100 Adventure Films to Stream for Free, Part IV

Still going crazy under lockdown? In our fourth installment of this popular streaming series, we have collected another 100 films, both classic and contemporary, with subjects ranging from bouldering to backpacking, Himalayan summits to arctic dogsledding. There’s something for everyone on this list.

1. Tom in Memoriam: The award-winning documentary on the late, prodigious alpinist Tom Ballard.

2. Cool Conversation: Fourteen-time Everest summiter Kenton Cool has turned talk-show host. In this episode, he chats with 8,000m-speedster Nirmal “Nims” Purja.

3. Operation Ice Bridge: Witness stunning aerial footage of the polar regions, courtesy of NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge.

4. Asgard Awaits: Artist Cory Trepanier embarks on a 100km hiking journey for two weeks in the dramatic landscapes of Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island.

5. I Was Born There: Powerfully illustrates the experience of visiting the Torngat Mountains National park in Canada and explores the cultural significance of this special place.

6. The Black Fly Song: A classic animated tribute Canada’s National Film Board to the black fly, whose small size belies its massive presence in the north.

7. Kluane: Another film from artist Cory Trepanier, this time about his month-long visit to Kluane National Park in the Yukon.

8. HMS Erebus: Parks Canada’s underwater archaeologists explore the 1858 wreck of Sir John Franklin’s ship, the HMS Erebus.

9. 50 days: A two-month wildlife expedition to Ellesmere Island chasing an old dream of photographing the white arctic wolf.

10. Summit of K2: An in-depth video account of mountaineering chronicler Alan Arnette’s 2014 summit of K2.

Summit of K2. Photo: Alan Arnette

 

11. Land and Sea: This Newfoundland-produced TV series is a treasure trove of old footage on wild Labrador. In this episode, caribou hunting on the norrth coast.

12. The High One: Beijing-based filmmakers Brendan Madden and Dave Kellogg meet longtime friend and climber Paco Monedero from Spain and set out to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

13. Shoshala: Climber Elie Chevieux discovered a wonderful wall in the Indian region of Kinnaur. She decided to return to the cliff and establish a new route with Yannick Boissenot and Giovanni Quirici.

14. Evolution: Anna Stohr started climbing at the age of six and quickly started to compete with the Austrian national team, notching up impressive performances at international events. Now her success continues with alpinism on big walls.

15. Choices: Portrait of exceptional climber Steph Davis, who approaches her life as she approaches her climbing — willing to compromise as necessary and as uncompromisingly as possible.

16. Supported: Tim Mosedale, a guide on Everest, lost three Sherpa friends when the earthquake struck. Tim set about raising money to help the families of his dead companions, and draws attention to how most high altitude mountaineers rely on their Sherpa crew.

17. The Pathan: An unexplored range in a remote valley of Pakistan, an unclimbed big wall, and a solid team of Belgian, French, and Argentinian climbers ready to combine exploration, music and humor.

18. Dodo’s Delight: Onboard the Dodo’s Delight, exuberant goofballs Nicolas Favresse, Olivier Favresse, Ben Ditto and Sean Villanueva do battle with arctic ice, polar bears and ferocious storms, in search of unclimbed big walls and musical enlightenment.

19. Arctic Dreams: In 2012, four very excited South Africans and one grumpy Scottish sea dog set sail for the adventure of their lives. After crossing the Atlantic from Scotland, the team did several big wall climbs on the west coast of Greenland and north coast of Baffin Island.

20. Ama Dablam – Beyond The Void: A documentary about British climber Simon Yates’ expedition to climb a 6,856m peak in the Himalaya.

Ama Dablam – Beyond The Void

 

21.The Bachar-Yerian: A short film about two climbers attempting to onsight the “Bachar-Yerian” route in America. The “B&Y” is one of the best rock climbs in the world but its reputation keeps most mortals away.

22. K2: Triumph and Tragedy: Chris Bonington and Jim Curran trace the history of K2 expeditions from 1903 to 1986.

23. In Isolation: Charlie Boscoe and Mike Langley and UKC’s Natalie Berry interview the one and only Adam Ondra. Focusing on competitions, they discuss learning the trade as a junior, transitioning to senior events and qualifying for the Olympic Games.

24. Out There: The story of Belgian ultrarunner Karel Sabbe, who holds world records on two of the most epic trails in the world: the 4,279km Pacific Crest Trail and the 3,500km Appalachian Trail.

25. Rampage: In 1999, the 18-year-old climbing phenom Chris Sharma roamed the American West with Obe Carrion in a beat-up old RV, visiting the best emerging bouldering areas and establishing hundreds of new routes.

26. Operation Everest: 50 years after the first Indian climbed Mount Everest, 30 soldiers in the Indian Army decide to climb the highest peak in the world. However, their plans go awry after a series of devastating earthquakes hit Nepal on April 25, 2015.

27. Angola: Alex Honnold is the most accomplished free climber in the world. Angola is a southwest African country that recently emerged from 27 years of bloody civil war. What brings together these strange bedfellows, you ask?

28. The Crazy Mountains: Jeremy Jones, Robyn Van Gyn and Mark Carter ventured deep into Montana’s Crazy Mountains on a multi-day, foot-powered snowboarding expedition. This new short film takes a deeper look at the mission that was originally showcased in 2018’s film Far Out.

29. Free Range – The Costains: Explores a father-and-son relationship forged in the mountains of Montana. Experience Parkin Costain’s journey to professional skiing and what it means to raise children in the outdoors.

30. Stone’s Throw: These days, Dash Longe’s “real” job might be in real estate, but he still knows how to throw down on skis. This short film showcases how his Salt Lake City home –- and the nearby Wasatch Mountains –- continue to fuel his soulful inventiveness.

Stone’s Throw. Photo: Chris Bezamat

 

31. Ushba: Samuel Anthamatten, Markus Eder and Leo Slemett head to Svaneti Georgia to climb Ushba and make a first descent on skis. This mystical 4,710m mountain in the Caucasus is very remote and must be accessed on foot.

32. Run For The Arctic: Pau Capell took on his most ambitious project yet, running 250km through the Arctic to raise awareness of climate change.

33. The Invisible Wall: U.S. ultrarunner Mike Foote, Mexican ultrarrunner Mauricio Carvajal and Mexican-American ultrarunner Mario Mendoza Jr. highlight how running unites communities across the globe.

34. Climbing The Nose: In 2014, Jorg Verhoeven spent 30 days in the Yosemite Valley, California with one goal: a free ascent of The Nose (5.14), on El Capitan, one of the world’s most famous climbs.

35. Gasherbrum II: First winter ascent by Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards.

36. Gramicci: Brad Gobright climbs hard trad in Indian Creek, Utah.

37. Sacred Lands: A team of boulderers visit Indian Creek, Utah.

38. Time Dilation: Footage from an expedition to the Arrigetch Peaks in the Brooks Range of Alaska. The team experienced the two-week wilderness trip as one long day, as the sun never set.

39. Gates Of The Arctic: Mt. Doonerak is an impressive and intimidating peak nestled within the far reaches of the Brookes Range, Alaska. Join as polar adventurer  Geoff Wilson and his son Kitale venture  above the arctic circle to climb this looming mountain.

40. The Only Blasphemy: Long’s gripping tale of a big free solo day with John Bachar in Joshua Tree in the late 1970s, narrated by Long himself.

The Only Blasphemy

 

41. Impulse: Young climber Kit Wilson tackles a notorious trad route after just 12 short months of climbing. A refreshing honest portrait of a young adventurer’s somewhat exponential progression.

42.The Nate Draughn Redemption Story: Chronicles one climber’s journey through life’s highs and lows. From an early start in climbing to losing control of everything at the hands of drugs, one thing has remained true the whole way through: a love for the sport.

43. Climbing Cerro Torre: Imagine climbing to the top of the sharp tooth that is Cerro Torre, and then be back on flat ground in a matter of minutes. Seems too good to be true for most of us with Patagonia dreams. But that’s exactly how it was for Fabian Buhl.

44. The Life Of Sachi Amma: This documentary about the world-class Japanese climber tackles deep and timeless question, Who am I?, and shows how Sachi carved his path to that answer.

45. Jacopo Larcher’s “Rise”: To climber Jacopo Larcher, northern Italy’s Tribe represents not only his longest and most demanding project to date, but a six-year evolution from trad newcomer to one of the most versatile and accomplished climbers in the world.

46. James Pearson’s Le Bronx: In search of the ultimate trad route, the La Sportiva ambassador James Pearson tries to become a real French climber in order to face Le Bronx, the 8c+ route freed by Francois Petit in 1994.

47. No Country For Old Bolts: Nina Caprez and Cédric Lachat discover Rocher Crespin, a sport crag in the south of France. The exchange of beta and shenanigans reminds us that climbers love to distract themselves from pain by complaining.

48. War And Poetry: A three-day ascent of War and Poetry (VI 5.12c), on the South West face of Ulamertorsuaq, in Greenland.

49. Looking Out: Philippa Arding has suffered two life-threatening accidents in the last 11 years. Left with a permanent limp and a brain injury, she has defied the odds and gone on to overcome many obstacles.

50. Daughters of the Dark: Women cavers reveal the challenges, joys, camaraderie and unique experiences that they have discovered in the dark underground world.

Daughters of the Dark

 

51. Testing Ourselves: Is it possible to climb an 8,000m mountain in two weeks? What sort of acclimatization is necessary and how does it affect the body? These are the questions Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg were asking themselves.

52. Bus Run Bus: Does time slow down when we speed up? Rickey chases down a crazy idea to connect 25 strangers with a giant green bus and a 3,000km trail running journey across the Western United States. What could go wrong?

53. Naylors Run: A documentary on legendary English fell runner Joss Naylor.

54. Dreams of Mountains: Is it possible to be a mountain runner when you live in the heart of one of Britain’s flattest cities? After five years of struggling to stay within the fringes of the sport, Ed isn’t sure. Maybe it’s time to pack it in.

55. Outliers: Exploring the emergence of a new style of alpinism. Jordi Tosas shares valuable insights while Michel Lanne tries to balance this approach and his life in mountain rescue.

56. Across the Labrador Wild by Canoe: One of a series of films about Justin Barbour’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to paddle and portage east to west across Labrador and northern Quebec in 2018. ExWeb covered his journey.

57. We’ve All Got A Screw Loose: Nine strangers travel to Huaraz, Peru to face the biggest challenge of their lives, 6,000m Mt. Tocllaraju.

58. The Highest latitude: Ten weeks of sailing the limits toward the North Pole via northern Norway.

59. Changing Course: Clare Gallagher was headed toward medical school, until she realized that the path everyone else wanted her to take wouldn’t make her happy. So she took one step back, and 1,000km forward in a new direction.

60. Fighting For First: Sixty-seven mushers race 1,600km across Alaska by dogsled. Three men quickly jump to the lead. They battle injuries, fatigue, exhaustion — and each other.

Fighting for First

 

61. Fast As Spirits: Twenty-six teams departed Fairbanks, Alaska in February 2018 for the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race. They face the wilderness, summits and frozen rivers in unpredictable weather, all with their final destination of Whitehorse, Yukon in their minds.

62.Two Years Alone: One man leaves the city life behind to build a cheap off-grid log cabin and homestead in the Canadian wilderness. This wordless film shows clearly that to do this good a job, you mainly have to love woodworking.

63. 3 Days Bushcraft: Another no-talkie involving primitive bushcraft with a traditional Russian canvas tent and a wool blanket. Cooking over the fire and making bone arrowheads. Woodworking and carving with hand tools.

64. 300 Days Alone: To tame a wild pig or build a shelter, Xavier Rosset, a Swiss Robinson Crusoe, spent almost 10 months on Tofua, an island in the Pacific Ocean, with a machete and a Swiss army knife as his only tools.

65. Alone In The Canadian Wilderness: Seven days alone in the wilderness of British Columbia.

66. Alone in the Wild – Yukon Canada: Ed Wardle follows his boyhood dream of surviving alone in the wild. The extreme photographer is dropped down in northern Canada by an amphibious aircraft to start his solo adventure. In part one, Ed adapts to being alone and catches and kill a porcupine.

67. Kamchatka: In the far-flung reaches of Siberian Russia, there’s a place unlike any other on earth. A place nine times zones from Moscow, that’s so far east, it’s almost west. A place called Kamchatka.

68. Climbing Elbrus: Julia Lyubova, who’s on a mission to climb the Seven Summits, shares every aspect of the trek, from life at base camp to the grueling summit push.

69. Circumpolar: Ramón Larramendi’s Circumpolar Mapfre Expedition, between the years 1990 and 1993 is one of the longest non-motorized polar crossings ever made. Similar to Knud Rasmussen’s Fifth Thule Expedition, but without the ethnography, Larramendi traveled a total of 14,000km over three years, crossing the entire Arctic from southern Greenland to Alaska, through the Northwest Passage.

70. Everest – The 10%: Mount Everest –- an icon of human exploration and adventure –- is mostly the arena of men. Just over 10 percent of all Everest summiters are women — fewer if you include the Sherpas. This is the story of one woman’s adventure to the top of the world.

Everest: The 10%

 

71.The Everest Adventure: Six very different women, who’d never met before, set out to climb the height of Everest in the English Lake District – 8,848m in five days. They wanted to prove that adventure was for everyone but started to doubt themselves when things didn’t go to plan.

72. Jumpscare: Fear of falling is something every climber comes across; the feeling that cuts into your gut and leaves you weak. One woman tells the story of her fight with fear of heights and why she still never stopped loving the rocks.

73.Three Women and the Three Old Men: Three women’s journey to climb three of Scotland’s remote sea stacks in just three days.

74. Be Alive – “The Frenchy”: The story of 82-year old French snow/ski racer and mountain biker Jacques Houot, an age-defying athlete and an incorrigible flirt. Houot has survived some two dozen close calls with death, including avalanches, cancer, car accidents, a heart attack, drowning and even attempted murder.

75. Ice and Palms: Jochen Mesle and Max Kroneck start their biggest and most extraordinary ski tour so far. The mission: Bikepacking across the Alps and skiing some iconic mountains along the way.

76. The Last Hill: Searching for an honest adventure right out their backdoor, a group of skiers and snowboarders travel south from Reno, Nevada. They train their sights on Mt. Whitney and the endless backcountry ski terrain along the way.

77. Patagonia Promise: Details one man’s pilgrimage to South America to honor his lover’s dying wish, and the roots of his passion for B.A.S.E. jumping.

78. Wild Coast: In 2018, two paddlers spent 10 days canoeing the most remote coast in the Great Lakes — 220km of undeveloped, wilderness shoreline.

79. We Belong To It: Explores the visual beauty of the boreal forest of Wabakimi Provincial Park in northern Ontario, but also delves into Ray Mears’ reflections on nature and his skills in bushcraft.

80. North to the Pole: A National Geographic documentary on the 1986 Steger International Polar Expedition, an unsupported dogsled expedition to the North Pole.

North To The Pole

 

81. Artists On Jorasses: Julien Désécures and Sébastien Bohin set off to repeat the Couzy-Desmaison route.

82.The Last Husky: An archive film on the final journey of Antarctica’s sledge dogs.

83. Amundsen-Scott Tour: A handheld camera tour of the famous station at the South Pole.

84. West Antarctic Ice Sheet: A handheld camera tour of most of the facilities at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp, Antarctica.

85. North to the Cascades: A nine-day solo backpacking trip in Washington State’s North Cascades.

86. Algonquin Provincial Park: Amateur adventurers canoe camp and do bushcraft in Ontario.

87. Backpacking Sawtooth: A backpacking trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains in 2018.

88. China Doll: A provocative exploration of gender stereotypes, romance and rock climbing. Heather Weidner battles personal demons in the world of hard traditional climbing.

89. The Important Places: Explores the connection between father and son, and the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

90. The Last Ice Merchant: For over 50 years, Baltazar Ushca has harvested the glacial ice of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo.

The Last Ice Merchant

 

91. The Coast: In the midst of facing mortality, Hayden Peters changed his life, trading the bustle of the city for saltwater, a surfboard and a sea kayak.

92. Road to 100: The South Ram River, near the small town of Nordegg, Alberta, stands out to a select group of kayakers because of a beautiful series of waterfalls spread throughout its canyon walls. For years, paddlers have visited the South Ram River to run the Class 5 canyon. Others enjoy the view safely from the riverbanks.

93. The River’s Call: Always on the hunt for stout whitewater in remote reaches, a group of French kayakers is known for asking Why. Why are we out here? What are we doing here?

94. Rivering: A feature-length documentary on whitewater paddling, shot over three years in New Zealand.

95. Berner Oberland Trilogy: A group of Danish alpine climbers visit the Swiss Alps to tick off the Berner Oberland trifecta of Jungfrau, Mönch and the Eiger.

96. Nose in 8: An action-cam view of two climbers speeding up the Nose on El Cap in a very respectable eight hours.

97. Mt Papsura: Papsura, the peak of evil, is a formidable peak in East Tosh Glacier of Indian Himalaya. Due to its long and dangerous approach, it has rarely been attempted in the past few decades. The duo of Bharat Bhushan and Prerna Dangi set out to climb a new route on the peak in alpine style.

98. Possessed: Step into the mind of Jimmy Webb, as he spends a year on the road, traversing the continental U.S. in search of untouched stone. Features numerous first ascents in some of the most beautiful and remote climbing areas in Wyoming, Lake Tahoe and Nevada.

99. Degrees North: World-renowned freeriders Xavier de le Rue, Samuel Anthamatten and Ralph Backstrom undertake a two-year adventure to fulfill a hare-brained scheme to access big mountain lines without using helicopters…or their feet!

100. Punch Through It: In 2018, then 12-year-old Kai Jones teamed up with his father Todd and his uncle Steve to ski a classic big-mountain line: the Skillet Glacier on Mt. Moran.

Punch Through It

 

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