Here to Climb

I loved his movie. Sasha followed her unique path to the top of her very unlikely choice of careers. A six year old urban girl who fell in love with rock climbing at her brother's birthday party, and despite all the naysayers has proven time and again that she will reach her goal.

Neither extreme on-line bullying nor double hip surgery; the loss of her father, nor the incredible odds of climbing some of the hardest climbs in the world stopped this powerhouse of a role model.

By thirty years old Sasha has an overall world championship; numerous first ascents and even more first female ascents under her belt.

She used her climbing earnings to pay for her Columbia University education and has also published her first novel - a biography called "Take the Lead".

It's ain't The Alpinist, that's for sure; which pains me to say, because he was also a challenging subject to watch. There is definitely an air of sexism throughout this film, both from her journey and the way they tell her story, but unfortunately, she's just not a likable athlete. I wanted so much more for a female climber, but both the pacing and the content cemented her as a surface level personality. She seems to be trying to prove herself throughout, but she never once pauses to actually connect with the audience, her team, or her environment. I love adventure documentaries, (I've truly seen them all) for the energy of the experience, but she doesn't seem to actual enjoy the sport? And there isn't much actual footage of her climbing. By the end, the only thing this movie displays is the work her team puts in before she ever arrives at the scene. Very disappointing.

It was very much a I'm the first female to do xyz, which is fine, but it would have been nice to see her doing so seriously challenging stuff with other females and something solo to really show off her style. I really wanted to watch her climbing style not just snippets of poses of look at me. It just kept going like an Instagram reel of no substance.

There were so many comments striped out of social media put up on the screen as a filler, which was really annoying. I honestly don't care what random comments are made by random teens around the world.

There were some really good special appearances from known climbers, but Sasha is so much about her her her she doesn't give those who laid the ground work enough airtime.

All in all definitely a self appreciation piece of trash to miss. I'd love to see a documentary on Lynn Hill and her story.

For me, this had all the elements that made it an enjoyable watch.

Likable characters, good cinematography, and effective editing.

If you are looking for the world's best technical skills, this is not that movie. But for a casual rock climbing enthusiast like me, I enjoyed it because it allowed me to relate to the sport more deeply.

I didn't mind all the personal drama and stories about the inner life of Sasha.

I wish there had been some more details about things like, what was the cause of her requiring extensive hip surgeries. I would have also like to have known more about the place in Mexico where the final dramatic climb took place.

I really loved this film for a number of reasons. I enjoyed the variety of themes, the climbing shots, and the way they tied it all together through the theme of working through adversity.

Sasha has been a role model for climbers for years, but she catches more flack than any other women climber out there. She is constantly plunged into the media, and drama seems to love to follow her around. It was really cool to see her side of all the climbing drama we've read about over the years.

Seeing behind the scenes of an athlete working through a career altering injury was really inspiring.

I really enjoyed this film, and I hope other female climbers found this as inspiring as I did.