arc'teryx Presents: Wet Lycra Nightmare for a compact portrait of contemporary redpointing on a Yosemite free line — the partner dynamics, pitch structure and what a committed lead looks like when a fall happens near a crux. Arc'teryx Presents: Ground Up contrasts ground‑up ethics and pitch-by-pitch problem solving on El Capitan, naming specific sections and showing how a route of sustained difficulty is composed of many hard pitches. Speed and aid variants are present too: Setting a New El Cap Speed Record (Shortest Straw) records sub‑10‑minute pacing and transitions, while Climbing an El Cap A4 in Under 14 Hours: Lunar Eclipse is a first‑person account of a fast aid onsight with honest commentary about why they missed a record.

Across the selection you’ll find raw field records like First Ascent in Yosemite Valley and expedition texture in pieces such as Vertical Sailing Greenland, Arc'teryx Presents: Baffin and Venezuela Jungle Jam, which show long approaches, weather delays and the music-and-mess of life under a wall. Together the films are useful for climbers who want to study partner management, hauling systems, pacing for multi‑day free attempts and the real logistics of expedition big‑wall climbing rather than stylized highlight reels.