Seen, Read, and Heard
- Details
This article originally published in the September 2010 issue of Adventure Insider Magazine.
Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins are both well known in the climbing and conservation communities as is their 1968 journey to Patagonia. Both call the journey the best trip of their lives -- one that inspired not only the conservation mission of their personal lives but also served as inspiration for their companies. Yvon went on to found the clothing company Patagonia and Doug founded The North Face. 180° South follows filmmaker Jeff Johnson’s own trip to Patagonia inspired by Yvon and Doug’s 1968 journey. Jeff makes his way south via boat from Seattle, WA to Patagonia. As Yvon said in the movie “true adventure begins as soon as something goes wrong” and Jeff truly has himself an adventure. Jeff finally makes it to Patagonia where he meets up with Yvon and Doug. Jeff fails in his bid to climb Mt. Corcovado, the ultimate goal of his journey, due to the lack of ice and poor quality of the rock. It’s obvious, however, that Jeff has found more than he was looking for in his journey. The only critique of the movie comes in the form of a warning: be careful not to stay awake at night and dream of your expeditions and then call work and quit in the morning. This movie will make you want to do just that. -- Erick Pound www.180south.com
I had an extra few minutes today, so I was able to finish watching the final episode of The Season. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a web series produced by Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall that follows five adventurers throughout their individual ‘seasons’. You can find all 22 episodes online or on iTunes. When I first saw the trailer of the The Season last year, I was intrigued. We’ve all seen the hardcore ski movies, climbing movies, and countless other adventure films. And although those types of movies certainly are wonderful (raise your hand if you eagerly anticipate the annual Warren Miller movie), they seem to blend together at times. They all feature great music, world class videography, and amazing athletes. The scale of those films is what throws me off though. The adventures portrayed don’t seem obtainable for a ‘regular’ person. The aspect of The Season that I found so great is just that...these adventures seem attainable. I appreciate that Smith & Cahall covered real people who love their sport and this brings a level of reality to the series. Every story they followed includes some issue that we all have to deal with from time to time: injuries, family life, jobs, and weddings just to name a few. Even though I’m not a world class snowboarder, extreme kayaker, or mountain bike racer – I could identify with the struggles each of these athletes had to deal with. My two favorite aspects of the series had to be the music and the videography. The producers did a great job at matching the music to each athlete’s personality, activity, and mood. Smith & Cahall were able to partner with some great artists to lay down a soundtrack that’s truly inspiring. The videography in this series is nothing short of spectacular. The producers were able to get shots of the athletes in their natural surroundings that capture the moment in a way you don’t often see. Some of my favorites included following a mountain biker through the woods and capturing kayakers battling unforgiving currents. The only thing I didn’t love about The Season was the narration. At times the words seemed forced, almost as if it wasn’t clear which words needed the most emphasis, so they were all stressed equally. Still, the story was told and the producers were able to get the point across. In the end it’s a very small part of the entire experience and doesn’t take away from the inspiration. I’m excited to see what these two great producers come up with next. Hopefully The Season has provided them a means to expand their production capability so we’ll see more great movies soon. The inspiration these two have provided me (and countless others) is out of this world! -- Shane Williams www.theseasontv.com
Seen: 180° South
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Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins are both well known in the climbing and conservation communities as is their 1968 journey to Patagonia. Both call the journey the best trip of their lives -- one that inspired not only the conservation mission of their personal lives but also served as inspiration for their companies. Yvon went on to found the clothing company Patagonia and Doug founded The North Face. 180° South follows filmmaker Jeff Johnson’s own trip to Patagonia inspired by Yvon and Doug’s 1968 journey. Jeff makes his way south via boat from Seattle, WA to Patagonia. As Yvon said in the movie “true adventure begins as soon as something goes wrong” and Jeff truly has himself an adventure. Jeff finally makes it to Patagonia where he meets up with Yvon and Doug. Jeff fails in his bid to climb Mt. Corcovado, the ultimate goal of his journey, due to the lack of ice and poor quality of the rock. It’s obvious, however, that Jeff has found more than he was looking for in his journey. The only critique of the movie comes in the form of a warning: be careful not to stay awake at night and dream of your expeditions and then call work and quit in the morning. This movie will make you want to do just that. -- Erick Pound www.180south.com
Seen: The Season
I had an extra few minutes today, so I was able to finish watching the final episode of The Season. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a web series produced by Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall that follows five adventurers throughout their individual ‘seasons’. You can find all 22 episodes online or on iTunes. When I first saw the trailer of the The Season last year, I was intrigued. We’ve all seen the hardcore ski movies, climbing movies, and countless other adventure films. And although those types of movies certainly are wonderful (raise your hand if you eagerly anticipate the annual Warren Miller movie), they seem to blend together at times. They all feature great music, world class videography, and amazing athletes. The scale of those films is what throws me off though. The adventures portrayed don’t seem obtainable for a ‘regular’ person. The aspect of The Season that I found so great is just that...these adventures seem attainable. I appreciate that Smith & Cahall covered real people who love their sport and this brings a level of reality to the series. Every story they followed includes some issue that we all have to deal with from time to time: injuries, family life, jobs, and weddings just to name a few. Even though I’m not a world class snowboarder, extreme kayaker, or mountain bike racer – I could identify with the struggles each of these athletes had to deal with. My two favorite aspects of the series had to be the music and the videography. The producers did a great job at matching the music to each athlete’s personality, activity, and mood. Smith & Cahall were able to partner with some great artists to lay down a soundtrack that’s truly inspiring. The videography in this series is nothing short of spectacular. The producers were able to get shots of the athletes in their natural surroundings that capture the moment in a way you don’t often see. Some of my favorites included following a mountain biker through the woods and capturing kayakers battling unforgiving currents. The only thing I didn’t love about The Season was the narration. At times the words seemed forced, almost as if it wasn’t clear which words needed the most emphasis, so they were all stressed equally. Still, the story was told and the producers were able to get the point across. In the end it’s a very small part of the entire experience and doesn’t take away from the inspiration. I’m excited to see what these two great producers come up with next. Hopefully The Season has provided them a means to expand their production capability so we’ll see more great movies soon. The inspiration these two have provided me (and countless others) is out of this world! -- Shane Williams www.theseasontv.com