China Jam
2013 · 54 min · Trad, Big Wall, Alpine, Documentary · Xpedition Films
In September 2013 Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse, Stephane Hanssens and filmmaker Evrard Wendenbaum travelled to a remote valley in the far west of China, where they found a 4000-foot vertical pillar on Kyzyl Asker, a mountain topping out above 19,000 feet. They spent 14 days on it, instruments included. This is the crew's formula pushed into genuinely alpine terrain, and the weather makes them pay for it. The film is honest about the battle that becomes: relentless obstacles, harsh conditions, and a long argument with their own limits. It is also very funny, which is the thing that keeps these expedition films watchable long after you have forgotten the pitch count.
Review
The Belgian formula pushed into genuinely alpine terrain, and the weather makes them pay. In September 2013 Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse, Stephane Hanssens and filmmaker Evrard Wendenbaum travel to a remote valley in the far west of China and find a 4,000-foot vertical pillar on Kyzyl Asker, a mountain topping out above 19,000 feet. They spend fourteen days on it, instruments included.
This is for people who already like this crew and want to see what happens when the stakes rise. The film is honest about the battle: relentless obstacles, harsh conditions, and a long argument with their own limits. It is also very funny, which is what keeps it watchable after you forget the pitch count. Skip it if the humor grates on you. At 19,000 feet it is either the best or the worst thing about them.
What works is the pillar. Fourteen days on a wall in weather that bad is a serious ascent, and Wendenbaum's camera, from inside the team, catches the cold and the doubt. What it leaves out is the route as a route. I never got a clear grade or pitch breakdown.
Asgard Jamming is the same crew's other alpine film, 45 days out and 600 kilometers on foot for eleven days of climbing on Mount Asgard. That one is about the approach. This one is about the wall, and it is the more frightening of the two.
