Sentinel: the west face

A breath-taking record of two men scaling Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park. Also presents a verbal commentary on the practical “hows” of mountain-climbing and its philosophical “why”. All mountains are merely rocks, the film tells us and “a wall is simply the imagination’s refusal to cope with a rock so large. The rock is here and now. It asks total commitment. For most good climbers this was given years ago when a choice was required. Now it is automatic.” The ascent becomes no longer physical displacement from bottom to top, but a kind of ballet of human expression, “as individual as a name or a signature”.