Cerro Torre - Nicht den Hauch einer Chance (Cerro Torre: A Snowball’s Chance in Hell)
Austria/U.K./U.S.A./Argentina 2013

Opening 13 Mar 2014

Directed by: Thomas Dirnhofer
Writing credits:

Cerro Torre – 3,133 meters high (10,278 feet) – is the highest of a four mountain chain in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Argentina and like no other on earth. Archival footage tells us about Cesare Maestri’s acclaimed climb in 1959 with Toni Egger, and Maestri’s subsequent climb in 1970. “You will not climb the Cerro Torre free,” cautions Jim Bridwell, an American nicknamed “crazy genius of rock climbing.” Over the years other climbers challenged the ascent, however we focus on Austrian alpinist David Lama. David began climbing when very young – his Sherpa father is a Himalayan guide; competition climbing by fifteen, he is the youngest to win numerous world cups, earning the moniker “Spiderman.” Turning to mountaineering, after failed attempts David inimitably conquers Cerro Torre in 2012.

What makes this film spectacularly interesting is Thomas Dirnhofer, Lincoln Else, Günther Göberl, Franz Hinterbrandner, Christian Mitterbauer, and aerial cinematographer Peter Thompson’s camerawork. The climbers’ helmet cameras give us dizzyingly, breathtaking and scary perspectives. Director Dirnhofer certainly had his work cut out pulling this together; Red Bull Media House sponsored. Thomas Kohler should have edited more wisely; the story is too long and muddled in the telling. Michael Kadelbach’s music enhances. The predominately German dialogue with English, Italian, and Spanish has German subtitles. Still, if a journey to heights you have only imagined is on your agenda, this adventure is worth seeing. These climbers are a breed unto themselves – borderline crazy – in a very macho environment. (Marinell Haegelin)