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Comment by ethbro | Hacker News Reader

Plug for Valley Uprising (on Netflix) if you're interested in climbing. The progression of difficulty and (mostly friendly and supportive) competition between climbers is inspiring.

Amazing feat!

PS: Would be happy to take anyone else's recommendations for videos or books too.

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This is only relevant if you understand Ondra's native tongue (Czech), which is extremely unlikely :-) But for anyone who does speak Czech: this is a rather fun interview, especially if you don't know much about climbing.

https://video.aktualne.cz/dvtv/mam-lezecky-mozek-sedi-mi-div...

Extremely unlikely but possible :) Nice interview, thanks!

For English speakers I would recommend "La Dura Complete: The Hardest Rock Climb In The World" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1P97VVt6_k)

Seconded! Valley Uprising is worth watching (and available on Netflix in loads of countries, not just the US)

I just finished Alex Honnold's book (Alone on the Wall) and it's a fun read. Gives you a bit of backstory to the media frenzy that surrounds him at times.

In terms of videos, the Reel Rock film tour is amazing. They cover some really awesome climbs. And "Meru" is on Amazon Prime Video in a lot of countries (a short version was in Reel Rock one or two years ago).

Often Banff Mountain Film Festival has a good climbing film or two. The Caldwell/Honnold Fitz Traverse (for which they won Piolets d'Or) was in there this year. Strongly recommended- a really great story.

If you liked Valley Uprising, you should check out the documentary Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey, coming out in 2017 (http://dirtbagmovie.com/). Beckey was a pioneer of climbing all the way back to the 1940s -- and is still doing it today at 93. Saw him at Vertical World here in Seattle just a few months ago. Epic.

How do you like vertical world? I've been out of the sport for many years and my periodic attempts to return usually end with me going to a gym, realizing I won't be able to find an unoccupied wall for a few hours, and hanging up my shoes again. Are there places in Seattle I have a shot?

Vertical World is great -- two gyms, one at Interbay and the other in Redmond near Marymoor. It can get a bit crowded during peak hours, but the vibe is very friendly and welcoming. I also climb at Seattle Bouldering Project in the CD. It's a massive space with lots of room. Give it a try again!

"Touching the Void" is another great climbing/mountaineering book that is well worth the read. I have not seen the movie adaptation yet, so I cannot comment on its quality.

The movie is great too.

I must have watched the Painted Spider a thousand times when I first started climbing in the early 90s. It was so inspiring! http://www.chockstone.org/media/Review.asp?Action=Show&BookI...

tons of videos on youtube/vimeo of either him or chris sharma (king lines), then reel rock series.

edu marin from spain is also very good climber, I've found mostly shorter videos for all of these.

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