Part two in Kilian Journet’s Summits Of My Life project is a stunning insight into one of the worlds greatest athletes and adventurers.
I really enjoyed the first film and took no convincing about buying the second instalment of Kilian’s long term project to set speed records on a range of the worlds most challenging climbs and getting an insight into what a down to earth, humble and likeable guy he is a little at odds with what you might expect someone so driven and professionally focused as he is.
The film starts with his Mt Blanc record from last summer, continues with a race up Mt Elberus in some truly grim conditions and against a Russian Ivan Drago type character with who he shares a race win before they both retire near the top due to extreme cold and then finishes up with some incredible footage of training and finally his mind blowing record taking Bruno Brunod’s time for climbing and descending the insanely steep Matterhorn (2h52mins up and back down if you’re interested!).
One of the great things about this film (and the previous one) is that it shows a side to a guy who truly loves what he does and the friends he does it with. One of the stars of the film for me was his training partner Mathéo Jacquemoud a world champion ski mountaineer who was unlucky to injure himself in the Mt Blanc descent, a real character and mountain climbing machine.
It’s also great to see that despite increasing coverage of ultra-running, one of the biggest names in the sport (and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year no less) lives in a camper van and eats nutella from the jar for his breakfast before doing repeat training and recce runs up and down the Matterhorn. It’s not a rockstar lifestyle but it’s clear to see the joy they all derive from it.
Seb Montaz is a highly regarded film maker and it’s no surprise the visuals in Dejame Vivir are spectacular. The Matterhorn in particular lends itself to great photography with it’s steep routes and knife edge traverses and I think he makes use of drones to shoot some of the running from above to great effect.
For less than 10 Euros to download, watching this film is a no brainer. It’s beautifully put together and will put a spring in your step and even if you think you know how good an athlete Journet is, you don’t. He’s better, faster and stronger than you think and he’s nice with it.