2025 is almost upon us, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to file back through our Friday Night Video series, and share some of our favourites from across the year - in no particular order...
Cancel your plans, this lot are worth staying in for.
Ground Up on El Niño, El Capitan
In an era where many climbers are using fixed ropes and sport-climbing tactics to free El Cap, climbers like Amity Warme and Brent Barghahn are choosing to keep adventure alive. Going ground up, Amity and Brent pull off a free ascent of the Pineapple Express variation of El Niño (5.13b/c) over eight days, battling variable conditions, friable rock, and - for Amity - a serious finger injury.
This documentary captures the tenacity, grit, and performance mindset required to go ground up on a free ascent of El Capitan.
War and Peace - A Craig Dorys Epic
Originally graded E5, War and Peace - an epic sixteen-pitch traverse across Craig Dorys on loose and friable rock - was first climbed by Pat Littlejohn and Steve Sustad in 1997 over two-and-a-half days, with twenty hours of climbing time.
The Llŷn Peninsula guidebook quotes Pat, saying: 'It would go well in two days with a bivvy, a one-day ascent would be very impressive, as it's the sort of ground you can't rush'.
Twenty-four years later in 2021, seasoned Dorys climbers, Nick Bullock and Mick Lovatt, took on the challenge of attempting to make the second ascent. Paul Diffley and Ray Wood followed their progress. This documentary is as much a character study, highlighting the depth of a strong climbing team, as it is a record of the climb itself.
Jirishanca: Josh Wharton & Vince Anderson Climb a New Route in Peru
Josh Wharton is the most accomplished alpinist you've never heard of. But while he's been quietly crushing ambitious objectives to little or no fanfare, fatherhood, and warming weather have begun to reshape the world he knew. When Wharton and his climbing partner Vince Anderson attempt to take the 2003 Italian route to the summit of Jirishanca in Peru, they're forced to account for risk as never before.
Climbing on the Edge of the World - Britain's Most Remote Sea Cliffs
This film follows Robbie Phillips and Will Birkett to the Outer Hebrides and out into the Atlantic on the wild and windswept Scottish archipelago of St Kilda.
Setting their sights on making the first ascent of a staggering, 200-meter overhanging sea cliff that had never been climbed, their journey didn't end there... In the spirit of the island's original inhabitants, they retrace their steps to climb an ancient sea stack - a treacherous pinnacle once scaled for survival to hunt seabirds, untouched by climbers for over 130 years.
With breathtaking landscapes, raw adventure, and the stories of those who came before, this is a journey into the heart of St Kilda's untamed beauty, where history and climbing intersect in one of the most daring expeditions of Robbie's career.
The Traditionalist
This three-part series follows Jacopo Larcher as he attempts to tick some of the hardest, and most notorious, trad lines in the world. Featuring single-pitch Yosemite testpieces, dangerous routes in the Peak District, and first ascents in Europe, this series is sure to tickle your trad tastebuds.
Amity Warme climbs Book of Hate 5.13d
First climbed by Randy Leavitt in 1999, the forty-five metre route follows a gradually steeping corner, requiring delicate and strenuous stemming, as well as a couple of pumpy gear placements after the bolts run out.
One of the hardest corner climbs in Yosemite, Amity's attempt on Book of Hate - which she later found out had led to a fully ruptured A2 pulley in her middle finger - features equal parts calm and collected climbing, panic and terror, and pure relief, what's not to like?
Solo Winter Attempt of Cerro Torre
A film that showcases the analytical approach and detailed planning required to make solo attempts of such magnitude, the physical and psychological toll of spending days alone in the freezing mountains, and the inevitability of unexpected complications along the way.
Climbing Giants
This film takes us all the way to Costa Rica, where Noah Kane takes us up some spectacular climbs - not on rock faces, but in trees. Through the magical adventures of climbing strangler fig trees in the lush mountains of Costa Rica, young climbers find love and purpose for protecting the endangered biodiversity of the cloud forest.
Although this film does address the scientific impacts of climate change in Costa Rica through interviews with pioneering canopy researchers, this film focuses on hopeful emotional aspects in an attempt to author the coming generation's relationship with the climate crisis.
Le Toit de Ben - Quebec 1958
This film whisks us away to Val-David, Quebec, in the Autumn of 1958. Two daring young climbers embark on the ascent of a route that seemed unattainable, resembling a roof suspended in the air, defying all the conventions of the time. It only takes one attempt for the lead climber to leave his mark: henceforth known as 'Le Toit de Ben'.
Spots of Time 9A/V17 - Aidan Roberts Climbing Britain's Hardest Boulder
This film follows Aidan Roberts as he attempts to make the first ascent of Britain's hardest boulder to date, Spots of Time (f9A).
Having worked his way through the majority of the high-end boulders that he knew about in the Lakes, Aidan found himself drawn further afield by his desire to seek out ambitious projects.
This film shows that, whilst there are beautiful boulders in Chironico and Lappnor, there might be something just as special right around the corner. Just a stone's throw from Aidan's own front door, Spots of Time would go on to represent not only one of Aidan's 'proudest moments', but 'a new level of difficulty' in UK bouldering.
In Sequence: Katie Lamb and the Craft of Hard Bouldering
This film follows Katie Lamb across the course of an incredible year of bouldering, within which she became the first woman to climb a V16/8C+ boulder, with her ascent of Box Therapy.
Produced and directed by Eric Bissell, and edited by David Fitzgerald, 'In Sequence' documents both the time that came before this ascent, as well as the aftermath, and how the subsequent grade debates tainted what had initially felt like the crowning achievement of Katie's climbing career to date.
Featuring interviews with Beth Rodden, Keenan Takahashi, and - most crucially - Katie's Mum, the film explores the reasons why we boulder, how those reasons can get lost, and where they can be found again.
Some UKC bonus videos!
We'd be lying if we said that some of our favourite videos of the year weren't the ones that we'd had the experience of going out and filming ourselves!
Here are a selection of some of the videos we've made throughout 2024, for when you've exhausted the list above, or for when you're looking for footage of inspiring routes and boulders that are a little bit more attainable...
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