EOFT 08/09

Dean Potter is one of the most famous climbers in the world. He likes to walk off the beaten track. He has always been looking for new challenges as his long list of First Ascent proves impressively.

Now he is breaking new ground again. In Hell Roaring Canyon near Moab, Utah, 275 meters above the ground Potter has established the new sport of Baselining – a combination between B.A.S.E.-Jumping and Highlining. He is barefoot and dressed in jeans and T-shirt when he is about to cross the distance of 55 meters with only a parachute to safe him from a deadly fall. If he becomes unbalanced he must pull the rip cord within two seconds to land safely on the ground. 100% pure adrenalin.

Crossing the Alps on foot? Eight stages, almost 300 kilometers, 15.910 meters of altitude - the Transalpine Run is definitely a challenge. Amongst 482 runner from all over the world is also Neil from England who takes part in the race for the fourth time. For Martina and Elisabeth from South Tirol the run is nearly a home game. Their home town Sexten marks the finishing line of Transalpine Run.

Both women and even Neil just wanted to be present in the race. But Stefan, an ambitious and trained runner wants to compete - and be the first. And then Transalpine Run turns all expectations upside down. Stefan struggles with the limits of his body and Martina and Elisabeth race against two Canadian women for the win.

In fall 2007 the two Munich-based extreme alpinists Benedikt Böhm and Sebastian Haag took off to Nepal to climb Manaslu (8,163 m). Accompanied by the French junior alpinist Nicolas Bonnet, they wanted to reach the eighth highest peak of the planet at top speed and ski down again - right through the death zone. But the weather conditions were very bad. In basecamp everybody had to stay calm, waiting for the perfect day to start. The climbers made several attempts and had already set up some higher camps on the mountain. But then an avalanche came down, destroying the camp - the entire expedition was on the brink of collapse. Fortunately the forecasters gave them the green light again. So Beni, Basti and Nicolas set out to try their luck again immediately. 200 meters below summit they had to make a difficult decision.

Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt are up to an extraordinary road trip. They want to drive the whole Pan-American Highway without a drop of diesel or gas. About 48.000 kilometers lie between their starting point and their goal - from coast of Alaska to the most southern part of Chile. This road trip leads them through the luscious jungle and over high mountain passes.

It seems like a crazy idea but Seth and Tyler have an ingenious plan. They equip an old japanese fire truck with a multi-fuel engine, a motor which can burn almost everything: bio diesel, vegetable oil and old frying fat. Hoping that there will be enough kind donators of oil during their trip they set out on their eco-friendly panamerican adventure.

Mathias Roten (1979 - 2008) liked to play with gravity. He took to speedflying like a duck to water. His way of flying was faster and more flexible than normal paragliding. At Dune du Pyla on the French atlantic shore, he found perfect speedflying conditions. Non-stop up winds allow fantastic flights. Mathias was whirling through the air, showing his tricks at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Sometimes he was flying so low that he and his speedglider even touched ground. Together with the Spaniard Raul Rodriguez Mathias showed some stunning flying manoeuvres in Berner Oberland, Switzerland.

Mathias Roten died in a speedflying accident on March 7th, 2008.

Mountain biking is a full-time job – and a special way of life. Seasons follows seven of the world’s top mountain bikers through the course of four seasons of a year. This film explores what it means to be a full-time rider by looking at the lives of downhill racers, slopestyle competitors and big mountain freeriders. A life involving lots of training but also lots of fun: take Cam McCaul for instance. He takes spectacular pool jumps to a new level when he trains for slopestyle competitions in his backyard pool...

After this film you will feel like going biking again!

More speed, more fun, more snow. Seven Sunny Days presents the most spectacular freeskiers of the season descending mountain sides and showing their best tricks in the park. All in all a cool combination: wonderful slow motion shots and never seen point of views. After this film you will get hooked on snow!

The Rio Baker in Chile and "Pongour Falls" in Vietnam are a kayakers paradise. The rapids on the majestic turquoise-blue Rio Baker are stunning. It's Chile’s largest river in terms of volume of water. And "Thac Bay Thang", literally meaning "Seven Level Fall", with its 40 meters height of fall guarantees lots of thrilling moment for kayakers.

On their kayak world tour Rush Sturges and his team made a stop at these amazing locations. The result is an exciting mixture of whitewater-action and a bit of melancholy: In Vietnam "Pongour Falls" will run out in the next couple of months because of an upstream hydropower plant, just like Rio Baker in Chile will be dammed. Yet another reason to enjoy these "Last Descents".

This film shows one of the last alpine challenges. The climbers want to conquer an up to now un-climbed staircase in a totally normal office building. The highest landing is an absolutely unspectacular goal – nonetheless the alpinists take the challenge very seriously. The ascent is painful and tough but the climbers work are constantly working on the highest level from one landing to the next.

A tongue-in-cheek persiflage on all those serious mountaineering films.