Peter Mortimer didn't want to take the oft-traveled high school P.E. trail. Jog a mile. Crank out pushups. Watch the coach throw out the balls. Go play basketball, volleyball or soccer.
Living in Boulder, Colo., Mortimer longed to interact with the landscape that earned the college town its name. He wanted to climb boulders.
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Reel Rock Film Tour
When 8:30 p.m. tomorrow
Where Town and Country Resort & Convention Center
What A collection of short films devoted to rock climbing, followed by a 60-minute feature, “The Sharp End.”
Cost Students, $7; general public, $10.
Web www.reelrocktour.com
San Diego climbing
Indoors Solid Rock Gym (Old Town, San Marcos, Poway) and Vertical Hold Climbing Center (Miramar)
Outdoors http://members.cox.net
/sandiegorock/index.html
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So Mortimer, 34, signed up for rock climbing all six semesters at Fairview High, then studied film at USC. Professionally, Mortimer melded his two passions, becoming a rock-climbing filmmaker.
Tomorrow night at the Town & Country Convention Center, Mortimer's latest work will be unveiled when the third annual Reel Rock Film Tour stops in San Diego.
The show consists of a collection of short films, which last about 50 minutes combined, an intermission, then the 60-minute feature film, “The Sharp End.”
“The Sharp End” was shot at eight locations, ranging from Bishop and Boulder, to Switzerland, Pakistan, the Czech Republic and Italy.
To quote Mortimer, who still lives in Boulder, the film features “people doing somewhat dangerous climbs with potential consequences. These are people who aren't compromising.”
The Czech footage sounds particularly gnarly. In the Czech Republic, climbing is more rugged and natural. Locals pass on chalk. Many climb bare-footed. Protective gear designed to prevent falls is limited.
A teaser clip shows climbers leaping from one rock tower to another, one adventurer coming up short and taking a plunge.
“There's some pretty good carnage in that section,” said Josh Lowell, a college classmate of Mortimer's and co-founder of the tour. “It's fun to watch. You're just glad it's not you.”
Rock climbing's lure is obvious. There's the thrill seeking. The problem solving. Being at one with nature. And the fitness component. Ever seen a flabby rock climber?
“They have some of the most incredible physiques,” said Lowell, 36, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y. “They're not huge, but they're really ripped. You see a rock climber with his T-shirt off and every muscle on their back, shoulders and arms are so defined.”
Kenna Quiroga is manager of Vertical Hold Climbing Center off Miramar Road. To Quiroga, part of the sport's allure is that unlike traditional sports, there is no scoreboard.
“When you're climbing, you're not consumed with winning. You're not consumed with being the best,” Quiroga said. “It's you and the rock. You're all alone there, totally zoned in. It's almost like a mental workout as opposed to physical. I know when I'm feeling anxiety and stress there's not room for that anxiety (when climbing). It's like yoga to me.”
To Lowell, rock climbing encompasses stepping outside your comfort zone and stretching the realm of possibility.
“It's the idea of attempting something that at first seems impossible,” he said. “Trying your hardest, figuring it out, failing many times, but eventually being successful and climbing something extremely difficult.”
One piece of “The Sharp End” captures Yosemite's Dean Potter becoming the first person to climb an overhanging route on the north face of Switzerland's Eiger mountain. Potter used no ropes during the one-hour climb.
“The mountain has mythical qualities,” Mortimer said. “There have been accidents and deaths there.”
When asked which he enjoys more, filming or scaling rocks, Mortimer at first sounded stumped.
“It's a back and forth (issue),” he said. “We put so much time and energy into these films that by the time we finish, all we want to do is just go climb.”
Part of the filming rush, he said, is taking viewers to stunning locations they otherwise wouldn't witness.
“Climbing is a sport that's so far away from the public's eye,” Mortimer said. “It's neat to capture up close and personal these amazing things people are doing and share it with an audience. I think people get inspired to go out, commune with nature and visit these beautiful areas.”
Accidents do happen on the artistic end. Lowell remembers a shoot off the Mediterranean Sea in Spain. Seems a still photographer didn't secure himself properly off a cliff. The rope gave way and the man tumbled 50 feet into the sea.
“He wasn't hurt too badly,” Lowell said.
Asked if the guy's camera survived, Lowell added, “I think he probably fared better than the gear.”
Don Norcross: (619) 293-1803; don.norcross@uniontrib.com
