Best of Climbing Videos

Shorter than the average climber, Michaela defies expectations and fights hard to get first female ascent of The Golden Ticket (5.14c/8c+) at Red River Gorge, Kentucky, USA

A climbing adventure in Kenya with Alex Honnold & Cedar Wright

The highly skilled team of David Lama, Hansjörg Auer & Alex Blümel endeavour up the south-east ridge of Annapurna III (7,555m)

Year after year, CryptoChild continues to find more striking lines in the Hueco Mountains of Texas.

Despite it being a short and wet trip, Ryuichi Murai manages to make short work of some of Switzerland’s hardest boulders.

The queen of offwidth sends a particularly frightening first ascent in Utah, USA

Mason Earle adds his name to the short list of climbers who have bested the Cobra Crack (5.14b/8c)

Nina takes on Smith Rock’s masterpiece of technical climbing.

To Bolt Or Not To Be is an iconic 5.14a/8b+ sport climb known for its perfect vertical wall, small crimps, and the relentless focus that is required to climb it.

A short documentary celebrating Paul Ramsden and Nick Bullocks award winning climb of Nyanchen Tanglha (7,046m)

Big Wall Climbing in Yosemite with Jorg Verhoeven and Katha Saurwein

94 years old Marcel Remy once again ventures up the legendary Miroir de l'Argentine; he has climbed this 450m tall wall over 200 times.

Siebe Vanhee & Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll climb ground-up on an unclimbed line of the Tsaranoro Atsimo granite massif.

Toru has a most amazing attitude for his lofty goal to climb Lucid Dreaming V15/8c

Between the precarious footwork, tiny trad protection, and a wild street party below, there was a lot to test Barbara Zengerl's mental strength and concentration as she attempted to become the first woman to climb Prinzip Hoffnung. The name of the climb translates to “The Principle of Hope”, but in Zangerl's estimation "hope is not enough. In the end it comes down to gaining the self confidence, and the belief that you can do it."

This look at Dave McLeod working Chris Sharma's hardest boulder problem is everything a project video should be. McLeod's calm and soft spoken narration are a great contrast to the effort he put into the send. It's inspiring to know, after twenty-two years of climbing, the potential to surprise oneself can remain.

With most sport climbing footage being taken from one angle, and usually from the ground, it's not often we get so see the finer details of a climb. This video, on the other hand, expertly stitches together a variety of camera angles to provide us with a top quality look at what it takes for Tom O'Halloran to climb his newest project.

Through the filmmaker's lens offwidth climbing generally appears to be a horrid activity, and yet this video somehow manages to make 13 meters of upside down jamming look pretty fun.

A superb film that follows Leo Houlding and team up a massive unclimbed wall in Greenland. Throughout their ascent great attention was given to capturing the small details and emotions of big-wall life. The end product is a film which notably succeeds in yanking the viewer along for a bold mission into unknown terrain.

There was a lot working against Nina Caprez and Cédric Lachat as they attempted to climb Orbayu. There was the climbs namesake, a fog that would settle suddenly over the climb, leaving it dripping and obscured. There was the climb itself with it's crimpy 8c crux and intimidating exposure. But, for Nina especially, possibly the most difficult aspect to overcome was her own mental state.

Recently, the unclimbed Himalayan mountain Lunag Ri opened for climbing permits which caught the attention of alpinist David Lama. To realize his dream, he was joined by the legendary Conrad Anker to travel to Nepal and embark on what has proven to be nothing short of a monstrous challenge. This video documents their first attempt to climb the mountain.

As a dramatic continuation, the following year Lama and Anker returned for a second round of struggle on the same high granite ridge. Watch the video and read the story of their harrowing struggle on their second attempt.

Lena Herrmann is a driven climber, both competitively and outdoors, a trait that was instilled by her father, whose presence she still feels when she's projecting a hard route. In this video she makes history, becoming the first german woman to send 8c+, but in the final frames it becomes clear how much more personal this accomplishment was.

As you might imagine, we watch a lot of climbing videos. And while many are great, many are also formulaic. This quirky gem from James Pearson is anything but that. Follow James through the trials and tribulations of doing whatever it takes to climb La Bronx, including finding a guru and eating all the cheese.

Compared to most of our top ten picks, this video doesn't mark a momentous achievement in the sport, or feature an elite climber pushing their limits. But this very personal story of Colin Goodey returning to the place where he did his first climb, knowing it might be his last, reminds us why making the time to do the things we love really matters.

A tiny bouldering video of Alban Levier pulling off some crazy moves to send this exceptionally hard sandstone roof.

There is a dreamy, almost hypnotizing, quality to this video. With it's stunning scenic shots and tasteful use of go-pro footage, what comes through is less about the technical aspects of the climb and more the visceral feeling of being in the mountains.

The name really sums it up. This line is super cool—beautiful moves on tantalizing rock. Lee Cossey's mellow, laid-back narration is a great compliment to the footage of him pulling off wicked hard, gymnastic moves and making it all look rather easy.

This video is the epitome of adventure climbing. Tim Kemple finds some of Iceland’s most gorgeous, yet frightening glacial features, and sends world class ice climbers, Klemen Premrl and Rahel Schelb, up, across and even down into them all, capturing it brilliantly. This is what a badass journey across Iceland looks like.

The climbing footage is great, the lifestyle clips tasteful, and the cat with the bucket on its head is the icing on the cake. Next time you find yourself struggling on your project, just remember: You are the noodle.

Follow Jonathan Griffith and Will Sim in their attempt at a route up the northwest face of Mt Deborah in Alaska. The immensity and bareness of the landscape are breathtaking, and despite the trials and perils of the trip itself, not the mention the climb, the overall theme of the video was fun in the alpine.

What's better than being on a beautiful mediterranean island with your friends? How about finding a pocket of beautiful, untouched granite boulders? This video is short and sweet, capturing a couple of first ascents with perfect lighting and meticulous editing. It feels like a snapshot of the perfect climbing holiday.

Corey Rich's stunning footage alone would earn this video accolades. But there's more going on here than sweeping shots of 100 meter waterfalls and vast, multi-leveled sinkholes. As local climber Jad Khoury says, most often when we hear about Lebanon, it's about war, not the beauty of the landscape and the vast climbing potential, so it's a pleasure to share media that shines a different light on the country. Here, Jad takes the soft spoken David Lama to the Baarata area to put up Lebanon's first 9a. David's musings on the beauty he finds in climbing fresh lines is a wonderful addition to the footage of this magical place.

Emily Harrington had never done a big wall climb, so she decided to start with a bang by freeing a 35 pitch route with a 5.13 crux! The emotion in this video is immense. You can see how much heart Emily puts into making her dream of free climbing the route a reality. The physical discomfort (two and half hours on one offwidth pitch!), the mental toil, and the complete and utter exhaustion all become worth it the moment she tops out.

Cold, hard, scary and downright miserable—epic winter climbing at it's finest. Gorgeous aerial footage of Ben Nevis is cut with Nick Bullock and Tim Neill talking about a recent climbing trip in Scotland. This is a video about paradox. The paradox of toiling in misery and having a great time doing it, the paradox of wanting to succeed, but not wanting success to come too easily, and not least of all, and certainly most entertaining, the paradox of two very different personalities getting along so well under the worst possible conditions.

Raices, translated "Roots", is a four-part series following a group of climbers searching out new lines and old wisdom across the Andes mountains in South America. These films seamlessly weave together adventure climbing with the human and natural history of the land. The sincerity of these climbers in their respect for the mountains and the people who live there, reminds us of the depth of experience that is possible if our minds are open while we climb and travel.

Jorg Verhoeven made history in 2015 when he became one of just a handful of people to have made a free ascent of the Nose. This film expertly captures Jorg working through the notorious Great Roof and Changing Corners pitches, giving you a sense of the immense effort, both physical and mental, he put into pulling off this impressive feat of climbing.

The views of Yosemite in this video alone would have been nearly enough to make the top ten. Alex Honnold's thoughtful philosophy on soloing and grace on the rock are the icing on the cake.

We saw a lot of great bouldering videos this year, and in all that competition we knew something would have to really blow our minds to make the top ten. Deep Roots media did just that with this video from their Time in the Pines series. Not only is this one of the best examples of night session filming we’ve ever seen, a great beta piece, and some seriously badass climbing, it’s also got beautiful cinematography and flawless production. It’s the whole package.

This is what bouldering looks like at 240 frames per second. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes devastating, this unique and well produced video earns Louder Than Eleven a spot in the top ten for the third year in a row.

“Climbing has more to do with psyche than physical ability.” You may or may not agree with Bernd Arnold’s philosophy, but it's hard to argue with the experience behind it. He has completed over 980 first ascents in over 40 years of climbing, and while his unorthodox barefoot style is intriguing, it's his sober philosophy on the paradox of fear and joy in climbing that makes this short film stand out.

With it’s beautiful illustrations, poetic narration, and stunning images, this video immediately stuck out as a contender for a top spot in 2014. It’s part travel journal, part art piece, and part guidebook for anyone interested in climbing in Norway’s Lofoten Islands.

Klemen Becan’s enthusiasm for these climbs is contagious. This is a video that makes a person super stoked to get sending.

There was much discussion over whether this video, which truly only features a small amount of climbing, should make the top ten, but when it comes down to it, climbing is not just an activity, it’s a lifestyle. And we felt the adventurous journey Mandy and Brian (and their minister) undertook to be married at 11,000 feet was a beautiful articulation of what that lifestyle can look like.

Ever wonder how climbs get their names? The story of Augmentium’s origin might be one of the strangest we’ve heard. Between the stunning backdrop and the gorgeous rock, Augmentium is a climb that was begging to be climbed and filmed.

Take some of the world’s strongest climbers, one of the best bouldering locales in America, a pancake breakfast, and a giant bonfire and you’ve got the Heuco Rock Rodeo. This is one of the world's most renowned outdoor climbing competitions and Bearcam Media has done a great job of catching all the action.

This beautifully produced video weaves the story of Kris Erickson and Conrad Anker’s first ascent of an alternate line up Winterdance, together with the story of their expedition in Tibet which ended tragically in the deaths of two of their climbing companions. With these two very contrasting story lines we see how climbing can be at once so inspiring and life-giving, and also so precarious.

Not only does Paige Claassen make the climbing on this gorgeous 5.13d look easy but the editing and multiple angles of filming give a sense of how much work and determination went into this send.

There is something really enjoyable about watching this video. David Hertel and Kurt Ross’s laid back attitude and ability to roll with the punches through long travels, poor weather and illness on an excursion remind us of why we do this climbing thing in the first place: because it’s fun!

Sasha Digiulian has been making a name for herself as one of the best female sport climbers in America, if not the world. This video chronicles her trip to Spain as she attempts to push her climbing to the next level and to gain some inspiration and mentoring from Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra.

Free soloing may be the most controversial aspect of rock climbing and with good reason, we have lost some of the world’s most accomplished climbers due to a single misstep while soloing. In this simple but powerful video, John Long tells the story of the climb that came close to being his last. Set against a background of old photos of the Stonemasters Long’s words don’t glorify soloing, rather they illuminate the risks that are being taken each time a climber, no matter how solid, choses to ascend without a rope.

Producers Joshua and Alex Lavigne have done a great job of setting the tone of isolation, remoteness and beauty of the area surrounding Mt. Asgard. This is the story of the first ascent of a bold new route but it’s also a very personal story for climber Jon Walsh who found the heaviness of life descend around him all at once.

Louder Than 11 shows us how entertaining competition coverage can be, with footage from the star-studded Portland Boulder Rally. Highlights from the finals are fast paced enough to keep your attention but still give lots of credit to each climb and each climber. A fun and inspiring video to get you stoked to hit your local gym.

Have you ever spent hours scrolling around on satellite maps looking for anything that resembles rock? Do you keep you eyes peeled at all times when driving on back roads, dreaming of finding an undiscovered cliff or boulder field? Mélissa Le Nevé and Benjamin Rueck show just how well the desire to find and develop new areas can pay off in this inspiring video documenting their trip to Malawi.

The National Parks Foundation and Camp 4 Collective teamed up to make this stunning video of Jenn Fleming climbing at Devil’s Tower. The scenery is beautiful and the footage is spectacular. The video is also a promotion for America’s national parks and it’s great to see them making such high quality videos with great filmmakers for this campaign.

This well-made feature length documentary is snapshot of the scene of sport and boulder development happening right now in Lander Wyoming. But it’s also a history lesson in American sport climbing, a story of the time, effort and determination that go into new area development and a look at how each generation inspires and influences the next.

This short but sweet video has it all: good music, a touch of Jason Kehl eccentricity, beautiful rock and great climbing.

Say what you will about strength to weight ratio and the benefit of little hands for crimping but no matter how you look at it Ashima Shiraishi is a force to be reckoned with. Jason Kehl’s distinctive directoral style and dramatic flair tell the story of Ashima’s return to Heuco with her mentor Obe Carrion to attempt to climb V13, an impressive feat for anyone but truly remarkable considering Ashima is only 11 years old! After watching this video it’s hard to say which is more inspiring, Ashima’s incredible physical abilities or her unwavering positivity.

This short uses skilled cinematography and editing to capture Will Stanhope’s seemingly risky accent of the Zombie Roof crack in Squamish, Canada. However it goes further than the usual shallow treatment of solo climbing, and instead provides us with the context that led to Stanhope’s decision to climb this roof without a rope.

Chris Sharma’s mature and dedicated contribution to the climbing community is well known. In this video we are given a close look at one such contribution as he talks us though his process for unlocking and bolting a new hard route on this storied limestone cliff in France.

This video is a meditation on projecting. With its beautiful cimeatography, toned-down music and total absence of dialogue we are brought into the focused mind state that a project can inspire. The video spans multiple attempts and shows the climb in great detail so we really get a sense of the effort and dedication that went into this send.

Squamish pioneer Hamish Fraser describes the bold process that was used to establish the multipitch slab route Genius Loci. Tales of run out bolting are overlaid with stunning footage of Jason Kruk climbing the route.

Louder than Eleven and Andrew Tower did a great job with this video. From subtle to over-the-top there are for sure a few in there that any climber has heard or said at some point. There’s something so funny in poking fun at ourselves.

In 2011 Steph Davis set out to climb and then base jump from four towers in the Moab desert, her favorite place on earth. Interspersed with footage of the climbs and jumps Steph talks about her 20 years of climbing from many different angles, the uncertainty of leaving behind formal education to become a professional climber, the joys of sharing your passion with your partner and the risks and rewards of free soloing.

Nick Bullock and Andy Houseman have done an remarkably good job at capturing their accent of his rarely traveled line up the 3000m South Face of Denali. Using only simple hand-held digital cameras, the two filmed one another to give us a rare look at the committing nature of a small team alpine-style accent. The video ends off with a fittingly epic top-out after 4 days of effort up ice, rock and snow.

Joe Möhle nabs the first accent of this bolted project at The Hole in Cape Town. After completing the route he decided to do it again, but this time completely on gear. This exciting video documents his second accent of this challengingly overhung route. Möhle's confident and bold climbing is inspiring.

Ever wonder what it would be like to stumble upon a giant field of untouched boulders? Abyss is a 45 minute film that documents this experience; in the summer of 2012 a handful climbers from Colorado were lucky enough to find and start development at a huge boulder field high in the Rocky Mountain alpine. Top quality footage of many first accents are nicely intermixed throughout the film to take the edge off an introspective discussion on new area development ethics.