Film
Blocheads
About
Running time
59 minutes
Country / Nationality
United Kingdom
Tags
Our Judges say:
History of the UK bouldering. Spot your next challenge in the Peaks.Ed Birch Director of Salt-Street productions
Intrigued by bouldering? Take a visual tour through the history of the sport with this insightful and amusing film.Zena Toscani
A world away from the Dawn Wall... the British history of fiddling with small bits of rock.Claire Carter Writer, Film Officer for Kendal Mountain Festival, 'Creative Consultant'.
An all action cinematic spectacular, revelling in the UK’s golden age of bouldering.
Never before have there been so many indoor walls; so many climbers obsessed with training; so many beasts of superhuman strength. That talent is not going to waste. We follow the fearsomely strong Blocheads as they quest for new lines and push the limits of human ability. It’s a story of adventure, rocky passions and mutant fingers. It’s the story of a search for bouldering gold.
There’s history too – we delve into bouldering’s murky past. Once it was just a bit of fun outside the climbing hut. Now it’s ‘a thing’. From the first recorded bouldering in the 19th century, through to the rise of bouldering as a sport, something happened while the traditional climbers weren’t watching. There has been a movement in the force.
We tell the story of the UK’s first outdoor boulder comp, an up-yours to the establishment organised by 70’s developer Jerry Peel. We learn about the Godfather John Gill, and how he influenced a young Jerry Moffatt, the first of a new wave of rockstars who helped shape the modern world of bouldering.
Blocheads includes numerous first ascents, off-the-scale gnarly moves and hair-raising highballs. Sumptuous production. Historical garnish. Anarchy. Daft bits. Awesome bits. Watch it.
The super-star lineup includes: Dan Varian, Ned Feehally, Jerry Moffat, Michaela Tracy, Alex Waterhouse and many more.
Blocheads takes us on a tour around some of the UK's finest bouldering venues. There are classic locations in the South-West, the Lakes, North Wales, Scotland, The Peak District, Yorkshire and the North-East. And there’s a look at some of the country's newest areas with Murlough Bay at Fairhead in Northern Ireland.
Produced and filmed by Alastair Lee