The Reel Rock 8 tour, featuring world-class climbers sending cutting-edge rock climbs, showcased Friday night, Nov. 15, sponsored by the Outing Club.

The film was divided into four sections: The first segment, “The Sensei,” told the story of Yuji Hirayama, a famed Japanese climber, teaming up with professional American competition climber Daniel Woods in an attempt to climb an extremely difficult granite spire at 13,000 feet of elevation on the summit of Mount Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo.
The next segment, “Spice Girl,” featured a strong British talent named Hazel Findlay in her quest to conquer a technically difficult climb on a UK seacliff know for its poor rock quality, and its difficulty to properly protect. Once bagging the scary route, Findlay, teamed up with Emily Harrington, another strong female climber to go climb in the Taghia Gorge, in Morocco, on a bolt protected multi-pitch named Babel.

Their physical and mental strength were pushed once again while attempting to climb a 2000-foot limestone tower in a day. Findlay showed great fortitude while climbing, enduring multiple lead climbing falls of more than 20 feet due to the strenuous nature of the route and having holds randomly break off the wall.

“The Stonemasters” segment was a teaser about a documentary provisionally titled “Valley Uprising.” The segment recounted the counterculture climbing scene in Yosemite over the last 50 years, from a fabled drug plane crash in 1977 to escalating tensions between climbers and national park rangers. “The Stonemasters” featured vintage photos and video dating back to the 60s and highlighted many of climbing’s most iconic figures such as Royal Robbins and John Long.

The final segment was about two climbers, Ueli Steck and Simone Moro, who were attacked by a crowd of angry Sherpas while trying a cutting-edge new route up Mount Everest. Fearing for their lives, Steck and Moro escaped the mountain. While the duo did not complete the climb, this was the most controversial segment due to the nature of the subject. There have been escalating tensions between Western climbers and Sherpas since practically the beginning of climbing in the Himalayas and this time the crisis hit its peak. It was reported during the time of the incident that Sherpas actually threw rocks at Steck and Moro, demanding blood for what merely seemed to be a problem with communication between the climbing parties.