Review of Meru (2015) by Soul R — 22 Dec 2016

This is the story of the first successful hike up Meru Peak in the Himalayas, a brutal and treacherous ascent, and also the backstories of the three hikers, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk. Chin also co-directed and was the main cinematographer, and captures some stunning shots.

What's fascinating is the tragedy in these men's lives, and I don't mean the trio's first unsuccessful bid up Meru that ended just 100 meters short. Anker's mentor died on a climb, and later his best friend died in an avalanche that hit them both.

Ozturk went off a cliff while shooting mountain skiers at Jackson Hole, fracturing his skull and nearly dying. Chin miraculously survived a monster avalanche in the same place four days later. All of these stories are shown in retrospectives, and are just as compelling as the final attempt up Meru's infamous 'Shark's Fin' route.

The film captures the mentality of the hikers, why they're so driven, their mentorship of younger hikers, and the ultimate trust they must have in each other. It seems like a crazy thing to do, but they're quite intelligent about measuring risk, extremely skilled at climbing, and stoically persevere despite extreme cold and very difficult conditions.

It really makes the documentary feel complete, and I have to say, seeing them up on that narrow ridge at the end is inspiring.