Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Here to Climb’ on Max, a Documentary Look At The Life and Career of Rock Climber Sasha DiGiulian

Sasha DiGiulian might not be a household name, but in the world of professional climbing, she’s a rock star. Her career–full of daring first female ascents–is the focus of Here to Climb, a new feature-length documentary on Max. We follow her rise from child prodigy to one of the sport’s biggest female stars, and see the struggles she’s encountered on her way to the top.

HERE TO CLIMB: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Sasha DiGiulian’s made a major name for herself in the world of competitive climbing, pursuing dangerous and daring ascents and setting many firsts for a female climber. Here to Climb finds her in the prime of her career, but tracks how she got there — rising from a climbing-gym child prodigy to the peak of the sport — and sees her grappling with how to make the most of her best climbing years. She faces bullying, doubt, injuries, and struggles with self-worth, and faces down the ever-present dangers of the sport. A number of fellow top climbers join her here, including Free Solo star Alex Honnold and veteran Lynn Hill.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s got some of the same flavor as well-known climbing documentaries like Free Solo or Meru, but it’s got its own personal style.

Performance Worth Watching: DiGiulian is the center of the story here, of course, but important context is given by the presence of some of her fellow climbers. This includes veteran climber Lynn Hill, who helped blaze a trail for female climbers like DiGiulian. There’s also DiGiulian’s contemporary Angela Vanwiemeersch, who keeps the risks of the sport at the center of her thinking after her partner died on an expedition.

Memorable Dialogue: “I love to climb hard, and I also love to wear pink,” DiGiulain explains in preface to recounting her experiences with cyberbullying. “I love to be outside, but I also love to stay in a five-star hotel. Being true to myself and not having to dampen my shine is maybe why I cause friction. But I’m human, so I’m always going to be affected by negative comments.”

Sex and Skin: Other than a brief clip recounting a campaign DiGiulian did with lingerie brand Agent Provocateur — which itself is quite mild — there’s nothing sexual here.

Our Take: The best parts of Here to Climb are quiet and slow.

That’s a compliment; there’s a temptation when making an extreme-sport documentary to oversell the subject matter, to fluff things up with heavy scoring and crazy tricks of photography and manufactured drama. That sort of thing is unnecessary when you’re dealing with a sport as dramatic as rock climbing, and it’s a relief to see filmmakers let the real drama do the work for itself. Long, slow, quiet shots of Sasha DiGiulian clinging to a sheer rock face aren’t boring–they’re both meditative and riveting.

That’s not to say that there’s not plenty of noise around DiGiulian, though.

Top athletes face constant criticism, and top female athletes even more so. DiGiulian’s climbing career has seen her set multiple first female ascents of difficult routes, but it’s also seen her face cyberbullying for her appearance, public questioning of her motivations and public image, and a sense that nothing she can do will be good enough as a high-profile woman in a male-dominated sphere. She’s just passed 30 years old, but after multiple surgeries and a great deal of pain, it’s clear that DiGiulian feels the specter of time ticking away as she seeks to make the most of her prime years.

Ultimately, Here to Climb isn’t a movie about a single big climb in the way a movie like Free Solo was. Sure, there are big climbs in it — both successful and failed — but the core of the story is about DiGiulian’s internal conflict at this critical point in her career. This keeps the story intensely human — it’s surprisingly easy to identify with DiGiulian even if you’re not someone who’s ever laid hands on a climbing wall — but it does leave the story feeling a bit driftless at times. The film culminates in a challenging climb of a major rock face in Mexico, but it doesn’t quite play as the triumphant climax that it could; in the end, it’s a moment that feels like it could use a little bit more drama.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Here to Climb is a solid, well-crafted documentary on a top climber, but it might struggle to hold the interest of non-climbers for a full 80 minute runtime.

Scott Hines, publisher of the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter, is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky.