Asgard Jamming
2026 · 55 min · Trad, Big Wall, Documentary · Xpedition Films
Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll directs and stars in this account of an expedition to Mount Asgard on Baffin Island, joined by Nicolas and Olivier Favresse, Stephane Hanssens and the Catalan big wall climber Silvia Vidal. The numbers do most of the talking: 45 days out, 600 kilometers covered on foot, 11 days of climbing on the wall itself. Asgard is the fortress of the gods in Norse myth, and the film leans into that joke without ever losing the reality of the approach, which is most of what the trip actually was. Walking that far to climb one wall is a specific kind of commitment. This is a classic of the Belgian expedition tradition, self-shot, unhurried, and full of music.
Review
The numbers do the talking, and they should: 45 days out, 600 kilometers on foot, eleven days on the wall. Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll directs and stars in this account of an expedition to Mount Asgard on Baffin Island with Nicolas and Olivier Favresse, Stephane Hanssens and the Catalan big wall climber Silvia Vidal.
This is for people who understand that walking that far to climb one wall is a specific kind of commitment. The film leans into the Norse fortress joke without losing the reality of the approach, which is most of what the trip was. Silvia Vidal is the addition that matters: a new voice inside a crew that has climbed together for years. Skip it if you want the wall early. It takes a long time to get there, in the film and in life.
What works is the walking. Most expedition films skip the approach. This one makes it the subject, and the 600 kilometers feel like 600 kilometers. What it gets wrong is that eleven days of climbing get compressed to make room for the walk, and Asgard deserves better.
Coconut Connection is the same island, a different valley and a different set of partners, with a sea ice approach instead of a long walk. That film is about waiting. This one is about moving. I like this one more, mostly because of Vidal.
