An engrossing, first-person perspective documentary, The Ascent of Mt. Meru is a great sports documentary. Filmmaker Ronak Singh has brilliantly chosen to have the Giripremi Climbing Club tell the story of this mountain climb themselves. The Himalayas, gentle reader, extend far beyond Nepal into the Hindu-Kush region of India. Meru, while it’s not the highest or most famous peak, is a difficult climb requiring great technical skill and much strategic planning.
As we learn, there are two faces that are climbable for Mt. Meru: you can attempt the Eastern face or the Western face. The climbers tell us of the attempt to climb the Western face of Mt. Meru. Among the challenges facing the Giripremi club was determining where to establish a base camp. Not everyone in the club climbs, gentle reader. Some of the team members stay at the camp and manage the logistics of climbing the mountain. The method of climbing, as we are told, is to achieve a flat piece of the mountain – a plateau – and set the next base camp. Mt. Meru’s west face presented a huge issue in that there was no window of opportunity to climb the sheer 1100-meter wall of that face between snowfalls.
The Ascent of Mt. Meru is indeed one of my favorite versions of the Sports documentary; the triumph of the will. To hear the team members discuss the multiple attempts to climb Mt. Meru in 2023 is tremendously inspiring. That Singh has footage of the actual climbs that took place before and after the rainy season is amazing. While shooting digital by hand sometimes creates an abundance of ‘shaky cam’ in the context of the climbs, the shaking camera felt entirely appropriate. Learning of the difficulties facing the Giripremi climbing club and that the climbs ranged from 1100 to 1200 meters (3600 to 3900 feet), it would have been impossible to set up a tripod on the sheer face of Mt. Meru.
Ronak Singh has crafted an excellent short documentary with The Ascent of Mt. Meru. There is little more life affirming that watching our fellow humans achieve an endeavor thought impossible. Witnessing the flag of India wave atop the Mountain was deeply emotional. If you’re in the market for a great sort of sports triumph in the face of monstrous impediments, The Ascent of Mt. Meru is for you.
"…life affirming"
