Nicolas Hojac pictured while ice climbing in the Jungfrau Region, Switzerland.
© Thomas Senf/Red Bull Content Pool
Ice Climbing

16 amazing climbing films to watch now

Check out our selection of the best climbing movies available to watch online, on Red Bull TV or download now.
Written by Will Gray and Rajiv Desai
9 min readUpdated on
Get ready for a marathon set of climbing movies that will have you gripping the edge of your seat. This list dives deeper than the epic landscapes and jaw-dropping stunts. We're talking about the heart of climbing – the triumphs, the struggles, and the legendary figures who have pushed the sport to – quite literally – new heights (literally).
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01

Yamnuska: The Ragged Edge

1 h 7 min

Yamnuska: The Ragged Edge

Vikki Weldon and Quentin Roberts explore the enduring legacy of rock climbing on Canada's Mount Yamnuska.

English +1

  • Director: John Price
  • Length: 66 minutes
  • In a nutshell: Exploring the legacy of Canada's climbing icon, Mount Yamnuska
Journey through time on the legendary rock face of Mount Yamnuska. Modern climbers Vikki Weldon and Quentin Roberts tackle the daunting cliffs, but their ascent is only part of the bigger story. Join them as they delve into the rich history of the Canadian icon, which has challenged and inspired climbers for generations. This captivating film explores the enduring legacy of this mountain, where the thrill of the climb meets the echoes of the past.
02

Here to Climb

1 h 19 min

Here to Climb

From child prodigy to rock warrior, follow Sasha DiGiulian's climbing history with some of her first ascents.

English +5

  • Director: Ricki Stern & Annie Sundberg
  • Length: 78 minutes
  • In a nutshell: Sasha DiGiulian's barrier-breaking rock climbing journey
Here to Climb delves into the life of Australian climbing prodigy Sasha DiGiulian, from young competitive climber to champion. Going beyond trophies, the film explores Sasha's battles with self-doubt and the pressure to conform within the climbing community. And as she ventures further into big wall climbing, Sasha grapples with the need for teamwork – a new challenge for the once solo athlete. Witness her growth as she pushes her limits and redefines success on her own terms.
03

Momentum

21 min

Momentum: Angie Scarth-Johnson

Spend a year touring the world with Australia’s Angie Scarth-Johnson as she pushes the boundaries of climbing.

English +8

  • Director: Liqen Studio
  • Length: 20 minutes
  • In a nutshell: Exploring the talents of Aussie climbing prodigy Angie Scarth-Johnson
This film follows the journey of Australian climbing prodigy Angie Scarth-Johnson as she tours the globe pushing the boundaries of rock climbing. Angie has been creating waves on the climbing scene ever since the age of nine when she scaled a major 8b grade climb. More achievements have followed since, including the successful ascents of three 9a grade climbs in Victimas del Futur, Victimas Perez and Pornographie in her latter teen years. Her rapid progress has been so quick that it's left the climbing community wondering what she'll conquer next.
04

Tribute to Failure

1 h 6 min

Tribute to Failure

Four Swiss alpinists attempt the first ascent of a new route on the 6,543m Shivling in India.

English +2

  • Director: Jochen Schmoll
  • Length: 66 minuties
  • In a nutshell: Success isn’t always about being on top of the mountain
In 2021, four Swiss mountaineers – Nicolas Hojac, Jonas Schild, Andy Schnarf and Stephan Siegrist – made an attempt to try a new route up India's legendary Mount Shivling. If they succeeded, it would be the first accession of the mountain on its south side. A decision was ultimately made to abandon the attempt when Schnarf suffered a high-altitude pulmonary edema and had to be taken off the mountain. Tribute to Failure shows the boundless courage and unconditional solidarity of Hojac and his colleagues in the face of adversity.
05

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

1 h 35 min

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

Uncover the legacy of American mountaineer Fred Beckey, whose name's spoken in hushed tones around campfires.

English

  • Director: Dave O'Leske
  • Length: 95 minuties
  • In a nutshell: The story behind one of the most influential climbers of all time
Fred Beckey was an American mountaineer whose name is synonymous with climbing in North America, achieving many first ascents in the region. He was also an author who went on to write many books on climbing and was still active high up in the mountains into his 90s before he passed away in 2017. The award-winning film "Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey" celebrates the climber's pioneering ascents and the rebellious lifestyle behind his legacy.
06

Gigante de Pedra

37 min

Gigante de Pedra

Brazilian climber Felipe Camargo climbs the world's largest cave mouth at PETAR in the interior of São Paulo.

English

  • Director: Rafa Calil
  • Length: 37 mins
  • In a nutshell: Climbing the world's largest cave
Thought to be the largest cave mouth in the world, the Casa de Pedra in the PETAR state park, near São Paulo, was unsurprisingly on the radar of Brazilian climber Felipe Camargo as a potential place that he wanted to climb. Years in the planning, the opportunity to get on site finally came in 2022 when he and team of five other climbers made the first ascent of the cave wall.
07

Dawn Wall

The Dawn Wall

Free climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson attempt to scale the 915m Dawn Wall of El Capitan, California.

  • Directors: Peter Mortimer, Josh Lowell
  • Length: 100 minutes
  • In a nutshell: The hardest big wall climb in the world
When Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed their epic 19-day ascent of Dawn Wall in California's Yosemite National Park in 2015, their story went viral across the world. Dawn Wall chronicles not just the successful ascent, but Caldwell's seven-year obsession with the route and the drivers that led he and Jorgeson there.
08

Red Bull Dual Ascent

36 min

Red Bull Dual Ascent

Sixteen world-class athletes on eight teams battle to be the fastest up a wall of six gruelling pitches.

English +6

  • Director: Oliver Martin
  • Length: 37 minutes
  • In a nutshell: The world's best climbers competing against each other
In 2022, some of the best climbers in the world came together for an outdoor climbing competition which broke boundaries in terms of man-made-route climbing events. Red Bull Dual Ascent involved eight teams battling it out to be the fastest up a wall of gruelling six pitches up Switzerland’s Verzasca Dam. The teams competed on two exact routes, side-by-side on a 180m-high route.
The film tells the story of that first event and features climbing talent that includes Sasha DiGiulian, Domen Škofic, Petra Klingler, Angie Scarth Johnson, Helmut Putz, Shauna Coxsey, Matty Hong, Jernej Kruder, Cedar Wright, Louna Ladevant, Jacopo Larcher and Alberto Gines López.
09

Valley Uprising

1 h 39 min

Valley Uprising

Join Alex Honnold for an inside look into how climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle in Yosemite.

English +9

  • Directors: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen and Josh Lowell
  • Length: 90 minutes
  • In a nutshell: Yosemite National Park’s counterculture climbing scene up close
Valley Uprising is the riveting and unforgettable tale of the bold rock climbing tradition in California's Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity -- and the laws of the land.
Get to know how climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service in the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley.
10

360 Ascent

48 min

360 Ascent

Climbers Janja Garnbret and Domen Škofic scale the tallest artificial multi-pitch route in the world.

English +9

  • Director: Kunstkollectiv
  • Length: 48 minutes
  • In a nutshell: Slovenian pair climb the tallest chimney in Europe
For six years, the chimney at Trbovlje Power Station has stood dormant and during that time Domen Skōfic has set about trying to ascend what is the tallest chimney of its kind on the continent.
Finally, he gets the all clear and teams up with fellow Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret for a marathon ascent unlike anything either of them have experienced on the World Cup circuit. 360 Ascent lives through the thrills, falls and race against the fading light to reach the summit in a gripping adventure.
11

Beneath the Ice

17 min

Beneath the Ice

Will Gadd uses his unmatched ice climbing skills and knowledge to lead a scientific expedition into a previously unexplored territory beneath the Greenland ice sheet.

English +9

  • Director: Will Gadd
  • Length: 17m
  • In a nutshell: Experience the extreme depths of the Greenland ice sheet.
Will Gadd uses his unmatched ice climbing skills and knowledge to lead a scientific expedition into a previously unexplored territory beneath the Greenland ice sheet.
"I've been to some of the craziest places on Earth and climbed some pretty insane stuff, but this is another level," said Gadd.
With temperatures plunging down to -30C, it's an inhospitable environment for Gadd and his partner on the trip, glaciologist Jason Gulley, to do their work, but through their efforts new information is gleaned about the Greenland ice cap and how it melts.
12

Lunag Ri

35 min

Lunag Ri 2nd Attempt

David Lama and Conrad Anker make a second attempt to climb the 6,907m Himalayan peak, Lunag Ri.

German +7

  • Directors: Michael Ginthoer and Martin Hanslmayr
  • Length: 35m
  • In a nutshell: A drive to climbing the unclimbed
David Lama and Conrad Ankermake a second attempt to climb the 6,907m Himalayan peak, Lunag Ri. Weather capers, technical challenges and health problems are just a few of the challenges Lama and Anker face as they attempt to make it to the summit.
Of the climb, Lama said: "There are still plenty of unclimbed mountains, but in contrast to Lunag Ri, many of them aren't very attractive from a mountaineering point of view."
Ultimately this second attempt failed, but Lama was able to make a third solo attempt in 2018 and did make it to the summit.
13

Claim Freedom

53 min

Claim Freedom

Four adventurers push themselves physically, mentally and spiritually to conquer what once seemed impossible.

Portuguese +8

  • Directors: Various
  • Length: 52m
  • In a nutshell: A climber gets to explore the far reaches of his imagination
In Claim Freedom, four adventurers are given the opportunity to take on once-in-a-lifetime challenges. In the climbing segment, big-wall climber Gareth Leah's search for 'supervillain lairs' leads him on an odyssey to São Tomé, an island off the west coast of Africa, to climb the towering Pico Cão Grandé.
14

K2: The Impossible Descent

1 h 6 min

K2: The Impossible Descent

Follow Andrzej Bargiel’s epic expedition from Poland to Pakistan, as he descends K2 on skis.

English +13

  • Director: Slawomir Batyra
  • Length: 1hr 5m
  • In a nutshell: Andrzej Bargiel descends K2 on skis
Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel made history in June 2018 by skiing down the second-highest mountain in the world, K2, at an altitude of 8,611m. Join Bargiel on this epic journey from Poland to Pakistan and find out more about the project here.
15

Terra Incognita

23 min

Terra Incognita

In 2018 Austrian climber Kilian Fischhuber led an expedition to one of the most remote parts of Siberia.

English +4

  • Director: Corey Rich
  • Length: 23m
  • In a nutshell: Kilian Fischhuber goes well and truly off the grid in Siberia
Terra Incognita – literally not mapped. That's exactly what Kilian Fischhuber and his team got when they set out to find and climb a cluster of granite towers in the extremely remote and barely visited Ulakhan-Sis region of Siberia.
Only spotted and photographed for the first time in 2016, no one even knew if the team could find the towers, let alone climb them when they set off on a true adventure for the modern age.
16

The Last Ascent

45 min

The Last Ascent

Will Gadd embarks on a mission to have one last shot at climbing the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro.

English +9

  • Director: Tom Beard
  • Length: 45m
  • In a nutshell: Will Gadd ice climbing on Kilimanjaro's vanishing snowcap
Sadly, the world's few tropical ice caps are melting rapidly, non more so than Africa's iconic Mount Kilimanjaro, which is losing it's glaciers and ice fields at a frightening rate. Before the ice disappears for ever, renowned ice climber Will Gadd returns to make one last ascent of a mountain he first visited six years earlier in a poignant and thought-provoking film from the top of a continent.

Part of this story

Will Gadd

Known as the captain of adventure, no challenge is too daunting for paraglider pilot and renowned Canadian climber Will Gadd.

CanadaCanada

Stefan Glowacz

Stefan Glowacz was destined to become a passionate alpine climber, and today he travels the world conquering treacherous rock faces.

GermanyGermany

Domen Škofic

Born to be an athlete, Slovenian climbing champion Domen Škofic loves nothing more than conquering the world's most challenging routes.

SloveniaSlovenia

Janja Garnbret

A hugely successful Slovenian climber, Janja Garnbret is a double Olympic and multiple World champion across several disciplines.

SloveniaSlovenia

Andrzej Bargiel

A Polish ski tourer, Andrzej Bargiel made headlines around the world when completing the first-ever descent of K2 on skis.

PolandPoland

Nicolas Hojac

Swiss mountaineer Nicolas Hojac is known for scaling peaks all over the world – including many speedy ascents of the Eiger north face in his home country.

SwitzerlandSwitzerland

Felipe Camargo

A free-climbing icon from Brazil, Felipe Camargo loves nothing more than conquering the most challenging routes on the planet.

BrazilBrazil

Sasha DiGiulian

American climber Sasha DiGiulian has made a career of overcoming the odds, with more than 30 first female ascents to her name.

United StatesUnited States

Yamnuska: The Ragged Edge

Vikki Weldon and Quentin Roberts explore the enduring legacy of rock climbing on Canada's Mount Yamnuska.

1 h 7 min

Here to Climb

From child prodigy to rock warrior, follow Sasha DiGiulian's climbing history with some of her first ascents.

1 h 19 min

Momentum: Angie Scarth-Johnson

Spend a year touring the world with Australia’s Angie Scarth-Johnson as she pushes the boundaries of climbing.

21 min

Tribute to Failure

Four Swiss alpinists attempt the first ascent of a new route on the 6,543m Shivling in India.

1 h 6 min

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

Uncover the legacy of American mountaineer Fred Beckey, whose name's spoken in hushed tones around campfires.

1 h 35 min

Gigante de Pedra

Brazilian climber Felipe Camargo climbs the world's largest cave mouth at PETAR in the interior of São Paulo.

37 min

The Dawn Wall

Free climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson attempt to scale the 915m Dawn Wall of El Capitan, California.

Red Bull Dual Ascent

Sixteen world-class athletes on eight teams battle to be the fastest up a wall of six gruelling pitches.

36 min

Valley Uprising

Join Alex Honnold for an inside look into how climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle in Yosemite.

1 h 39 min

360 Ascent

Climbers Janja Garnbret and Domen Škofic scale the tallest artificial multi-pitch route in the world.

48 min

Beneath the Ice

Will Gadd uses his unmatched ice climbing skills and knowledge to lead a scientific expedition into a previously unexplored territory beneath the Greenland ice sheet.

17 min

Lunag Ri 2nd Attempt

David Lama and Conrad Anker make a second attempt to climb the 6,907m Himalayan peak, Lunag Ri.

35 min

Claim Freedom

Four adventurers push themselves physically, mentally and spiritually to conquer what once seemed impossible.

53 min

K2: The Impossible Descent

Follow Andrzej Bargiel’s epic expedition from Poland to Pakistan, as he descends K2 on skis.

1 h 6 min

The Last Ascent

Will Gadd embarks on a mission to have one last shot at climbing the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro.

45 min