A price winning classical mountain film by Kurt Diemberger. Authentic film work on a mountain at its best.
In 1958 the top mountaineer Kurt Diemberger dared a double adventure: to undertake the biggest ridge traverse in the Alps, and at the same time, capture this expedition on film. Even today, the traverse of the entire Peuterey Ridge on the Mont Blanc is a true challenge for every mountaineer. Eight kilometres of climbing which cannot be done in one day. At those times, no one could foresee the outcome of such an adventure. Even Hermann Buhl and Gaston Rebuffat had already tried this traverse before Diemberger, without success. Every time the weather had changed. The “integral Peuterey Ridge” has only been climbed successfully twice, including the south ridge of the Aiguille Noire. Together with Franz Lindner, Kurt Diemberger succeeded in traversing the integral Peuterey Ridge within five days.
“Will the spectator understand the characteristic of the route, up across the ridge, up and down, across pillars and summits, and, above all, did we succeed in capturing the spirit with which this trail was mastered? With 450 metres of film, 8 km of climbing, five days, the bivouacs, the miracle of being up there, above the world and out of time?”, Diemberger asked himself after having finished the film.