A new documentary about a solo mountain climber has been thrilling viewers since it was released, but others have warned that anyone planning to watch had better prepare themselves for a true test of their emotions. You can check out the trailer below.
It’s called The Alpinist and it tells the story of Marc-André Leclerc, a Canadian climber and alpinist – hence the name – who became well-known for his solo ascents of dangerous peaks around the world, often in winter.
You’ll notice that we’ve had to use the past tense there, because Leclerc sadly died on a climb in Alaska back in 2018, aged only 25.
Born in 1992, Marc got into climbing as a young child, and taught himself to climb mountains after his family moved near to the Cascade Peaks in British Columbia.
As his interest grew, he started to become involved with local clubs and started winning age-group competitions.
Marc started to make waves in the mountaineering world through his treacherous ascents of mountains on his own.
He made an ascent of the hardest route of Argentina’s Cerro Torre in 2015, before climbing another Patagonian peak called the Tomahawk/Exocet Link Up later that same year.
He was only the second person ever to solo climb that particular peak.
However, in 2018 he was climbing the north face of the Mendenhall Towers north of Juneau, Alaska with his climbing partner, but didn’t make it back to the base camp by the date expected.
A search mission failed to find them initially and had to stop looking due to bad weather.
After the storm passed, they spotted ropes at the bottom of the climbers’ expected descent route, which suggests that they were killed by an avalanche or falling rocks.
Their bodies were never found.
The documentary is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
It features footage of absolutely terrifying climbs and overhangs and won’t be for anyone who suffers with vertigo.
It also tells the story of a man who wasn’t overly interested in having his story told, and who simply wanted to free climb mountains for his own satisfaction.
Many who have seen it have said that it’s a must-watch.
One person said: “Don’t know who needs to hear this, but watch The Alpinist. Just do it. Do it now. This is important.”
Another wrote: “The Alpinist.. still on my mind the next day, one of the best documentaries Iver [sic] ever watched! What a climber”
A third said: “The Alpinist is such a tense, strange and beautifully made documentary. Marc-Andre Leclerc is an absolute genius wild man.”
Topics: Netflix, World News, TV and Film, Sport
Tom Wood