INSIDE THE CLIMBING FILM TOUR
INSIDE THE CLIMBING FILM TOUR
Four years ago, the VL editorial team and our publisher, Adventure Entertainment, worked together to launch the very first Vertical Life Film Tour (VLFT). The goal was to bring people together through a stunning visual celebration of what it means to live life vertically. Combining the stories of our own local legends and those of underground climbers globally, over the years VLFT has brought an entirely new and exciting film offering to thousands of international audiences in over a dozen countries.
This year the tour is back with the same passion for bringing the global climbing community together, albeit with a suite of six epic new films, and a new name that reflects a high point in the tour’s evolution. For Adventure Entertainment Founder and CEO, Toby Ryston-Pratt, the new name comes at an exciting time. “The climbing community has always been a core part of our business. By publishing Vertical Life Magazine and supporting gyms across the country to bring their own communities together through film and live events, we’re a big advocate of both climbers and the industry. The name change puts the purpose of the tour at the centre of the conversation and reflects our broader organisational mission to inspire peopleto get out and adventure”. From its humble beginnings of uniting climbers while COVID forced a pause on print, to becoming a multi-year tour with a legacy of showcasing awe-inspiring and untold climbing stories, this next chapter of the Climbing Film Tour’s evolution is something our editors are so proud to be part of for another year.
In 2023, the Climbing Film Tour’s local lineup features six unique climbing films, each with phenomenal storytelling and cinematography, set against iconic backdrops and epic landscapes that are sure to inspire adventure at home and abroad. This year the Climbing Film Tour features the exclusive premiere of the new Wild Country & Salewa film, TRANSENDENCE. The tour will premiere globally on October 5th, 2023 with the TRANSENDENCE film team on stage, at the Tower Theatre in Bend, Oregon, USA. Then from November 2023, the Climbing Film Tour screens all over the world including right here at home in Australia and New Zealand, so head to www.climbingfilmtour.com for a show near you.
A New Line takes us on a one month long trip through the Blue Mountains with competitive climber Lucy Stirling as she embraces the outdoors. After 15 years of prioritising comp climbing, Brisbane-based Lucy is on a journey to discover exactly where her passion lies. Filmed and produced by multi-award-winning adventure photographer and filmmaker, Nathan McNeil, we see Lucy let loose on the outdoor routes that until now had taken a backseat.
Why we love it
This film offers a fresh perspective on the layers of meaning climbing gives us, against the backdrop of one of Australia’s most iconic routes.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN HIGHLINING STORY
Why we love it
When it comes to Australian climbing content, and vertical content more broadly, an overwhelming amount of it centres on the east coast.
Accompanying our three local films, are three films from the global climbing community that will have you packing your bags and scrambling to find your passport. “If It’s Easy, It’s Not Fun” takes us to Jordan’s extraordinary Wadi-Rum on an adventure that combines climbing, paragliding and photography, while “Aiguille du Midi Operation: Electric Avenue” sends us on a quest for new lines in Chamonix, France. In “Transcendence” we head to The Cascades in Washington, USA, on a journey that’s as much about climbing exploration as it is personal exploration.
AIGUILLE DU MIDI OPERATION:ELECTRIC AVENUE
Why we love it
Accompanying our three local films, are three films from the global climbing community that will have you packing your bags and scrambling to find your passport.
Why we love it
Director Michelle Smith is a storytelling
This year, our travel plans are turned upside down yet again as we join climbing world champion Liv Sansoz, paraglider and guide Zeb Roche and adventure filmmaker and photographer Aurelie Gonin as they paraglide and climb through Jordan’s awe-inspiring UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Wadi-Rum desert. So folks, it’s time to dust off your passports, pack your rack (or two) and your favourite broad-brim hat, ’cause’ we’re going to Jordan!
