2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon

This past weekend Nelson and I had the pleasure of documenting the 2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon. For the three-day shoot, we hired on cinematographers Chris Alstrin and Scott Neel. A three camera team was essential to covering the massive scope of the events, which brought thousands of runners from around the globe to the small town of Manitou Springs, CO.



As I guessed beforehand, runners are insane. I saw one of the top finishers of the Ascent promptly faceplant into talus after crossing the finish line. He was then almost carried to one of the vans waiting to shuttle runners back down to Manitou. But, after turning in times just over two hours (for 13 miles and 8,000 vertical feet of gain) it was hard to find the humor in the situation.

Seriously. These athletes are pretty bad-ass.



Not too unlike these handsome gentlemen, ignoring normal traffic laws.




And you may be wondering what Chuck has been up to these days? Well, from what I can tell he's gone native.



Cheers!

Steph

iCLIMB

Check out the new Chuck Fryberger short Altitude Sickness at iCLIMB.

Featuring Daniel Woods on an exploration of high altitude alpine bouldering in Colorado, Altitude Sickness includes two of Daniel's recent FA's, The Great War For Civilization and Evil Backwards, and a flash of Unshackled. Guest appearances by Dave Graham, Jon Cardwell, Jon Gass, and Jimmy Webb.

Stream it for free or purchase a higher resolution version for just $.99. You can also download feature-length climbing films at iCLIMB, including CFF's own CORE and PURE. Download now at www.iclimb.com

Yes, We Are Still Alive

Chuck is busy. So busy that his last blog post was on June 10th. And now I can reluctantly add professional blogger to my job description. But, this has been in the plans for a while now. Our company is expanding, and as such the blog will be run a little differently from now on. First of all, this is no longer the Chuck Show. You can now expect posts from myself, Chuck (mostly about geeky things like camera equipment), and our newest member, second camera and loyal pack-mule, Nelson Carayannis.

Welcome to the team Nelson!



Have a beer.


For those of you concerned with the real business. Here is the quick and dirty update: First, Planet Snowkite. This Friday, Chuck is leaving for Argentina, to the southern-most point in South America, and the city of Ushuaia. There he and a team from Planet Snowkite will film a television series revolving around this emerging sport that uses an assistive kite to help the athletes perform massive aerials. Far-removed from the relatively slow sport of climbing, this job will test Chuck's capabilities to move fast and capture a much broader scope of movement.




While he's away, Nelson and I will be documenting this year's annual Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon. Personally, I'm very excited to be behind the camera for this suffer-fest. Both the Ascent and the Marathon begin in Manitou Springs, and cover the 13.2 miles and almost 8,000 ft of vertical gain to the summit. Then the marathoners have the daunting task of a return trip. Recently I have been begrudgingly suffering through the Lincoln Lake hike, which is only about 700 vertical feet, of walking, so I can only assume a shared mental illness amongst the participants.



Once Chuck returns, we will begin full pre-production on Song of the Untouchable. Travel to India is notoriously difficult, and I envision that we won't exactly look like your typical vacationers when our motley crew arrives with full camera equipment in tow. The fall will be packed with visa applications, travel carnets, and jumping through government hoops. Psyched!

And finally, after a very positive trip to the SLC trade show, it looks like we have the support of our sponsors to begin production on another climbing documentary. I suspect filming to start shortly after Chuck returns from the southern hemisphere, possibly only to return......

Sincerely,
Stephanie