In the last week or so, I’ve come across two things that have fed my hunger for adventure at a time when the only ‘thrill’ in my life is income production for the next exploit. For one, I saw that a local independent theater was playing the new-ish documentary MERU, a gripping mountain-climbing film that also features three appealing climbers. One of them, Jimmy Chin, is also a celebrated photographer and filmmaker and, lucky for us, he attended the opening screening here in Chicago and spoke with the audience afterward about his roles as climber, director, and producer of MERU.
From the merufilm.com website, here is part of the introduction to whet your appetite:
“In the high-stakes game of big-wall climbing, the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru may be the ultimate prize. Sitting at the headwaters of the sacred Ganges River in Northern India, the Shark’s Fin has seen more failed attempts by elite climbing teams over the past 30 years than any other ascent in the Himalayas.
… To undertake Meru, says Jon Krakauer, the bestselling author of Into Thin Air, “You can’t just be a good ice climber. You can’t just be good at altitude. You can’t just be a good rock climber. It’s defeated so many good climbers and maybe will defeat everybody for all time. Meru isn’t Everest. On Everest you can hire Sherpas to take most of the risks. This is a whole different kind of climbing.”
In October 2008, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk arrived in India to tackle Meru. What was meant to be a seven-day trip with the equivalent amount of food became a 20-day odyssey in sub-zero temperatures, thanks to the setback of a massive storm that showered the mountain with at least 10 feet of snow. Like everyone before them, their journey was not a successful one. … By September 2011, Anker had convinced his two lifelong friends to undertake the Shark’s Fin once more, under even more extraordinary circumstances than the first time around.
MERU is the story of that journey—one of friendship, sacrifice, hope and obsession.”
MERU won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and it’s easy to see why. The film succeeds as both an adventure film and as a story of personal struggle for the three men. The website link above lists theaters across the U.S where the film is opening through mid-October if you, too, need a jolt of adventure but can’t leave your home or armchair right now!
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The climbing in MERU is light years beyond what I have ever done or could ever hope to do. But a day after watching the film and wishing I were 20 years younger and 10 times braver, I came across a National Geographic list of the World’s Best Hikes: Thrilling Trails, and (ever-so-slightly) puffed out my chest at the discovery that I had done two of them. (Yes, I agree in advance with many of you who would argue for more/other/different treks than those on this list; there are lists for everything these days, but this is as good a start as any for this post!)
One of them, Huayna Picchu in Peru (see my post on that hike here), really was terrifying, but the other – the Kakum Canopy Walk in Ghana – did not faze me at all.
Precipitous paths do induce fear in me, but creaky swinging bridges high over ravines do not. I guess we all have our personal fear factors. Hiking near a smoking volcano – not a problem. The via ferrata treks – lots of fun / add them to the list! Clinging to those splintered old wood platforms with giant gaps in them on Mount Huashan in China – never, ever going to happen for me!
These 20 hikes have various scare quotients, from tight squeezes in narrow tunnels to dizzying heights to extreme temperatures. Some of them sound quite exciting to me and will be added to my travel wish list, a few of them are things I would not do for a million dollars, and two of them are hikes I have already done.
How many of these 20 Thrilling Trails have you trekked? I’d love to hear your take on them or any other adrenaline-producing ones you’ve done!
- Besseggen Ridge, Norway
- El Caminito de Rey, Spain
- Leukerbad Via Ferrata, Switzerland
- Devil’s Path, New York, USA
- Stromboli, Italy
- Aonach Eagach Ridge, Scotland
- Huntington Ravine, New Hampshire, USA
- Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea
- Dry Fork Coyote Gulch, Utah, USA
- Black Hole of White Canyon, Utah, USA
- Granite Peak, Montana, USA
- Búri Cave, Iceland
- Crypt Lake Trail, Alberta, Canada
- Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala
- Huayna Picchu, Peru
- Mount Huashan, China
- Lion’s Head, South Africa
- Kakum Canopy Walk, Ghana
- Low’s Peak Via Ferrata, Malaysia
- Chadar Trek, India
graydaysandcoffee said:
just looking at those photos made my legs feel weak!
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lexklein said:
I felt true anxiety as I watched parts of the Meru movie! The sheer verticality of some of the climbing was panic-inducing, even from a movie theater chair! And that Chinese mountain walk has always completely freaked me out! (But like an accident scene, it keeps making me look at it.)
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Hoarder Comes Clean said:
I’m amazed – especially at what doesn’t faze you. The closest I’ve ever come to any was a “creaky swinging bridge high over a ravine” in Taiwan that wasn’t even that high, but just felt like it at the time. I hadn’t seen that movie yet, had been considering it but now I wonder if I’m brave enough even to sit through it!
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lexklein said:
Oh, you have to still see the movie! You can close your eyes and shiver on a couple of the steep parts, but it’s not like crossing a creaky bridge yourself!
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Alison and Don said:
Yeah, most of them not gonna happen for me, though I did hike the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu back in the 1980’s when it was still hard core – starting by crossing a ravine on a flying fox, following a hand drawn map, having to carry all your own stuff for 5 days plus extra water at one point. That China one appeals to me but I doubt I’ll ever do it. And there’s no doubt at all about Don!
Alison
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lexklein said:
The people on the Huashan walkway always look so casual; they’re in regular clothes and flip flops half the time, smiling and making peace signs, and I just don’t get it! I feel like I’ve done a few scary things, but that just looks like a place where I’d freeze and not ever be able to continue. You go, girl … and post photos!
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Aryan said:
Errrrrrrr, heights, can you not? 🙂
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lexklein said:
Heights, temperatures, depths, darkness … there’s always something to frighten some of us!
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Aryan said:
Exactly! 🙂 Great photos!
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lisadorenfest said:
I am totally impressed that you have done two of the twenty hikes. I am more of a sea level person myself but I am kind of intrigued given the beautiful photographs from your hikes. Heading to Papau, New Guinea next sailing season if everything goes to plan, so who knows. But given my fear of heights, may not happen. Perhaps I will just do a section :-). Love Jimmy Chin (who doesn’t) and think you are so lucky to have seen him in Chicago. That movie looks amazing.
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lexklein said:
Oh, I’d love to go to Papua New Guinea! Not just for hiking, but to see the land and people in general. I don’t know where one finds documentary films while floating around from port to port in your part of the world, but do see the movie if you ever can!
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LaVagabonde said:
“income production for the next exploit”…that made me laugh. Ain’t it the truth.
Congrats on doing two of these. I’ve done none. I get a high from the physical exertion of hiking, but hanging over a precipice is not my idea of fun.
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lexklein said:
In general, I am quite satisfied with mere hiking – haha! I just happened to find myself in those scary situations; I did not actively seek them out!
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badfish said:
I would try some of these hikes, but I do have a fear of falling from heights. Must be a past-life thing? I’m not afraid to cross the bridge, just get flutters when I look down. But that rock in China…that’s scary. I arrived at Huayna Picchu five minutes after they closed the entrance for the day. I don’t get rock climbing. That’s just stupid. I like playing in nature, but not competing with Mother Nature…she always wins.
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lexklein said:
Strangely, I love heights in general for the views, but I don’t love precarious heights. That’s why the walkway in China freaks me out!
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badfish said:
Well, duh! Who loves precarious. Although I guess rock climbers seem to love it. And I love heights, too. Just not being on the edge of them.
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snowsomewhere said:
Yikes! I’m a bit scared of heights (but I love flying and admiring panorama views from the safety of a skyscraper)… I’ve done none of those treks unfortunately. But a canopy walk would be amazing, a real dream.
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lexklein said:
I think the best canopy walk we’ve done was in Costa Rica. We walked and/or zipped from platform to platform and even had 2-3 rappels in there. I was not at all frightened for myself, but I hated watching my young children clip in and out of their safety harnesses on some of the platforms hundreds of feet above the ground.
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snowsomewhere said:
Ziplining might be a bit too scary for me, once again 😦 But I’ll remember that next time we go somewhere with rainforest!
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Kendra S said:
I hve done none of them 😦 but I will be doing Huyana Picchu next spring!
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lexklein said:
Oh, you will love it! Are you going to hike into Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail? One of my favorite hikes ever.
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Kendra S said:
Yep. Doung a combi trek of Salkantay and MP! Very excited!
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estelea said:
Waou, you are a serious hiker. I could hardly look at the pictures, especially the one in China, my stomach was already feeling bad.. I am not even sure I can watch the movie:P Will definitely have to share your fascinating post with hubby, his Swiss heart will be so happy!
Will be waiting by the beach 🙂
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lexklein said:
Oh, you could watch the movie! Just get a tropical drink at the beach before going into the theater! 🙂 And you can tell Mr. Swiss that one of my favorite hikes ever was the Tour du Mont Blanc which passed through his dear country, France, and Italy.
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estelea said:
Et voilà, the hike is now on our list .. Not sure I have to thank you yet, will tell you early next year !…
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Tina Schell said:
Great post Lex – am forwarding to my niece who, along with her husband, is a great climber and I’m sure will love the movie!
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Tina Schell said:
PS. Turns out my niece’s husband went to college with one of the climbers, who also dated a good friend of his. 6 degrees of separation once again!
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lexklein said:
I love those degrees-of-separation stories! Was it Carleton College and Jimmy Chin? In another connection, a man stood up at our movie showing to ask a question of Jimmy Chin, and at the end of the question (about the role of spirituality in climbing), Chin announced to the audience that he hadn’t seen the questioner since a religion class at Carleton years before! In any case, I hope your niece can find the movie somewhere and see it; it’s really fantastic.
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