Acting
In pure documentary style, this film takes you inside one of the most accomplished mountain rescue units in North America. With unprecedented access from the National Park Service, adopted by the climbing rangers, filmmaker Greg Winston takes a seat in the rescue helicopter, and clips into Rangers ropes, to go along on rescues to capture footage never shot before. Archival footage and photographs illustrate the beginnings of mountain rescue with the first climbing rangers, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division. Former rangers reminisce about the North Face rescue of 1967, the most difficult high-angle rescue of its time.
The film analyzes the brilliant if tragically short career and tempestuous personal life of Scottish mountaineer Dougal Haston (1940-77). Haston gained fame with the first ascent of 'The Bat' in 1959. He went on to make his name as a mountaineer in the Alps and greater ranges. In 1966 he was part of the team that made the first winter ascent of the Eiger Nordwand. He also achieved the first ascent of the South West face of Mount Everest in September 1975. Haston was the Director of the International School of Mountaineering in Leysin, Switzerland. He was killed in an avalanche in Leysin, Switzerland in 1977. Interviews and original footage give an insight into an iconic legend.
The Grand Rescue is a story about a rescue that became legend. In 1967, on the North Face of the Grand Teton, seven rescuers risked their lives to save a severely injured climber and his companion. The rescue took three harrowing days, pushed the team to the edge of their abilities, and cemented a lifelong bond.
