Music and Movie Fridays: King Lines
King Lines will always be a special movie for me. I began climbing in 2007, the same year King Lines was released. I remember being awestruck by the beauty of the movie and the simple manner of Chris Sharma. To me, it is a beautiful story and it played a significant role in my life as it pushed me to overcome my fear of heights and my fear of falling. Not many people know that I was super scared of heights and I mostly just bouldered for almost a full year before I ever tied in to ascend. In fact, my kids were topping out routes before I was.
This movie is a “must have” for your DVD collection. Here is the trailer:
Here is the link if you want to purchase it and support HCR Beta.
And if you want to download it directly from Big Up Productions, here is the Link for the King Lines Download.
How to Wash Your Climbing Rope: The Definitive Guide
Sterling Rope makes the best climbing ropes in the world. That is all I climb on. Currently, I am using a Sterling Evolution Velocity 9.8.
It is an excellent rope.
My main crag is Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Jasper, Arkansas. It is the premiere destination for sport climbing in the Midwest and an active Goat Ranch. Being lowered off of Anchor Rings (and the goat poop) makes it necessary for my rope to see some wash after every couple of outings.
Here are the directions for keeping your rope well-maintained.
- Use a rope bag that has a built in tarp.
Free Music and Movie Fridays: The Swiss Account
I have been a long-time fan of Jon Glassberg and Carlo Traversi. They put up excellent climbing videos through their production company Louder than 11 www.LT11.com.
By far, The Swiss Account is their best production to date. It is an hour long climb-fest with stunning visuals, smooth transitions, and climbing – YES – tons and tons of climbing.
Some of my favorite parts:
- Carlo running up the 6B “Never Ending Story Slab” in his 510 approach shoes
- Horsegiving
- “Aren’t you sponsored by Prana?” Question to Paul Robinson about his pants.
- The Track “Blue Skies” The Flux Pavilion Dubstep Remix
THE BIGGEST positive of the movie is that they chose to “beep” out the swearing. They made it kid friendly. Nice job, guys! It makes it way easier to invite my kids (12, 10, and 6) to watch it with me. It is fun to watch my kids get psyched and see their hands get sweaty just by watching a movie.
If you are super strict, there is a scene where the group visits a monastery and, for some unknown reason, flip the bird. Also, be aware that when they climb in Chironico, you may want to turn down the soundtrack for a short while – the track in the backgroud is “B*tch, betta’ have my money…”
Overall, I give the Swiss Account 5 out of 5 stars. It is FREE. There is a story. We get to know the climbers a little better. The flow of the movie is smooth. The scenery is spectacular. There is ample climbing. And they made it kid friendly by “beeping” out the swear words. It is a must-watch movie.
Watch it here. Then, go to the www.LT11.com site and download it for free!