Human Weakness & Perseverance - by Chris Weidner
REEL ROCK 19 — Colorado-produced film tour features humanity, forgiveness in the climbing world
By Chris Weidner
Published Thursday, May 1, 2025 in the Boulder Daily Camera
Swiss climber Didier Berthod showed up at Indian Creek, Utah, in 2005, completely unheard of in American climbing circles. “The Creek” is widely considered the crack climbing mecca of the world, so it was no surprise to see another scrappy, mid-20s, European vagabond arrive to test himself. Because the sandstone cracks are so pure — there are few, if any, proper handholds — most climbers endure a prolonged apprenticeship as they struggle with the unnatural technique of jamming fingers and toes, hands and fists into a crack.
Berthod (pronounced “bear toe”), with his calm, earnest eyes and wild hair, was different. Much to the chagrin of the local van-dwellers, many of whom had committed themselves to months in the desert, often with little success, Berthod began sending the hardest cracks in just a few tries.
After plowing through these, he discovered an unclimbed, overhanging finger crack that appeared to be next-level. He zeroed in, and soon made the first ascent of Indian Creek’s most difficult climb — a route he called, “From Switzerland With Love” (5.13+).
Later the same year, after pioneering another extreme crack back home, he returned to North America with an even bigger goal in mind: a futuristic line in Squamish, British Columbia, known as Cobra Crack. It would undoubtedly become the world’s hardest crack climb — if he could do it.
Thus begins Berthod’s journey as showcased in the 2006 film, “First Ascent,” as part of the first ever REEL ROCK film tour, put together by Colorado College buddies Pete Mortimer, Josh Lowell and Nick Rosen.
Now, 19 years later — and still based in Boulder with the original creative trio — REEL ROCK 19 is an exponentially more polished and popular production, with dozens of live shows worldwide. This year’s three-film lineup includes “The Cobra and the Heart,” a full-length feature that hearkens back to REEL ROCK 1 as it starts where Berthod left off back in 2005, facing his nemesis: Cobra Crack.
But this face-off turns out to be peripheral to the far more poignant narratives in this complicated, heart-wrenching yet hopeful odyssey that follows Berthod through life events so dramatic they’re almost unbelievable.
“For a lot of years now our team has been trying to make films that feel both deeply rooted in the sport and culture of climbing, but that also try to transcend the narrow idea of the sport of climbing,” said Rosen. “There is so much interesting human drama playing out — human weakness and human perseverance.”
Indeed, as Berthod’s story unravels in “The Cobra and the Heart,” we see Berthod, himself, unravel as he navigates injuries, relationships, radical Christianity, extreme isolation, regret and ultimately, his own mistakes and how they’ve hurt the people he loves most.
The humility, forgiveness and redemption in “The Cobra and the Heart” are echoed in a shorter but no less important film titled “Death of Villains,” which traces a circuitous arc of antagonism and later, friendship, between well-known American climbers Kai Lightner and Joe Kinder. One powerful thread that ties these stories together is the choice people have — as individuals and as a community — to either perpetuate anger, shame and negativity when someone does wrong, or to offer them a second chance, a hand of forgiveness, a positive way forward.
“All the films are about people trying to repair and trying to become better versions of themselves,” Mortimer told me. “I hope what you see is that people grow and change and take ownership of their mistakes.”
I chose to write about REEL ROCK 19 because, with the two films I’ve mentioned in particular, it’s less about climbing than it is about humanity — a sometimes tricky balance for a wide-ranging audience, and one for which I often strive in this column.
This year Mortimer, Lowell, Rosen and all the folks at Sender Films really nailed it. I attended the world premier on March 1, which took place in a completely packed Macky Auditorium.
Now, these films are instantly available online.
“We are complex people. We do bad things, we do good things,” mused Rosen.
“As Kai says in ‘Death of Villains,’ we shouldn’t be defined by our worst mistake. We’re defined by the complexity of who we are.”
REEL ROCK 19 can be streamed instantly by visiting reelrocktour.com.
• One week rental: $20
• Lifetime purchase: $35
• All 19 years of REEL ROCK films, annual subscription: $99
Contact Chris Weidner at cweidner8@gmail.com
Follow him on Instagram @christopherweidner and X @cweidner8
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