Film review: Meru (2015)

Jimmy Chin leading on an ice path on the 2008 Meru attempt

Meru is a documentary about three elite climbers; Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk; and their two attempts to take the "Shark's Fin" route on Meru, a 4,000 near vertical wall of rock that is the last part of a 21,000 climb up rock and ice. It is styled as more technically challenging than Everest, because it combines a difficult ice climb and a difficult rock climb.  Anker and Chin are represented as climbers who have been on many expeditions before, Ozturk, while an elite climber, was the new person on the team.

The movie's focus is on the two attempts at this route, one that has never been completed before. And in between there is much discussion of risk.  The movie interviews the climbers, other elite climbers, and family members and they discuss a lot about risk. Family members talked about thinking of a sibling or spouse who could very well die on a mountain.  The climbers spoke about other elite climbers they knew who had died on climbs, and some of those climbs were relatively normal.

There was a period of my life where I was regularly doing some activities that were inherently dangerous. And the possibility of dying was not something I cared about. I think at the time my view was that I was in the moment, and when life ended, it ended.  I like a line from Conrad Anker, these activities are dangerous, but we approach them with skill and knowledge, and when we take risks, with do so knowingly and deliberately. And if we should have an accident, our thought is one of profound embarrassment, because it meant that we did not know that we had crossed the line of too much risk.  Jimmy Chin had a line about the excitement of it all, the rush comes because we are doing something that is in fact dangerous.  So it is different than say an amusement park, which has speed but is under control.The thrill comes from mastery, that danger is faced, examined, and confronted, and overcome, while always under control.  And the glory (to the extent there is any) is from knowing that you could go up to that line, but always recognize it and back away before crossing.

The documentary is about two attempts 2008, and 2011.  The first attempt failed after they lost three days in a snowstorm, and their limited amounts of food led them to turn back a mere 150 m from the summit.  And this is almost an example of their skill, to have the judgment to turn back even when they were so close.

The film then talks about risk in another way.  Chin and Ozturk suffered a pair of accidents while on a commercial shoot on a ski slope. Ozturk was severely injured, Chin was caught in an avalanche. So the lead into the 2011 climb was both of them recovering from this, both physically (Ozturk was nearly paralyzed in several different ways) and mentally.

What sold this was the discussion about risk. Climbers and other sports are often viewed as crazy daredevils looking for thrills. There is a thrill, but it is not from the excitement. The thrill comes from bring to bear knowledge, skill, and judgment in an environment were all three are needed, and surviving in the face of real danger.

Conrad Anker on the "House of Cards" pitch